A D.S.M. awarded to Able Seaman Alfred Hutchinson, H.M.T. Visenda, for the sinking of the U.551

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE MEDAL, G.VI.R. (JX 142063, A.B., H.M.T. Visenda) suspension refixed, edge knocks, good fine and better

D.S.M., London Gazette, 18th July 1941: 'For courage and skill in a successful attack on an Enemy Submarine.'

One D.S.O., one D.S.C., and two D.S.M.'s were awarded to the crew of the trawler Visenda for the destruction of the German U-Boat USSi, on the 23rd March 1941. The Visenda was at sea about one hundred and fifty miles south-east of Iceland when she sighted the U-Boat. For an hour the trawler tracked the U-Boat, occasionally losing asdic contact, and dropped three patterns of depth charges, until finally air bubbles, oil and wreckage indicated that they had made their kill. Later inspection of the wreckage collected by the Visenda, including a human heart and some bloody portions of a man's lungs, proved beyond doubt that the U.551 had been destroyed. The action is described in detail in 'Lilliput Fleet' by A. Cecil Hampshire and copies of the relevant pages accompany the lot.