Submariner's life

The BBC's Bill Duff looks back at the life of Northern Ireland man Vice-Admiral Sir Arthur Hezlet whose career took off in Malta during World War II when "he sank the large Italian troopship Esperia". From the BBC:

To this day, students at naval colleges learn about a June 1945 torpedo attack masterminded by Hezlet, one of the classic submarine attacks of World War II. HM Submarine Trenchant daringly slipped past a minefield into the confined waters of the Banka Strait in the Dutch East Indies and torpedoed the Japanese heavy cruiser Ashigara as she raced along at 17 knots.

It was the largest Japanese warship sunk by a Royal Navy warship during the war, and one of his many exploits at sea. He became the Royal Navy's youngest captain at age of 36 and its youngest admiral at 45. Hezlet was born in April 1914 in Pretoria, South Africa, where his soldier father was serving. He began following in his family's military tradition at the age of 14 when he entered the Royal Naval College, before serving as a midshipman on the battleships Royal Oak and Resolution.

It was with the outbreak of WWII that Hezlet really began making waves in his career, starting out on the small submarine H43 before becoming First Lieutenant of Trident. He sank the U-Boat with a single torpedo and then rescued 11 of her crew before having to withdraw Operating from Malta in Unique, he sank the large Italian troopship Esperia, and this success was a factor in him being given command of Ursula.

The importance of wartime signal intelligence was demonstrated by an attack which damaged the supply ship Beppe - upon leaving Malta, Hezlet set a course to intercept an enemy convoy and never altered it even to attack. Hezlet was then given command of his old boat Trident, engaged in operations exclusively connected with Russian convoys. On one patrol Hezlet sank the German ore carrier Hoedur. Amid the many battles, the boat also played a role in picking up survivors from merchant ships.