HMS Montrose, Admiralty V & W Class Leader

Click on the links within this brief outline for first hand accounts by the men who served on HMS Montrose and for a more detailed chronology see www.naval-history.net

At the outbreak of war he was given command of HMS Whitley, a V & W converted into an anti-aircraft ship by the addition of high attitde 4 inch guns, a WAIR conversion:

"She was a very happy ship with an active service engine room complement, and a peacetime RNVR team from Bristol trained for the guns and control. Unfortunately, we were lent to the French working from Dunkirk and it was only a matter of time before we were sunk with no means of informing the Admiralty of the madness."

After HMS Whitley was severely damaged by aircraft he ran her aground and used her as a shore battery until all amnumition was expended. There is a detailed account of the sinking off the Belgium coast on 19 May 1940 by Leading Telegraphist Anthony W Story on the website of HMS Whitley. John Murray Neville-Rolfe wrote "Mother had a telephone call to say he was missing at sea but was able to say that he had telephoned her the previous evening!" He was awarded the first of his two DSC for this action.

After the loss of HMS Witley he was appointed as the first CO of the Hunt Class destroyer HMS Mendip in October 1940. Her stern was damaged by the premature explosion of her own depth charges at Scapa Flow during work up exercises and she had to be towed to Middlesborough and was under repair until February 1941. The next two years were spent escorting east coast covoys from Sheerness and Harwich to the Firth of Forth and back, a regular but dangerous routine in which German e-boats and bombers were the main threat. The family folders record these encounters in press cuttings but his Reports of Proceedings in the National Archives would give more detailed description - if they can be found. On 5 February 1942, the day before his 44th birthday, HMS Pytchley and HMD Mendip were bombed by three Dorniers, and the Daily Sketch reported that on 21 February HMS Mendip and HMS Holderness fought off e-boats attacking an east coast convoy.

On 21 April 1942 he was "awarded bar to DSC for skill and enterprise in a successful action against German e-boats". From the cryptic hand written entries in his Service Certificate it is clear that his eye sight was damaged in these actions and for the best part of a year from 28 August 1942 to 22 July 1943 he was discharged for shore service. His Somerset connections help explain the extensive coverage Cdr Guy Neville-Rolfe received (below left) in the pages of the Somerset Standard:

"He temporarily lost his sight due to a gunflash and continual strain on the optic nerve. As his sight began to improve, though still unable to read and dependent on a guide, the Commander toured factories and dockyards up and down the country giving lectures to the war-workers. He gave first-hand accounts of E-boat encounters, and other aspects of the war, in which their products were being employed by the Royal Navy: 'I had to speak without any notes, of course, but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience - and the workers were extremely enthusiastic everywhere' (Somerset Standard 14 July 1944, on left)

Hunting was an essential part of the life of a country gentleman and Cdr Rolfe joined the Mendip Hunt while on leave in Somerset. HMS Mendip was adopted by Shepton Mallet after a successful Warship Week in March 1942 and HMS Montrose was adopted by Frome. Today Frome, Mendip and Shepton Mallet are all part of Mendip District Council.

He was appointed CO of HM Montrose on 16 October 1943 and a week later on 24 October 1943 Montrose collided with the Hunt-class destroyer Cotswold. Both destroyers were in the 16th Destroyer Flotilla based at Harwich escorting east coast convoys. Eric Corkill Howarth, a young CW Candidate gaining sea experience in Cotswold as one of the six man gun crew for the pom-poms before training to be an officer, described what happened on the BBC Peoples War website:

The active service of the Cotswold came to an abrupt halt one dark night towards the end of October 1943. It was one in the morning and I had just finished my hourly stint on the headphones, called my relief, and returning on deck for some welcome sleep, when I heard and counted four blasts on the ship’s siren. According to my knowledge of sound signals this meant, “Keep out of my way as I can’t keep out of yours.” The ship shuddered, accompanied by a horrendous screeching and tearing noise audible even above the wind. We had collided at speed with another destroyer — HMS Montrose.

Our boiler rooms, the engine room and the gearing room were flooded. All hands were summoned on deck. No one was hurt and anyone who wished could transfer to the Montrose when she came to take us in tow. I stayed aboard and with about one third of the crew was put to work on double-handed pumps to hold back the water. Eventually we got on the move, slowly bound for Great Yarmouth. I heard later our Captain [Lt. Alan Lennard Wylde, RN] had been reprimanded. It must be remembered that no lights at all were allowed to be shown at sea including even dimmed navigation lights.

Cotswold was badly damaged and was under repair for six months.

Somerset Standards report on HMS Montrose, adopted by Frome after Thunderbolt was sunk

Both commanding officers faced a court martial. Cdr Guy Neville-Rolfe's Service Certificate records that was convicted of having hazarded his ship but his "severe reprimand" was annulled by the Board of Admiralty on the grounds that:

"a) That the accused was not on the bridge earlier was in their Lordships opinion insufficient to justify a conviction for negligently or by default hazarding his ship.
b) Action taken by the accused to avert a collision may not have been the best action in the circumstances, but this does not constitute negligence and Their Lordships dissent from the findings.

The sentence was annulled. And officer so informed - through C in C Nore AL (Admiralty Letter) NL33 of 44 dated 15/3/44"

Lt Wylde may have been more to blame but he remained in the Navy after the war and retired in 1958 as Commander.

