Philip

... In December 1944, he returned to the Indian Ocean as first lieutenant of Whelp, now deployed as part of the destroyer screen for the bombing raids on Japanese oil refineries on Sumatra. In late January, they picked up a Mayday signal from a stricken Allied bomber about to ditch in the shark-infested Java Sea.
Philip promptly activated Whelp’s search and rescue system and directed the vessel at full speed towards the spot where the bomber had gone down. The plane had quickly sunk and its two crew struggled in vain to inflate their life raft. After spending twenty minutes in the sea they were greatly relieved to see Whelp approaching, and an anxious-looking Prince Philip peering over the side to check they were okay.
He later gave them dinner in the officers’ mess and when they eventually reached Fremantle, he suggested a run ashore, which turned into a ‘memorable bender’ in the port’s bars so one of the airmen recalled. ...
From Fremantle, Whelp proceeded round to Sydney and then on to Papua New Guinea with the British Pacific Fleet. ...

HMS Whelp

References and Links

Daily Telegraph, 15 August 2020 (excerpt above)

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