{"product_id":"admiral-vat-smith-graeme-lunn-9780645700480","title":"Admiral Vat Smith: The Extraordinary Life of the Father of Australia's Fleet Air Arm","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"...this combat biography is unmatched by any other navy person anywhere in the world.\" --Nautical Research Journal\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAdmiral Sir Victor Alfred Trumper \"VAT\" Smith AC KBE CB DSC MiD RAN is a towering figure in Australian naval circles, his extraordinary career spanning almost 50 years. As the first graduate of the Royal Australian Naval College to be promoted full admiral he was the founding father of the Australian Fleet Air Arm.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJoining the navy in 1927 aged thirteen, Smith specialized in aviation. As the senior observer of a Royal Navy Swordfish squadron, he led the first mass torpedo strike against a major warship at sea, the daring attack on the battlecruiser Scharnhorst off Norway in 1940. Then, at Churchill's insistence, he embarked the very first catapult fighter for convoy protection. His subsequent service in two-seat Fairey Fulmar fighters saw him twice shot down in the Mediterranean and escape the torpedoed HMS Ark Royal in 1941.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecalled to Australia to fly Walrus amphibians, Smith survived the August 1942 destruction of HMAS Canberra at the Battle of Savo Island. Returning to Europe he served in the escort carrier HMS Tracker in the Atlantic and Arctic before participating in the Normandy landings.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePostwar he was closely involved in the Australian decision to develop a carrier-based Fleet Air Arm and was executive officer of the carrier HMAS Sydney in the Korean War. Command of frigates, an air station and the carrier HMS Melbourne followed. As Chief of Naval Staff, he dispatched forces to the war in Vietnam before serving as chairman of the tri-service Chiefs of Staff in the 1970s.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe author, Graeme Lunn, also a RANC graduate and aviator, began his naval career when Smith was still serving.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Graeme Lunn\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0645700487\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780645700480\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Avonmore Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/15\/2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover","brand":"Graeme Lunn","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48998595330303,"sku":"9780645700480","price":24.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/admiral-vat-smith-graeme-lunn-9780645700480","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}