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| Lieutenant Commander Malcolm David Wanklyn | |
|---|---|
| Name | Malcolm David Wanklyn |
| Birth date | 28 June 1911 |
| Death date | 14 October 1942 |
| Birth place | Birmingham |
| Death place | off the coast of Lycia |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Royal Navy |
| Serviceyears | 1929–1942 |
| Rank | Lieutenant Commander |
| Unit | Submarine Service |
| Battles | Second World War, Battle of the Atlantic, Mediterranean theatre of World War II |
| Awards | Victoria Cross, Distinguished Service Cross |
Lieutenant Commander Malcolm David Wanklyn was a Royal Navy submarine commander noted for daring patrols during the Second World War and for receiving the Victoria Cross for conspicuous gallantry. He commanded HMS Upholder in the Mediterranean theatre of World War II, achieving significant sinkings against Axis shipping before being lost at sea in 1942. Wanklyn's actions influenced Royal Navy submarine tactics and naval recognition for small-ship audacity.
Wanklyn was born in Birmingham and educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham and the HMS Ganges training establishment before entering the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. He trained alongside contemporaries who later served in the Submarine Service and participated in interwar exercises connected to the Washington Naval Treaty era naval limitations. His early postings included surface ship appointments and instruction in submarine engineering influenced by developments at Vickers-Armstrongs and training doctrines promulgated from Admiralty schools.
Commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1929, Wanklyn served on destroyers and submarines during the interwar period, transferring to the Submarine Service where he undertook patrols in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. He commanded the U-class submarine HMS H31 briefly before assuming command of HMS Upholder in 1940, joining operations from Malta as part of the Mediterranean Fleet. Under his command Upholder conducted offensive patrols against convoys supplying Italy and German Empire forces in North Africa, cooperating with units of Force H, Royal Air Force, and Allied convoys; successes were coordinated with intelligence from Ultra and signals from Admiralty coastal commands. His command style exhibited aggressive night attacks, evasion of anti-submarine warfare measures deployed by the Regia Marina and Kriegsmarine, and close coordination with coastal command aviation.
Wanklyn's Victoria Cross resulted from a single patrol in which Upholder engaged a heavily escorted Italian convoy off the Taranto coast during the Battle of the Mediterranean. Penetrating escort screens including destroyers equipped with ASDIC and depth charges, he launched torpedoes that sank multiple Axis transports and a heavy Regia Marina warship, contributing to interdiction of supplies destined for Afrika Korps formations under Erwin Rommel. The citation highlighted exceptional seamanship, disregard for personal risk, and tactical innovation under fire, comparable in contemporary press to actions by other VC recipients such as Commander Malcolm W.—and became part of Admiralty narratives alongside awards like the Distinguished Service Cross and mentions in despatches for submarine officers including those on Upholder's patrol reports.
After continued successes against Axis merchant tonnage in 1941 and early 1942, Upholder and Wanklyn maintained high operational tempo from Malta and Alexandria. During operations supporting Operation Pedestal and interdiction patrols aimed at cutting supplies to Tobruk and Tripoli, Upholder failed to return from a patrol in October 1942; Wanklyn and his crew were declared lost, likely sunk by combined action of Italian torpedo boats and German Luftwaffe aircraft or by naval mines in waters off Lycia in the eastern Mediterranean. Posthumous accounts placed his loss in the operational context of intensified Axis anti-submarine measures, convoy escort improvements by the Regia Marina, and shifting Allied priorities during the Second Battle of El Alamein period.
Wanklyn's Victoria Cross remains among the most prominent submarine awards, influencing memorialization in naval museums such as the Imperial War Museum and regimental histories compiled by the Royal Navy Submarine Museum. His name appears on memorials at Plymouth Naval Memorial and in local commemoration in Birmingham schools including those that preserve wartime rolls of honour. Historians of the Battle of the Mediterranean and authors documenting the U-boat and Submarine campaigns reference his tactics in analyses alongside figures like Upholder's crew, and his story is taught in curricula at institutions such as the Royal Naval College, Greenwich and maritime studies at King's College London. Decorations and citations are held in collections associated with the Ministry of Defence and private naval archives, and his example continues to be cited in discussions of naval leadership and valor within the Royal Navy tradition.
Category:Royal Navy officers Category:Recipients of the Victoria Cross Category:People from Birmingham