15 June – On this day in 1942, the N class destroyer, HMAS Nestor (Commander A.S. Rosenthal, RAN), was part of the covering force for a large convoy in the Mediterranean when she was straddled by two heavy bombs and crippled. The convoy was about 100 miles north of Tobruk and heading for Alexandria when it came under air attack. One bomb fell about 50 feet off Nestor’s starboard side and the other two or three feet off her port side amidships where she was holed.
No. 1 Boiler Room was flooded with the loss of all inside; Stoker Petty Officer J.B. Bulmer, RAN, Leading Stoker C.B. Hill, RAN, Leading Stoker M. Burns, RN, and Stoker L.J. Blight, RAN. The ship’s medical officer, Surgeon Lieutenant S.A.C. Watson, RANR, “displayed outstanding bravery in immediately entering No. 1 Boiler Room in order to rescue the crew who he knew must be either killed or seriously injured.” Watson recovered the bodies of all four men and was recognised with a DSC.
Nestor was taken in tow by HMS Javelin while still under attack by German bombers, however, with only 80 miles covered over the ensuing ten hours, and with German submarines sighted in the morning of 16 June, the decision was made to remove Nestor’s company to Javelin and scuttle the Australian destroyer.
Picture: Nestor’s sailors on HMS Javelin after their ship had been scuttled.
