Ordinary Telegraphist Russell Clarke ROTHNEY (P/JX 609508) RN
HMS Cato Royal Navy

Date of birth: 9th January 1925
Date of death: 6th July 1944

Killed in action aged 19
Commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial Panel 84 Column 3
Russell Clarke Rothney was born at Rothie Norman, Aberdeenshire on the 9th of January 1925 the son of James Rothney and Helen Rothney of Nethybridge in Inverness-shire.

He worked as a booking clerk for the L.N.E.R before joining the Navy in 1943.

The minesweeper HMS Cato (J16), under the command of Lieutenant Robert William Edward Harris RN, had crossed the channel on the 5th of June 1944 to take part in operations off the Normandy Beaches during the invasion. She operated as a minesweeper for three weeks until she was sunk by a Neger human torpedo. The Neger torpedo was a manned torpedo which was made up of two torpedoes which were directed by the crew at enemy vessels. They had been used against the invasion fleet at Anzio the previous year and the attack at Normandy was only the second time they had been deployed. The flotilla of 24 Negers sailed from Villers-sur-Mer near Honfleur and was made up of 40 vessels. Twenty four made attacks resulting in the sinking of HMS Cato and the minesweeper HMS Magic, Only nine Negers returned. The survivors from HMS Cato were picked up by fellow minesweeper HMS Chamois.

He is commemorated on the war memorial at Nethybridge.


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