Alvord Sydney Rosenthal DSO, RAN
| Born | 16 Jan 1901 | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Ranks
Retired: 16 Jan 1961 Decorations
|
Warship Commands listed for Alvord Sydney Rosenthal, RAN
| Ship | Rank | Type | From | To |
| HMAS Westralia (F 95) | Cdr. | Armed Merchant Cruiser | 27 Oct 1939 | 24 Sep 1940 |
| HMAS Nestor (G 02) | Cdr. | Destroyer | 20 May 1941 | 16 Jun 1942 |
Career information
We currently have no career / biographical information on this officer.
Events related to this officer
Destroyer HMAS Nestor (G 02)
15 Dec 1941 (position 36.28, -9.12)
German U-boat U-127 was sunk west of Gibraltar, in position 36°28'N, 09°12'W, by depth charges from the Australian destroyer HMAS Nestor (Cdr. A.S. Rosenthal, DSO, RAN).
15 Jun 1942
Nestor had sailed from Haifa with the 7th Australian DD Flotilla (HMAS Napier, Nizam, Norman to take part i the operations connected with the passage of the Vigorous convoy to Malta. She was part of the screen for the cruiser force tasked with covering convoy MW.11, coming from Alexandria.
In the afternoon of 15 June, following the sinking of DD Airedale at the hands of a group of 33 Ju.87s belonging to II/St.G.3 under Hauptmann (Capt) Kurt Kuhlmey, there was a combined air attack on the Axis side, by 32 aircraft, of which 23 Italian (8 Cant-Z. 1007bs of the 35? Stormo BT, Lt.Col. Bruno Borghetti and 15 S.79 VTBs) and 9 Ju.88s of I/L.G.1 (Hauptmann Joachim Helbig). The German machines dive bombed the screen, near-missing CL Newcastle and the dummy BB Centurion.
In the meantime, the 8 Cant.Z. 1007 bis attacked the convoy, at the time located some 100 nautical miles north of Tobruk, in position 33°36'N, 24°30'E. At 1806 hrs two bombs, dropped from 17000 feet (5000 metres) fell very close to Nestor's hull, causing a large hull breach in way of the engineering spaces abaft the stack, causing her to go dead in the water with severe engine damage and immediate flooding of #1 boiler room. All personnel in this section was killed, power failed and a fire broke out. Afer shoring up of the damaged bulkheads and firefighting had obtained a degree of stability to the situation, it was believed that, since the pums could still work and keep her afloat, albeit with a heavy list, the destroyer could be saved. She was therefore taken in tow at 2259 hours by Javelin while Eridge and Beaufort were detached from the screen to escort the tow. Javelin's Commanding Officer (Lt.Cdr. J.C. Simms) was instructed by the SOP (Capt. S.H. Arliss on board Napier) to scuttle the cripple if conditions deteriorated, decision seconded by Rear-Admiral Vian, in overall command of the convoy.
The tow headed for Alexandria, but at sunrise the ships had covered only 80 nautical miles and Alexandria was still 230 nautical miles away and Lt.Cdr. Simms, fearing a renewal of the air attacks, and unwilling to risk his ship, decided to scuttle Nestor. Javelin, therefore, removed Nestor's crew @ 0750 hours of 16 June and dropped 7 depth charges, sinking Nestor in 33°42'N, 24°27'E, some 115 nautical miles North-East of Tobruk. Casualties were limited to 4 dead and 1 wounded.
NB: all British reports indicate that Nestor's damage was caused by level bombers, therefore the success must be ascribed to the Italian Air Force, since the German planes who took part in the attack made diving attacks. We are indebted to Mr. Francesco Mattesini for the detailed archival research which clarified the loss of this destroyer.
You can help improve officers Alvord Sydney Rosenthal's page
Click here to Submit events/comments/updates for this officer.
Please use this if you spot mistakes or want to improve his page.