Commander (E) Ronald Watson FYFE RN
HMS Southampton, Royal Navy

Date of birth: 18th May 1900
Date of death: 11th January 1941

Killed in action aged 40
Commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial 41, 1
He was born at Glasgow on the 18th of May 1900 the only son of Peter Fyfe, Chief Sanitary Inspector for Glasgow and later Director of Housing for Glasgow, and Edith Alice Mabel (nee Watson) , of "The Pines", Crookston, Glasgow.

He was educated at Glasgow Academy from 1911 to 1915 and at the King's School Canterbury from September 1915 to July 1918 where he was a member of the Cricket XI in 1918.

He was granted a special entry cadetship to the Naval College Keynsham in 1918 and entered the College on the 25th of October 1918. He was appointed as a Midshipman in the Royal Navy on the 25th of April 1920 and was posted to the battleship HMS Valiant on the 12th of June 1920, serving with her until the 1st of April 1921. He was then posted to the destroyer HMS Wanderer was promoted to Sub Lieutenant on the 15th of May 1921. He returned to HMS Valiant on the 31st of August 1922. On the 14th of January 1922 he was recommended for training as an Engineering Officer with the following summary of his abilities: -

"Steady, trustworthy, shrewd, and level headed. Active on games, straightforward, cheerful, keen sense of humour. Keen, energetic, tactful, good manners. Shows promise, keen on engineering. Likely to make good engineering officer. Good speaker, successful mess caterer."

He left HMS Valiant on the 11th of February 1922 when he went on an engineering course. He was promoted to Lieutenant (E) on the 15th of May 1923. He was posted to the battleship Royal Oak on the 2nd of June 1925 and to the light cruiser HMS Ceres on the 30th of April 1926.

On the 29th of March 1927 he was married to Annie Margaret (nee McCallum) at the British Vice Consulate in Cannes while he was serving with HMS Ceres. He was named in a divorce petition which was filed on the 26th of May 1937 by Marcus Bertram Linz. He alleged that his wife, Vera Marion, had an affair with Ronald Fyfe at the Imperial Hotel, 244, Buchanan Street, Glasgow on the 14th and 15th of May 1937. His petition was successful and he was granted a Decree Nisi on the 20th of November 1937 and a Decree Absolute on the 30th of May 1938. He was remarried at Paddington in 1938 to Vera Marion (nee Atwill formerly Linz) and they lived at 5, Abele House, Lower Hill Road, Epsom in Surrey.

On the 15th of May 1931 he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander (E) and was promoted to Commander (E) on the 30th of June 1935. He was posted to the light cruiser HMS Southampton (83).

On the 11th of January 1941 HMS Southampton was in formation with the light cruiser HMS Gloucester (D96) and the destroyer HMS Defender (H07) to join convoy ME 6 which had left Malta the previous day. When she was to the south east of Malta she was attacked at 4.05pm by twelve Junkers 87 Stuka dive-bombers from Sicily. She received direct hits in the Petty Officer's Mess and in the Wardroom, starting fires which soon raged out of control and trapped a number of the crew below decks. Repair work was made impossible by the continued attacks and, as a result, the surviving crew members were forced to abandon ship. Sixteen ratings were picked up by the destroyer HMS Diamond while HMS Gloucester picked up thirty three officers and six hundred and seventy eight ratings. She was finally sunk that night with one torpedo fired by HMS Gloucester and four fired by the light cruiser HMS Orion. Eighty one of her crew were lost during the attack.

He is commemorated on the war memorial at Glasgow Academy.
 

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