A superb Malta Convoys Distinguished Service Medal group awarded to Electrical Artificer C.J. Tink, Royal Navy who was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal in the London Gazette of 8th September 1942 when he was decorated for his gallantry aboard H.M.S. Hasty during Operation MG1 and the Second Battle of Sirte when a large escort attempted to assist Convoy MW10 to Malta. The convoy would be attacked by an Italian Squadron including the Battleship Littorio and would suffer heavy damage. Receiving his Long Service Medal on 23rd March 1942, immediately after the battle, Tink would likely still be aboard when the ship was torpedoed by the German E-Boat S55, on the morning of the 15th June 1942 Hotspur would torpedo and scuttle Hasty after taking her remaining crew onboard. Tink would survive the war and be pensioned ashore on 9th April 1949.
Group of 8: Distinguished Conduct Medal, GVIR 1st type bust; (MX.46095 C.J. TINK, E,A. ) Naval General Service Medal 1909-1962, GVI 1st type bust; (MX.46095 C.J. TINK. E.A.2. R.N.) 1939-1945 Star; Africa Star; Atlantic Star with loose bar France and Germany; War Medal; Royal Navy Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, GVIR 1st type bust; (MX.46095 C.J. TINK. E.A.1. H.M.S. HASTY.)
Along with a related: Imperial Service Medal, EIIR, Dei.Grat bust, (WILLIAM FRANK TINK) in fitted Royal Mint case of issue.
Condition: Nearly Extremely Fine
Along with two ribbon bars one consisting of Distinguished Conduct Medal, Naval General Service Medal, 1939-45 Star, Atlantic Star and another consisting of Africa Star, War Medal and Naval Long Service and Good Conduct Medal.
John Clifford Tink was born in Stoke, Devonport, Devon on 20th October 1904 giving his occupation as Fitter and Turner joined for 12 years on 2nd February 1927. Initially serving as an Acting Electrical Artificer 4th Class aboard Defiance, this rank would be confirmed on 2nd August 1928. He would be promoted to Electrical Artificer 3rd Class on 2nd February 1930 whilst serving aboard Berwick, Electrical Artificer 2nd Class on 2nd February 1934 and having seen service in support of operations during the Arab Rebellion in Palestine would go on to be promoted to Electrical Artificer 1st Class on 2nd February 1939.
Tink would be awarded the Distinguished Service Medal in the London Gazette of 8th September 1942 for his service aboard HMS Hasty during Operation MG1 which included the Second Battle of Sirte.
The Second Battle of Sirte
By early 1942 the Allies had lost the initiative in the central Mediterranean as Italian and German forces isolated Malta and made plans to remove it as a threat. After a series of Allied defeats, the Italian Navy achieved naval superiority in the central Mediterranean by spring 1942. As Malta was running short of aircraft, anti-aircraft guns, fuel, food and ammunition, convoy MW10 sailed from Alexandria on 21 March. The British expected opposition from German and Italian aircraft as well as Italian surface units. In December 1941, the two battleships (Queen Elizabeth and Valiant) stationed in the eastern Mediterranean had been disabled by an attack by Italian frogmen, leaving the fleet with only cruisers and destroyers. A diversion was organised from Gibraltar, on the morning of 20 March, the battleship Malaya—with the aircraft carriers Eagle and Argus, supported by the cruiser Hermione and eight destroyers—sailed. The next day, the squadron aborted the operation and returned to port—the carriers were unable to launch aircraft reinforcements to Malta due to defective long-range fuel tanks. The escort of convoy MW10 relied on destroyers—including lighter-built destroyer escorts—to provide anti-submarine protection and included the anti-aircraft cruiser Carlisle. More destroyers and another light cruiser were sent from Malta.
