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Auction: 25001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 314

(x) The 1944 submariner's 'Far East' D.S.M. group of seven awarded to Chief Stoker R. J. Phebey, Royal Navy, who had previously been 'mentioned' in 1943 for his services during Eastern Mediterranean war patrols in H.M.S. Taurus

Taurus served in the Mediterranean and the Pacific Far East during the Second World War, sinking several Japanese merchant vessels including the Japanese submarine I 34 and later damaging Japanese submarine I 37

Phebey had previously served on the mine-laying submarine Rorqual, the first submarine to carry supplies to the beleaguered island of Malta

Distinguished Service Medal, G.VI.R. (Ch.Sto. R.J. Phebey P/KX 80408); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Africa Star, clasp, North Africa 1942-43; Burma Star, clasp, Pacific; Italy Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45 with M.I.D. oak leaf, mounted as worn, very fine (7)

D.S.M. London Gazette 25 July 1944, the original citation states:

'For daring, endurance and resource in the conduct of hazardous and successful operations in His Majesty's Submarines against the enemy.'

M.I.D. London Gazette 19 October 1943.

Richard John Phebey was born at Richmond, Surrey on 10 September 1910, the son of Richard and Maud Phebey. Educated at the Vineyard School, Richmond he enlisted in the Royal Navy as a Stoker 2nd class on 5 August 1930 and was posted to the submarine base Dolphin on 13 March 1934. He was mostly shore based at submarine depots until 25 May 1939 when as Stoker Petty Officer he was posted to the mine laying submarine Rorqual.

Rorqual - Mission Malta - Magic Carpet Runs

Sent to the Mediterranean in 1940, Rorqual began laying minefields and attacking enemy shipping. Amongst the shipping vessels lost to mines laid by Rorqual were the Italian merchants Loasso, Celio, Leopardi, and Salpi; the Italian Navy water tankers Verde and Ticino; the Italian pilot vessel F 34 / Rina Croce, the Italian torpedo boats Calipso, Fratelli Cairoli, Generale Antonio Chinotto, Altair and Aldebaran; the Italian auxiliary submarine chaser AS 99 Zuri, the German troop transport Ankara; the French merchant (in German service), P.L.M. 24; and the French fishing vessel Coligny. The Italian merchants Caffaro, Ischia and the brand-new Italian merchant Carbonello A. were damaged by mines laid by Rorqual. Rorqual was also active in attacking enemy shipping herself, torpedoing and sinking the Italian tanker, Laura Corrado; the Italian submarine Pier Capponi; the Italian merchants Cilicia and Monstella; the German tanker Wilhemsburg and the French merchant (in German service) Nantaise. Rorqual's torpedoes also damaged the Italian auxiliary cruiser Piero Foscari, unsuccessfully attacked an Italian submarine and the Italian merchant Securitas and sunk two Greek sailing vessels with gunfire.

In August 1940 she attacked an Italian convoy, missing the Italian merchants Verace and Doris Ursino with torpedoes. Following this failed attack Rorqual was heavily depth charged by the Italian torpedo boat Generale Achille Papa.

In January 1941 Rorqual attacked the tug Ursus and a floating battery mounted on a lighter. The lighter could not be torpedoed, as she was of too shallow draught for the normal depth setting of the torpedoes, and the only other weapon the Rorqual had was her single 4-inch gun. Rorqual surfaced at about 500 yards range. Her opening attack hit the Ursus and damaged the battery. Heavy fire from the damaged tug forced Rorqual to shift her fire from the battery and engage the Ursus again, forcing her crew to abandon her. Though badly damaged, the floating battery opened fire and forced the Rorqual to dive. She then fired a torpedo set to run on the surface, only to find that the torpedo developed a gyro failure and returned on its own tracks. Rorqual had to dive deep to avoid it. When last seen, the Ursus was sinking and the battery was on fire. The battery however did not sink and was later towed to Dubrovnik. Due to her large size and space within the mine casing, Rorqual was well suited to carrying stores and in June 1941, after loading at Alexandria, became the first submarine to carry supplies to the beleaguered island of Malta. In all she performed, at considerable risk to the submarine, 5 storing runs to Malta in 1941 from Alexandria and in 1942 from Beirut. These were known as "magic carpet runs".

Phebey remaining in 'the silent service' was next posted to the T Class submarine Taurus (P 339) on 9 June 1942 shortly before her official launch on 27 June 1942.

Taurus - an eventful period of service

She served in the Mediterranean and the Pacific Far East during the Second World War. Whilst serving in the Mediterranean, she sank the small French merchant Clairette, the Spanish merchant Bartolo, the Italian merchant Derna, the French tug Ghrib and two barges, the Portuguese Santa Irene, the small Italian tanker Alcione C., the Italian sailing vessel Luigi, twenty-eight Greek sailing vessels, and the small Greek ship Romano. She also damaged a further two sailing ships and the Greek merchant Konstantinos Louloudis. It was during this period off the Greek coast she had the unusual distinction of engaging a Bulgarian cavalry unit while bombarding a small port. Phebey received a 'Mention' for his service aboard her during her Eastern Mediterranean war patrols.

Taurus transferred to the Far East on 9 September 1943 where she sank the Japanese submarine I 34 10 miles off Penang Island. On 11 January 1944 she joined the 14th Submarine Flotilla to operate against the Japanese in the Malacca Straits and west coast of Thailand where she sank two Japanese tugboats, a barge and the Japanese salvage vessel Hokuan I-Go. She also laid a number of mines, which damaged the Japanese submarine I-37 and sank the Japanese transport ship Kasumi Maru. Phebey was richly rewarded with the D.S.M. for the period January to April 1944 which was presented by the King on 17 October 1944.

On 10 August 1945 he was awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. In an email which accompanies the group, Phebey's son confirms that his father lost his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal following a motorbike accident in 1956.

Subsequent career

The war over, Phebey undertook instructor roles within the service initially with Elfin and later several spells on Trenchant being discharged on 24 July 1956. Leaving the Navy Phebey worked initially for Johnson & Johnson at Hilsea before becoming a Royal Park warden at Richmond Park. His last role was as a boiler man at Stowe school.

Phebey died at Aylesbury in November 1988; sold together with an extensive archive of copied research including his copied service papers, copy patrol reports for Taurus, 6 November 1943 to 27 April 1944 and the book 'Dark Seas Above' by J.F. Gibson.

Subject to 5% tax on Hammer Price in addition to 20% VAT on Buyer’s Premium.

Estimate
£1,200 to £1,600

Starting price
£950