Archibald Bisset Smith

Archibald Bisset Smith VC (19 December 1878-10 March 1917) was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Smith received this award for his action as Master of the SS "Otaki", a ship of the Mercantile Marine. On 10 March 1917 in the Atlantic, the SS "Otaki", whose armament consisted of one 4.7-inch gun, sighted the German raider SMS "Moewe" who was armed with four 5.9-inch, one 4.1-inch and two 22-pounder guns. The raider called on "Otaki" to stop, but Captain Smith refused to do so. A duel ensued, during which "Otaki" secured a number of hits and caused considerable damage, but she herself sustained much damage and was on fire. Captain Smith therefore ordered his crew to abandon ship, but he himself stayed on board and went down with his ship.

As a Merchant seaman he could not receive the VC at that time. In 1919 he was posthumously promoted a Temporary Lieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve and was then entitled to receive the VC posthumously.

References

*Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
*The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
*Scotland's Forgotten Valour (Graham Ross, 1995)
*VCs of the First World War - The Naval VCs (Stephen Snelling, 2002)

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