SON OF THOMAS AND MARGARET SMYTH, OF 1, KILBLAIN BUILDINGS, GREENOCK. Employed by Scotts

 Tornado was part of the escort of a Netherlands-bound convoy on 22 December, when the destroyer Valkyrie struck a mine and was badly damaged, having to be towed to Harwich by the destroyer Sylph. The remainder of the convoy reached the Hook of Holland safely, and the escort waited near the Maas Light Buoy for the return convoy. At about 02:00 hr on 23 December, Tornado, Surprise, Torrent and Radiant ran into a German minefield, with Torrent striking a German mine. Surprise and Tornado went to rescue Torrent's crew, but Torrent struck a second mine and quickly sank. Tornado struck two mines and sunk while trying to rejoin Radiant, which was standing off protecting the rescue efforts from any interference from German U-boats, while Surprisealso struck a mine and sunk. Only Radiant remained afloat and undamaged and picked up the survivors from the three ships. Only two survivors were picked up from Tornado with 75 killed. In total, 12 officers and 240 other ranks were killed from the three ships.

Newspaper Clippings relating to Samuel Smyth

Samuel Smyth