Post by Administrator on Mar 12, 2017 23:46:44 GMT
A sea captain who earned the Victoria Cross after sacrificing his life to save his crew has been honoured on the centenary of his death.
During the First World War Archibald Bissett Smith served as the captain of the SS Otaki, a cargo ship sailing out of London with a crew of 71 men.
The vessel was on its way to New York on March 10, 1917, when it encountered the German raider SWS Mowe.
Its captain ordered Bissett Smith to stop but the Aberdonian refused to surrender and opened fire on the far more heavily armed Mowe.
The crew of the Otaki fought bravely and scored a series of hits on the Mowe but after a 20-minute skirmish the cargo ship was on fire and sinking.
Bissett Smith ordered his men to abandon the Otaki while he stayed behind and went down with the ship.
Six others aboard the vessel were killed and another 200 were captured by the Mowe, which lost five of her own in the battle.
Bissett Smith's heroism was honoured at a ceremony in Aberdeen on Friday, 100 years to the day since his death.
A commemorative paving slab was unveiled on Schoolhill, where he went to school at Robert Gordon's College.
LINK
During the First World War Archibald Bissett Smith served as the captain of the SS Otaki, a cargo ship sailing out of London with a crew of 71 men.
The vessel was on its way to New York on March 10, 1917, when it encountered the German raider SWS Mowe.
Its captain ordered Bissett Smith to stop but the Aberdonian refused to surrender and opened fire on the far more heavily armed Mowe.
The crew of the Otaki fought bravely and scored a series of hits on the Mowe but after a 20-minute skirmish the cargo ship was on fire and sinking.
Bissett Smith ordered his men to abandon the Otaki while he stayed behind and went down with the ship.
Six others aboard the vessel were killed and another 200 were captured by the Mowe, which lost five of her own in the battle.
Bissett Smith's heroism was honoured at a ceremony in Aberdeen on Friday, 100 years to the day since his death.
A commemorative paving slab was unveiled on Schoolhill, where he went to school at Robert Gordon's College.
LINK