Based on age Neville-Rolfe was placed on the Retired List with the rank of Commander on 21 November when he was 45. For the next six months HMS Montrose was escorting East Coast Convoys, fighting off E-Boats and enemy bombers, a hazardous but repetitive routine made familiar from his time as CO of HMS Mendip.

HMS Montrose played a prominent part in Operation Neptune, the D-Day Landings in Normandy. On D-Day she escorted Convoy ETL1, comprising 12 LST and 27 LCT taking the 7th Armoured Division, the “Desert Rats” to their landing beach: "As we left England we passed another convoy commaded by Lt Angus Graham RNVR, the Marquis of Graham (son of the Duke of Montrose) in HMS Ludlow. He had some pipers on the bridge to play the Montrose Skirl which gave us and particularly the soldiers, a heartening send-off."

From 7 June she deployed with a group escorting the Build-up convoys. A month later on 7 July her stern was damaged in collision with the cargo ship Empire Heywood off Harwich. Montrose suffered more serious damage on 19 July when she collided with the Landing Ship Tank LST430:

"Montrose had a humiliating end by being nearly cut in half by a Landing Ship Tank (LST) in fog off Normandy on our second or third trip, but we got both bits home."

LST 430 was a 300 ft long ocean crossing ship with a crew of 117, very different from the Landing Craft Tanks (LCT) which landed the tanks on the Normandy beaches and much bigger than HMS Montrose as can be seen by the photographs below. Nothing further is known about the cause of the collision other than it happened in thick fog but I hope to locate a photograph showing the damage done.

The most senior officer in HM LST-430 was First Lt Patrick Vere Mollan RNVR from County Down, Northern Ireland, who joined her on 26 August 1943 shortly before his Commanding Officer Lt Cdr William H. Laws RNR was badly wounded in the landing at Salerno (Operation Avalanche) in September and took no further part in the war. Lt Mollan was probably the acting CO of HM LS-430 when the collision with HMS Montrose took place on 19 July 1944.

Montrose was placed in Category C Reserve ("mothballed") on 2 November 1944, allocated by BISCO to Hughes Bolckow Ltd for disposal on 31 January 1946 and scrapped at Blyth in Northumberland.

Commando disembarking from HM LST-430 at Tilbury
The collision with HMS Montrose brought an end to her thirty years service in the Royal Navy
Photograph courtesy of Keith Stockwell
for his father Bernard W. Stockwell, Quartermaster HM LST-430

HMS Vivien berthed at Tilbury in May 1940

HMS Vivien (L33) berthed at Tilbury in May 1940 after returning from the Netherlands with refugees
Montrose was 200 tons heavier and 20 foot longer than Vivien which displaced 1,300 tons and was 300 ft in length
An LST Mark 3 displaced 5,000 tons with a full load and was 350 ft long
Photographed by Sub Lt Herbert Walkinshaw RNVR

Montrose was Cdr Guy Neville-Rolfe's last seagoing command but he remained in service until 1952. He was given a job with "the Admiral Superintendent of Contract Built Shops based at Newcastle" and moved there before buying his first house on the coast at Whitley Bay. He was then offered the job of Area Officer of the Sea Cadet Corps from Bury St Edmunds to the Scottish border and seemed to be almost permanently on the road in his 1930's Alvis as he set himself a target of two visits to each unit a year. For his dedication to the work he was awarded the OBE on 1 January 1952. His final appointment was a recruiting post in Derby. He finally retired on 30 October 1952 and moved into a purpose built bungalow at Duffield named Heacham after the Rolfe family seat. He was 89 when he died at Derby on 22 May 1988.

At least three generations of Cdr Guy Neville-Rolfe's family served in the Royal Navy. He was born into the Navy, the son of Captain Herbert Neville-Rolfe RN (1854-1942) and the nephew of Admiral Ernest Neville Rolfe, C.B (1847 – 1909), and his second son married the daughter of Cdr I.R.C. Moultrie in 1963 and retired as Captain John Murray Neville-Rolfe (1937-2021).

David Neville-Rolfe with Bell oif HMS Montrose

Admiral Ernest Neville-Rolfe (1847 - 1909), David Neville-Rolfe with the bell of HMS Montrose and Capt Herbert Neville-Rolfe (1854-1942)
Capt Herbert Neville Rolfe was awarded the DSC for sinking a U-Boat with the armoured "yacht" assigned to him by the Admiralty

The only photograph we had of the last Commanding Officer of HMS Montrose was the wedding photograph in the Daily Mirror on 19 January 1930 until I traced their eldest son, David Edmund Neville-Rolfe born 6 February 1932 who served in the Army until the age of 39 and then went into the insurance business. He married Yvonne de Cosson, the little girl he met in Alexandria when they were both three and they had three chldren, non of whom joined the Navy. He is photographed above with the bell of HMS Montrose between his Grandfather and Great Uncle.

Most of this account is based on Cdr Guy Neville-Rolfe's own memories recorded by him in 1969 when he was 71 plus some additional details written by his second son Captain John Murray Neville-Rolfe (1937-2021) in May 1998. A typescript of these documents will be published on the website as a PDF.