John Elliott Smart

Infobox Military Person
name=John Elliott Smart
born= birth date|1916|3|1
died= death date and age|2008|2|3|1916|3|1
placeofbirth= Northumberland, England
placeofdeath= Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
placeofburial=
nickname=Jack
allegiance= flag|United Kingdom
serviceyears=1938–1954
rank=Lieutenant Commander
branch= navy|United Kingdom
commands=HMS "X8" (1943) HMS "XE1" (1945)
battles=Second World War
awards=Distinguished Service Order (DSO) Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) Volunteer Reserve Decoration (VRD) Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) United States, Officer of the Legion of Merit
Lieutenant Commander John Elliott "Jack" Smart DSO OBE VRD (1 March 1916–3 February 2008) was an officer in the Royal Navy commanding one of the midget submarines that attacked the German cruiser "Lützow" and the Japanese cruiser "Takao" during the Second World War.

Early life

Smart was born on 1 March 1916 in Northumberland in England and joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) in 1938, his commission as a sub-lieutenant was confirmed on 3 October 1939. [LondonGazette|issue=34765|startpage=21|date=2 January 1940|accessdate=2008-06-23] He served the first part of the war in minesweepers in the eastern Mediterranean. He was promoted lieutenant on 1 March 1941, [LondonGazette|issue=35247|startpage=4722|date=15 August 1941|accessdate=2008-06-23] then joined HMS "Varbel", the midget submarine training depot, in 1943.

Operation Source

Six midget submarines were to take part in the attack on the German cruiser "Lützow" in Altenfjord, Norway. During the tow over to the attack, "X8" lost contact with her towing submarine HMS "Sea Nymph", but after 37 hours they regained contact. Unfortunately "X8" developed leaks and was unable to dive, eventually leading to the "X8" being scuttled. Smart was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his part in the operation. [LondonGazette|issue=36295|supp=yes|startpage=5539|endpage=5540|date=17 December 1943|accessdate=2008-06-23]

Operation Struggle

The XE class submarines HMS "XE1" and "XE1" was assigned to Operation Struggle, an attack on the Japanese cruisers "Myōkō" and "Takao" in the Johore Strait. Smart was in command of "XE1", targeting the "Myōkō" but after 16 hours ran out of time and laid the charges next to "Takao", that had already been attacked by "XE3". The attack on "Takao" lead to appointment as a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), [LondonGazette|issue=37346|supp=yes|startpage=5529|endpage=5530|date=9 November 1945|accessdate=2008-04-11] and as an Officer of the Legion of Merit from the United States. [LondonGazette|issue=37757|supp=yes|startpage=5077|date=11 October 1946|accessdate=2008-06-23]

Later life

Smart retained his RNVR commission after the war and was promoted lieutenant commander on 1 March 1949. [LondonGazette|issue=38577|startpage=1654|date=1 April 1949|accessdate=2008-06-23] He was awarded the Volunteer Reserve Decoration (VRD) on 30 April 1953, [LondonGazette|issue=39851|startpage=2649|date=12 May 1953|accessdate=2008-06-23] and retired on 8 March 1954. [LondonGazette|issue=40164|startpage=2630|date=4 May 1954|accessdate=2008-06-23]

He then became a stockbroker with Pemberton Securities in their Vancouver office, remaining there until the 1980s when he transferred to the Victoria, British Columbia office. He died in Victoria on 3 February 2008 at the age of 91.

References

* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/2003397/Lt-Cdr-Jack-Smart.html Telegraph obituary]
* [http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=1fd40172-18ad-40a2-8d2f-92b9af200684 Victoria Colonist obituary]