Originally Posted by
Union Jack
It would have been particularly interesting to know what his own Captain's views on the the allocation of resources were, not least recalling that, like Admiral Woodward, he too was a very highly regarded submariner and certainly not in my view a "submarine idiot".
Jack
Wouldn’t it just, Jack. He seems to have been a very popular captain who took an active and practical interest in his crews.
Just been ‘dipping’ in
One Hundred Days and confirmed a suspicion the date of Vice-Admiral Coward’s first command raised. He was a student on Sandy Woodward’s first
Perisher as Teacher. He (JFC) is mentioned frequently in the book. Woodward couldn’t recall ’a more canny submariner among all those who followed him’. He calls him ‘pretty sound’ and states ‘I knew Coward well, his courage and his competence’. Woodward himself may give us the answer as he wrote that during the planning for the landings:
Coward was inclined to station the two Type 42s Glasgow and Coventry well forward (west of West Falkland!) with combat air patrols flying forward of them … the carriers … should bring up the rear some fifty miles back.
Although he rejected the suggestion Woodward said he wrote in his diary “Coward could be right”.
The
Skipper page on the Brilliant site is interesting in itself. Among other things he throws a light on the limitations of Seawolf, especially early on. Its shooting down of the Mirages on May 12 was outside the expected performance as, at that time, it was only supposed to target missiles, aircraft should have been rejected as producing too large returns.
He also draws attention to Laon Hulme’s application of his training as a fighter controller and ‘D’ in San Carlos/Falkland Sound, which earned him an MID, when there were no AAW ships in range.