ROYAL Navy veteran Victor Rothwell spoke little of his experiences in the Second World War – it was only after his death that his family discovered he had fought in many of its major sea battles.

A leading seaman and torpedo expert, Victor, from Darwen, took part in the Battle of the River Plate, the Battle of Pedestal in the Mediterranean and in the sinking of the Bismarck, as well as serving on the perilous Allied Arctic convoys to help relieve Russia.

He was also a keen photo-grapher and left behind a library of images of warships engaged in battle in European waters.

Victor, who was born in 1920 in Willows Lane, joined the Navy before the war, at the age of 15.

In December, 1939, he was serving aboard the cruiser HMS Exeter, guarding the aircraft carrier Victorious, alongside the Ajax and Achilles, off the coast of Argentina, when they confronted the German cruiser Graf Spee, responsible for sinking nine merchant vessels.

At the Battle of the River Plate it inflicted heavy damage on the British ships, but she, too, was badly hit and was forced to put into port at Montevideo before being scuttled. Action stations aboard Exeter had been sounded at 6.30am and Victor was ordered to the bridge to keep a look out for enemy submarines and aircraft. Seconds after being ordered to another section, the bridge was hit by shells.

Indeed the Exeter was so shot to bits in the battle, she was escorted home to Plymouth for repairs, where she received a rapturous welcome home from thousands on the quayside along with Winston Churchill, who shook hands with every member of crew. Twenty years on, Churchill also sent out a personally signed thank-you note to every seaman who had been involved — Exeter was sunk in the Battle of the Java Sea in 1942.

Victor also brought home a memento of his experiences – a piece of metal from the Graf Spee, which had lodged in his hat following an explosion.

His next posting was aboard HMS Kenya, which was part of the chilling Arctic conveys taking vital supplies to Murmansk — his Arctic Star medal was presented to his family earlier this year.

Returning from the Arctic Circle, the Kenya was ordered to escort the Victorious en route for Malta, but off the coast of France, its aircraft helped attack and disable the Bismarck and Allied destroyers finished her off.

Many Royal Navy’s ships were sunk or torpedoed as they fought to break the enemy blockade of Malta and HMS Kenya, which stayed outside the harbour, was attacked by both Italian E boats and German bombers, which were fought off with small cannon fire.

Victor was discharged to the Reserve in 1950, but during his service had served on a number of ships, including the Ganges, Colombo, Defiance, Shah and Devonshire.

He had married Jennie, from Darwen, in 1946 and the couple who lived in Park Road, had two sons, Phil and Graham.

After his service, he went to work at Blackburn ROF, involved in secret work in the test laboratories.

He was a founder member of the Blackburn branch of the Royal Naval Association, was three times given the honour of laying a wreath at Darwen Remembrance service and was also a volunteer with Darwen Library Theatre.

Victor died in 2002, aged 82, and following the death of his wife, their ashes, carried by his family aboard a Royal Navy ship, were scattered in Plymouth Sound, the service being carried out, fittingly, by the last chaplain of the last ship to be called HMS Exeter, a Type 42 destroyer, which served in the Falklands and the Gulf War, before she was decommissioned five years ago.