The
HMS Deane was accepting the surrender of German U-boats. It was accompanied by the yacht
Philante. Among the sailors sent from the
Deane to board the U-boat was ERA A. J. Brown.
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The yacht Philante (almost top-heavy with newsreel cameramen and senior officers) was standing by to record this surrender for posterity. We crowded into the boat armed to the teeth with pistols, rifles and submachine guns and all went according to plan until we got alongside the U-boat. We suddenly realised that it was not going to be all that easy to clamber out of the boat on to the Sub's casing. The sea was choppy and the boat bobbed up and down alarmingly. We were much encumbered by our arsenal of weapons and, after several of the lads made undignified (and unsuccessful) attempts to get board, we were somewhat fluxmoxed. Then someone, with true matelot's resourcefulness, solved the problem. We calmly handed up our guns to the bemused Germans and climbed up with ease. Nonchalantly taking our guns back from the enemy, we went about the normal procedure of taking them prisoner. This unmilitary behavior did not seem at all out of place to us but the top brass in Philante were LIVID! We were all given a hell of a dressing down when we eventually got back on board but no disciplinary action was taken. I have seen this episode on cinema newsreels on several occasions and the reel of film has also been included in the well-known TV series War at Sea - but you will note that the censor has very definitely cut out the bit showing us handing our guns up to the Germans!!
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Taken from page 175 of Donald Collingwood's
The Captain Class Frigates. It's the story of the seventy-eight Buckley class destroyer escorts that were lend-leased to the Royal Navy. Thanks to their twin rudders, they could, at 20 kts, turn a tighter circle than regular destroyers. That made them very useful for dropping depth charges on enemy submarines. The book is well worth the read if you're into WW II naval history.