David Wanklyn - Death

Death

By the end of 1941 Lieutenant-Commander Wanklyn had sunk nearly 140,000 tons of enemy shipping, including a destroyer and troopships, tankers, supply and store ships. Wanklyn was killed along with his crew when Upholder was lost on her 25th patrol, becoming overdue on 14 April 1942. The most likely explanation is that she fell victim to depth charges dropped by the Italian torpedo boat Pegaso north east of Tripoli on 14 April 1942 although no debris was seen on the surface. The attack was 100 miles away from Wanklyn's patrol area; it is thought that he may have changed position to find more targets. It is also possible that the submarine was sunk by a mine on 11 April 1942 near Tripoli, when a submarine was reported as approaching a minefield. More recent research carried out by Italian naval specialist Francesco Mattesini points out to a German aerial patrol supporting the same convoy, composed of two Dornier Do-17s and two Messerschmidt Bf-110s, which attacked an underwater contact with bombs two hours before the Pegaso incident. The author also asserts that the seaplane crew was unsure if the target they pintpointed to Pegaso was a submarine or a school of dolphins. Mattesini, however, admits the possibility that Pegaso could have finished off the submarine previously damaged by the German aircraft. Wanklyn was the Allies' most successful submariner in terms of tonnage sunk.