Admiral Sir Philip Vian, commanding the convoy, organised his ships into six divisions plus a close escort of five Hunt-class destroyers for the convoy
1st Division: destroyers HMS Jervis, Kipling, Kelvin and Kingston
2nd Division: light cruisers HMS Dido and Penelope with the destroyer Legion
3rd Division: destroyers HMS Zulu and Hasty
4th Division: light cruisers HMS Cleopatra (flagship) and Euryalus
5th Division: destroyers HMS Sikh, Lively, Hero and Havock
6th Division: anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Carlisle and Hunt-class destroyer Avon Vale
In case of an Italian surface attack, the first five divisions were to stand off from the convoy to face the enemy while the sixth division laid smoke across the wake of the convoy to obscure it. The first five divisions would act as a rearguard to lay smoke and delay the Regia Marina while Carlisle and the Hunt-class destroyers proceeded with the cargo ships to Malta
At 14:30 the next day, the British were faced by a pair of heavy cruisers and escorting destroyers. Admiral Vian immediately implemented his plan; the cargo ships and escorts turned away to the south while the light cruisers and remaining destroyers laid smoke and charged the Italians. After an exchange of fire, the two Italian heavy cruisers backed off in an attempt to lure the British toward the incoming main Italian squadron, and at 16:37 they returned to attack with the battleship Littorio, a light cruiser and their screening destroyers. The battle raged for two and a half hours, with the British ships leaving the safety of their huge smoke screen to fire a few volleys and then returning to it when the Italian salvos got too close.
During one of these exchanges, Havock suffered severe damage from a near-miss when fired at by the Italian battleship Littorio, and was ordered to withdraw from the battle line and join the convoy. At 18:34, Vian decided to send his destroyers in to launch torpedo attacks from about 5,000 yd (4,600 m), the closest the Italians would allow the British to approach. None of the torpedoes found their targets but as Kingston turned she was hit by a round that penetrated her boiler room and ignited a fire, temporarily bringing her to a halt. The battle began with a 25 kn (29 mph; 46 km/h) wind blowing to the north-west, with the wind continuing to increase during the day, which favoured the gunnery of the larger Italian ships throughout the battle but aided the laying of smokescreens by Vian's ships.
Lively was struck by shell splinters from the battleship's main guns that pierced a bulkhead, causing some flooding but no casualties. At 18:55, Littorio had been hit by a 4.7 in (120 mm) shell, with negligible damage. Her floatplane caught fire from the blast from a salvo of her after turret at the same time; this led to the claim by the British that one of the torpedoes had struck. At dusk, before 19:00, the Italians gave up and turned for home; without radar they would have been at a significant disadvantage in a night action, as in the Battle of Cape Matapan. The Italians outgunned their British counterparts but appeared unwilling to close for a decisive blow, perhaps wary of the torpedo threat from the many British destroyers.
Almost all authors have called the battle as a British victory, credited to the escort of light cruisers and destroyers which prevented the Italians from damaging the convoy, by repulsing an Italian squadron composed of a battleship and two heavy cruisers during massed Axis air attacks. Some authors, while generally acknowledging the British success, write of the battle as a partial Italian achievement in delaying and turning the convoy aside. Nearly all sources agree that the Italian fleet inflicted significant damage and several casualties on the British squadron while suffering minimal damage and no casualties in return. Axis aircraft caught the British convoy at sea and chased the surviving steamers to the harbour; more than 80 per cent of the supplies were lost, making the British convoy operation a strategic failure.
Immediately after the battle, on the 23rd March 1942, Tink would be awarded his Navy Long Service and Good Conduct Medal.
Just under three months after the Second Battle of Sirte, Hasty would be sunk when she was torpedoed by the German E-Boat S-55 under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Horst Weber as she covered a large convoy to Malta during Operation Vigorous, killing 13 men. The torpedo blew off most of the bow structure and both boiler rooms started to flood. Hotspur took off her crew and scuttled her with a torpedo during the morning of 15 June 1942.
He would continue to serve for the remainder of the war, being present aboard Rodney on 1st September 1944, and being promoted to Chief Electrical Artificer on 16th December 1945. Subsequently transferring to Devonshire aboard whom he was serving on 17th February 1947, he would transfer to Unicorn on 15th September 1948 before being pensioned ashore on 9th April 1949.
The private papers of the Commander of HMS Hasty, Captain N.H.G. Austen, CBE, DSO, Royal Navy are held by the Imperial War Museum and are known to cover the period of Tink’s award and the subsequent sinking of the ship, they may therefore uncover in more details the events that led up to the award of the Distinguished Service Medal.
William Frank Tink was awarded the Imperial Service Medal in the London Gazette of 28th June 1960 for his work as an Engine Fitter at Devonport.
