Tinfish 01 -The Tinfish Run

1942.

A convoy of merchantmen with its naval escort ploughs through the Arctic seas towards northern Russia.

In the grey seas beneath them lurk the deadly U-boat packs and in the skies above, cloud hides the squadrons of dive-bombing Junkers.

Aboard the elderly V&W class RN destroyer HMS Virtue, Ordinary Seaman ‘Lobby’ Ludd of His Majesty's Navy is making his first trip in the service of the Royal Navy.

A Cockney lad, 'Lobby' Ludd, aged eighteen, is soon fighting against U-boat "tinfish" (torpedoes), arctic gales, and bone-weariness, while listening to the ribald tales of older and wiser Ratings as he learns the tricks and techniques of survival from his fellow salty shipmates.

But as the enemy mounts its attack, and the atmosphere intensifies, will the men’s camaraderie be enough to see them through?

Or will The Tinfish Run turn out to be their final voyage?

Ronald Bassett (1924-1996) was born in Chelsea. During the Munich crisis, at age fourteen, he falsified enlistment papers to become a Rifleman of the King’s Royal Rifle Corps (60th Rifles). Following active service, he was exposed and discharged. In his records, his colonel noted, ‘A good soldier. I am sorry to lose him.’ Undismayed, he immediately entered the Royal Navy, in which he remained for fourteen years, serving in the Arctic, North Atlantic, Mediterranean, the Far East and, later, Korea. He died in Surrey. (less)