Jimmy Launders
| James Stuart Launders | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Jimmy |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom |
| Service/branch |
 Royal Navy
|
| Years of service | 1938–1962 |
| Rank | Commander |
| Commands held | HMS Venturer |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards |
DSO and Bar DSC and Bar |
James S. "Jimmy" Launders DSO & Bar, DSC & Bar (1919–1988) was an officer in the British Royal Navy during and after World War II. He retired from the service in 1962, but continued to serve in an unofficial capacity on training programs until his death in 1988. In addition to his reputation amongst his crew, colleagues, and historians as a brilliant, highly skilled, and courageous commander, Launders is remembered as the only submarine commander in history to have engaged and sunk an enemy submarine (U-864) during time of war using only his own unaided vessel (HMS Venturer) while both ships were fully submerged. The unique type of engagement and the unusual nature of the enemy submarine's mission has provided one of the more enduring footnotes to the war, further cementing the fame of Launders, Venturer, and her crew for their wartime action.
Launders joined the Royal Navy as a cadet on 1 January 1938. Upon completion of his training, he was posted as a midshipman to the battlecruiser HMS Repulse on 1 January 1939. He was serving aboard Repulse when the war broke out.
Though he would continue to serve aboard Repulse for more than two years, it was to be his last assignment to a surface vessel for some time. On 1 April 1941 (after the war had been raging for about a year and a half and the Battle of the Atlantic was well underway), Launders was posted to his first submarine assignment aboard HMS P35. In recognition of his outstanding service during that critical phase of the Battle of the Atlantic, Launders was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross on 22 December 1942. He was subsequently promoted to lieutenant on 1 April 1943. His career was on a "fast track", and on 18 May 1943, he received his first command, one that would make him famous: HMS Venturer.
Venturer was Launders' first submarine posting, but his intellect, quick thinking, and leadership had put him in position for just such a challenging command. Venturer was a fast-attack "hunter-killer" sub, whose mission was to hunt for enemy shipping and other submarines, attack them, and to effect a speedy getaway without engaging in a prolonged action. Launders was a "rising star" in the Royal Navy submarine command at the time. a "boy-wonder with a genius for mathematics," which gave him a tremendous edge in making the necessary vector calculations (manual or minimally mechanical-computer assisted reckoning of speed and trajectories for targets, torpedoes, attacking vessels and currents) that were part of submarine warfare tactics of the day.
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