East, Rupert Donald (Oral history)

British officer served aboard HMS Exeter in North and South Atlantic, 1936-1940; served aboard HMS Dorsetshire in South Atlantic and Indian Ocean, 1940-1942 including sinking in Indian Ocean, 5/4/1942; served aboard HMS Duke of York, British Pacific Fleet in Far East and Pacific, 1945-1946; served aboard HMS Glory off Korea, 1951-1952

REEL 1 Aspects of period as officer aboard HMS Exeter in North and South Atlantic, 1936-1939: background to enlistment in Royal Navy, 1936; education duties on board ship; plotting duties; role of ship showing the flag in South American waters; aid given to earthquake victims, Concepcion, Chile, 1/1939. Recollections of operations as officer aboard HMS Exeter during Battle of River Plate in South Atlantic, 12/1939: hunt for Admiral Graf Spee; shell hit on HMS Exeter's plotting office; question of casualties in plotting office; voyage to Falkland Islands after action; handling publication of book about Battle of River Plate, spring 1940. REEL 2 Continues: Aspects of operations as officer aboard HMS Dorsetshire in South Atlantic and Indian Ocean, 1940-1942 including sinking in Indian Ocean, 5/4/1942: sinking of German submarine supply ship MV Python in South Atlantic, 1/12/1941; bombardment of Dante, Italian Somaliland, 18/11/1940; hunt for German battleship Bismarck in North Atlantic, 5/1941; sight of sinking of Bismarck, 5/1941; sinking of HMS Dorsetshire by Imperial Japanese Air Force in Indian Ocean, 5/4/1942; period in sea after sinking and rescue after thirty hours, 5/4/1942-6/4/942. Aspects of period as officer aboard Duke of York, British Pacific Fleet in Far East and Pacific, 1945-1946: joining ship early 1945; visits to Nagaski and Hiroshima, Japan, 3/1946; relations with Japanese civilians. Nature of operations as officer aboard aircraft carrier HMS Glory, off Korea, 1951-1952.