William Arthur McAllister

CHATHAM NAVAL MEMORIAL 45 2

HMS Galatea

HMS Galatea was an Arethusa-class light cruiser. Commissioned in 1935, she served pre-war in the Mediterranean. After the outbreak of Second World War she was ordered home, and between February and March 1940 she took part in the operations to intercept Axis merchantmen attempting to break out of Vigo. In April 1940 she was involved in the Norwegian Campaign, leaving on 25 April transporting part of the Norwegian National Treasury to Britain, and in May joined the Nore Command as Flagship of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron.

In June 1940 she was involved in the Operation Ariel evacuation of troops from Saint-Jean-de-Luz France, including Sir Ronald Hugh Campbell, the British Ambassador to France. She remained with the Home Fleet (under refit, between October 1940 and January 1941) until May 1941, and was involved in hunting the German battleship Bismarck. In July 1941 she joined the Mediterranean Fleet via the Red Sea, and by November was based at Malta with Force "K", operating against the Axis supply convoys to North Africa.

On 15 December 1941 before midnight Galatea (Captain E.W.B. Sim) was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-557 off Alexandria, Egypt. Captain Sim, 22 officers and 447 ratings, including Able Seaman Alban Cuddy from Kneeton, Nottinghamshire, Ordnance Artificer Cecil Hatherley from Newark and Boy 1st Class William McCallister from Nottingham, were killed. Some 100 survivors were picked up by the destroyers Griffin and Hotspur. Less than 48 hours later, U-557 was rammed by the Italian torpedo boat Orione and sunk with all hands. (Wikipedia)

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