Lieutenant Commander Maxwell Shean DSO* (deceased)

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Volunteered for hazardous duty in 1941 and trained to become a diver on X-Craft midget submarines. X-Craft were towed behind larger submarines in the passage to their target, with a special passage crew aboard. Once near their target a separate attack crew would take over for the mission. Shean was part of the attack crew for X-9 sent to attack the German battleship Tirpitz and was aboard the towing HMS Syrtis during the passage when the towrope broke. The passage crew was lost and the rope became snarled in a propeller of HMS Syrtis. Shean successfully freed the rope with a number of dives from the surface wearing just overalls. The attack went ahead with some success without X-9. The following year, Shean was commander of X-24 for an attack on an enemy floating dock in Bergen, Norway. The mission was a total success and Shean was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, except that the wrong target was destroyed - a German mechant vessel was sunk due to faulty intelligence. The Bar to his DSO was awarded when he commanded XE-4 to successfully sever communications cables off Japanese-occupied Saigon. His divers Briggs and Bergius each returned with a short length of one of the cables as proof they had been cut after searching for them for several hours. After the war he returned to his native Australia, working in the energy sector until retirement in 1978. He died on 15th June 2009.

Items Signed by Lieutenant Commander Maxwell Shean DSO* (deceased)

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