Admiral Sir Manley Power

I only brought him up because I like saying his name and knowing that there was an Admiral Sir Manley Power. It comforts me. In May of 45, he sank the Japanese Cruiser Haguro in the Malacca Strait. I also like saying Malacca Strait. It sounds like a manly place even without Admiral Sir Manley Power blowing up cruisers there.

Before the the Malacca Strait heroics, Admiral Sir Manley Power commanded arctic convoys from Great Britain to Murmansk, a job which mostly consisted of sailing past Norway while dozens of German planes strafed him. Admiral Sir Manley Power didn't mind. He was just "doing his duty" as he always said, because that was the way Admiral Sir Manley Power rolled. He had to roll that way. He had no choice. His name was Manley Power, after an ancestor - General Sir Manley Power!


Let's all think about Admiral Sir Manley Power today as we go about our lives. Let's say your washing machine eats your underwear. What would Admiral Sir Manley Power do? He'd unleash salvos of 16 inch guns on it of course, so don't do that. Just think about doing that and then check the belts, that's usually the problem.

 

I read a good account of that action on line not too long ago. Didn't find it with a quick look but will post if if I do.

 

Any chance the Japanese just scuttled their own ship when they realized who they were dealing with?

 

LOL...great name

 

By far the best name I have ever heard of

 

Manley Power is a great name. However, two other British admirals were even better: Sir Cloudseley Shovell (War of the Spanish Succession, 18th c) and Sir Reginald Aylmer Ranfurly Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax (WWI and WWII).

 

or bankers Cheatham and Steale.

 

Power is famous for his deeds not the sound of his name.

His action at the Malaucca Straits was seen as a classic destroyer action. It wasn'l very often that anyone made a near perfect concentric torpedo attack

Close enough to engage surface to surface with Bofors guns. Gripping stuff eh?

 

six torpedo hits. that must be a record. the bismark required only 3, right?

 

Bismarck was hit but more than 3 torpedoes but the one that doomed her was the one that FUBAR'ed her rudder. The last one may have hit the deck as she rolled over which illustrates that the number it takes is not necessarily the number that hit. Scharnhorst may have been hit by as many as 10. Six is certainly enough to take out a heavy cruiser especially late war DD torpedoes.

May have been off combined fleet that there was a really good descripiton of this action but I still haven't found it.

 

i forgot. the yamato and musashi required at least 10 torpedoes each to bring under, and that was only after dive bombers wrecked the AA weapons, allowing the torpedo planes to fly in.

 

That's not quite correct. They took at least 10 torpedoes before they sank but that doesn't mean that the number that hit were the number required to sink them. Indeed the torpedo hit Yamato took earlier in her carreer did extensive damage. If you want a record for taking torpedos and staying afloat Hornet may hold that.