Last survivor of the sinking of the final Royal Navy ship in second world war, HMS Vestal, talks of experiences ahead of VJ Day
As VJ Day looms on August 15, the last survivor of the final Royal Naval vessel to be sunk in the second world war has recalled the experience that nearly took his life.
Vince Matchett was a sailor on HMS Vestal, an Algerine-class minesweeper and part of the East Indies Fleet along with Pincher, Plucky, Recruit, Pickle, Rifleman, and Chameleon.
Vestal was sunk on July 26, 1945, while participating in Operation Livery.
At around 6.25pm, an alarm was sounded when three unidentified planes were spotted coming over Phuket Island, soon followed by several more.
Vestal was hit by a kamikaze, sustaining critical damage and killing 20 men.
She was the last Royal Navy ship to be sunk in the second world war and the only British ship to be taken out of action by kamikaze pilots in the Indian Ocean.
As the ship was hit close to Thailand, which was a Japanese ally, the crew were taken off and the ship was scuttled.
Mr Matchett is now the last surviving member of Vestal’s 108 man crew. Speaking at his Newark home, Mr Matchett, who was eventually invalided out of the Navy due to the severity of his injuries, recalled what happened.
He said: “I was down in the forward boiler room when we were hit. I remember the PO (petty officer) saying ‘there’s a hell of a noise going on upstairs, nip up and have a look.’
“I poked my head out and there were planes everywhere, bombs were falling.
“I was only 19. To say I was frightened is an understatement.
“I went back to the boiler room and I don’t remember much after that. They told me afterwards I was in the water.”
Once brought out of the ocean, Mr Matchett was taken to Nelson and down to the sick bay.
Before she was sunk, a man was sent to retrieve Vestal’s Royal Naval ensign (flag) and it was returned to Britain.
He remembers being brought up to deck to join in the funerals at sea of some of the other men who hadn’t been so lucky.
“The real heroes are still out there,” he said, with a tear in his eye.
He spent VJ Day — when the war officially ended — in hospital. He would spend 18 months in hospitals.
Both Vestal and another ship, Squirrel, whose roles were to sweep mines from the path of the East Indies Fleet, lie near each other on the shallow ocean bed.
German divers recovered Vestal’s ship’s bell but it eventually found its way back to the Royal Navy.
Mr Matchett’s son, Glenn, arranged for him to see it and the ensign a couple of years ago.
This year is the 75th anniversary of VJ Day, and 93-year-old Mr Matchett, a member of the Newark branch of the Royal Naval Association, said no matter how events locally were affected by coronavirus restrictions, he would be taking part in whatever was possible to honour his former shipmates.