William Hedley Kett DSC, RNR
| Born | 28 Jul 1913 | London, England, U.K. |
| Ranks
Retired: 30 Jun 1968 Decorations
|
Warship Commands listed for William Hedley Kett, RNR
| Ship | Rank | Type | From | To |
| HMS P 555 (P 555) | Lt. | Submarine | 7 Nov 1942 | 26 Jan 1943 |
| HMS Ultimatum (P 34) | Lt. | Submarine | 27 Jan 1943 | 27 Dec 1944 |
| HMS Otway (N 51) | Lt. | Submarine | 30 Jan 1945 | 24 May 1945 |
| HMS Taku (N 38) | Lt. | Submarine | 25 May 1945 | 25 Aug 1945 |
| HMS Tactician (P 314) | Lt. | Submarine | 18 Jun 1945 | 9 Nov 1945 |
Career information
William Hedley Kett is alive and well in Dec 2011.
Events related to this officer
Submarine HMS Ultimatum (P 34)
30 Oct 1943
On this day HMS Ultimatum (Lt. W.H. Kett, DSC, RNR) attacked a German U-boat the Mediterranean southeast of Toulon, France, in position 43º04'N, 05º57'E. This attack was against U-73 but it inflicted no damage. HMS Ultimatum is often credited to have sunk U-431 in this attack. However U-431 was sunk with all hands on 21 October 1943 in the Mediterranean off Algiers in position 37º23'N, 00º35'E, by depth charges from a British Wellington aircraft (Sqdn. 179/Z). U-431's fate was revised in November 1987 by the Foreign Documents Section of the British Ministry of Defence.
5 Apr 1944
HMS Ultimatum (Lt. W.H. Kett, DSC, RNR) sinks a German sailing vessel with gunfire off Suda Bay, Crete, Greece.
2 May 1944
HMS Ultimatum (Lt. W.H. Kett, DSC, RNR) shells the harour of Kalamata, Greece. Two sailing vessels were sunk, five were destroyed on the slips and one was damaged.
3 Jul 1944
HMS Ultimatum (Lt. W.H. Kett, DSC, RNR) fires two torpedoes at the German auxilary patrol vessel Uj 6073 / Nimeth Allah off Toulon, southern France. The torpedoes however miss their target.
At 0059 hours Ultimatum sighted a white light flashing morse bearing 340º. Five minutes later two darkened ships were made out steaming on a course of 200º distance 2000 yards. As the vessels were at close range and were signalling, Lt. Kett thought he might be sighted. He turned his submarine stern on to watch events unfold.
At 0109 hours the vessels were identified as a destroyer and a UJ boat, and as they showed no sign of taking action against Ultimatum Lt. Kett altered course to attack.
At 0114 hours four torpedoes were fired. 40 seconds later one torpedo was seen to hit causing a column of water rise 50 feet into the air completely enveloping the target (this actually was not a hit, the torpedo exploded prematurely). Six seconds later a second torpedo was heard to explode but this was not observed as the submarine was now diving towards 150 feet.
27 Jul 1944
HMS Ultimatum (Lt. W.H. Kett, DSC, RNR) fires four torpedoes against a group of small German vessels. The German barge F 811 is hit and sunk of the coast of southern France in position 43º03'N, 05º34'E.