On the evening of 24 May 1941, British lieutenant commander Malcolm Wanklyn, in command of the submarine Upholder, sighted an enemy troop convoy strongly escorted by destroyers off Sicily. The failing light was such that observation by periscope could not be relied on, and the Upholder's listening gear was out of order. Still, Wanklyn decided to press home his attack at short range.
Wanklyn closed in. As he was about to fire, one of the enemy destroyers suddenly appeared out of the darkness at high speed, and he only just avoided being rammed. Then he brought his periscope sights on and fired torpedoes, which sank a large troop ship. The enemy destroyers at once made a strong counterattack, but with coolness and skill Wanklyn brought the Upholder safe back to harbour.
Wanklyn was killed along with his crew when his submarine was sunk in April 1942.
一九四一年五月二十四日，英國海軍少校馬爾科姆．華克萊恩指揮着潛艇支持者號，在西西里島附近看見敵軍的運兵船隊，由多艘驅逐艦護送。當時天色昏暗，難以用潛望鏡觀察，而潛艇的聽音設備也壞了。雖然如此，華克萊恩還是決定近距離攻擊。
他把潛艇靠近船隊，正準備開火，黑暗中敵軍一艘驅逐艦突然出現，高速撞過來。華克萊恩勉強避過，然後用潛望鏡瞄準，發射魚雷，把一艘運兵的大船炸沉。敵軍驅逐艦馬上大舉反擊，但華克萊恩頭腦冷靜，指揮得宜，潛艇安全開回港口。
一九四二年四月，華克萊恩的潛艇被擊沉，他和手下船員同告喪生。
（古德明）
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