Frank Shaw

PORTSMOUTH NAVAL MEMORIAL Panel 49 Column 2

HMS Cossack

Cossack's first action was on 16 February 1940, under the command of Philip Vian. This was the Altmark Incident in Jøssingfjord, Norway which resulted in the freeing of the Admiral Graf Spee's British prisoners who were being held aboard the supply ship Altmark and the death of eight crew members of the German ship. In the incident the German tanker rammed Cossack with the stern at an angle of about 30° at the level of her bridge and drove the destroyer towards the fiord wall. It seems that Ordinary Seaman Herbert Ward from Nottingham was killed during this engagement. Accumulated ice prevented the destroyer being crushed onto the rocky shore and the destroyers powerful engines made her escape from the squeeze possible. Cossack arrived at Leith on 17 February with the 299 freed prisoners.

In May 1941, Cossack participated in the pursuit and destruction of the German battleship Bismarck. While escorting Convoy WS-8B to the Middle East, Cossack and four other destroyers broke off on 26 May, and headed towards the area where Bismarck had been reported. They found Bismarck that evening and made several torpedo attacks in the evening and into the next morning. No hits were scored, but they kept the Bismarck's gunners from getting any sleep, making it easier for the battleships to attack the Bismarck the next morning. During the battle one of Bismarck’s shells sheared off Cossack’s antenna.

On 23 October 1941, Cossack was escorting a convoy from Gibraltar to the United Kingdom when she was struck by a single torpedo fired by the German submarine U-563 commanded by Klaus Bargsten. She was taken in tow by a tug from Gibraltar on 25 October, but the weather worsened and the tow was slipped on 26 October. Cossack sank in the Atlantic west of Gibraltar on 27 October 1941. 159 of her crew were lost including Able Seaman Frank Shaw from Basford, Nottingham. (Wikipedia)

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