John Moffat (pilot)

Infobox Military Person
name= John William Charlton Moffat
lived= Born 1919


placeofbirth= Kelso, United Kingdom
placeofdeath=
nickname=
branch=
allegiance=UK
serviceyears=1939-1946
rank= Lieutenant Commander
commands=
unit= HMS "Ark Royal" with 759 Naval Air Squadron
HMS "Argus" with 818 Naval Air Squadron
HMS "Furious" with 820 Naval Air Squadron
HMS "Formidable" with 824 Naval Air Squadron
battles=Second World War
*Battle of the Atlantic
awards=
laterwork=

John William Charlton Moffat (b. 1919) was a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm pilot, famous for crippling the German battleship "Bismarck" during Operation Rheinübung on 26 May 1941, whilst flying a Fairey Swordfish biplane.

Naval career

John Moffat joined the Royal Navy in September 1939. In December he moved to a flying school in Belfast. Moffat originally trained on Gloster Gladiator and Blackburn Skuas. Moffat was then transferred to 818 Squadron HMS "Ark Royal", based at Gibraltar in January 1941. On 24 May 1941, the German battleship "Bismarck" sunk the Royal Navy battlecruiser HMS "Hood", and HMS "Ark Royal" was released, as part of Force H, to hunt down "Bismarck" and sink her. On 26 May 1941 the "Bismarck" was nearing the safety of the French port Saint-Nazaire. A last ditch attempt to slow the battleship down, so that the British heavy units could catch up with her, was made that night.

At 21:05 hours, Moffat and his observer T/S-Lt.(A) J. D. "Dusty" Miller, flying in the Fairey Swordfish "5C/L9726", crippled the "Bismarck" with a hit on her port stern. The blow jammed "Bismarck's" rudder 12° to port. This enabled the Home Fleet and Force H to catch up with and destroy "Bismarck".

After the War

Moffat left the Navy in 1946 and returned to Glasgow. He went to college in Glasgow to get a business degree and also achieved a diploma in hotel management. Moffat had stopped flying after leaving the Navy. In his 60s, after 40 years, he began flying again. [http://www.loop.aero/features/features/2006/January/6 John Moffat interview]

References

* [http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/fleet_air_arm.htm Fleet Air Arm: John Moffat]
* [http://www.unithistories.com/officers/RNVR_officersM.html Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) Officers 1939-1945]
* [http://www.land-care.org.uk/social_economic/current_topics/2005/may2005/linkl_scot_moffat_27_05/linkl_scot_moffat_27_05.html Linklater’s Scotland: The heroism of John Moffat Magnus Linklater]
* [http://www.loop.aero/features/features/2006/January/6 Interview with John Moffat]
* [http://www.kbismarck.com/article2.html The Story of the Torpedoing of the Bismarck]