[Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz]

From the obituaries section of the Daily Telegraph:

CAPTAIN DOUGLAS BROMLEY, who has died aged 89, was awarded a DSC for his part in the Last destroyer action of the Second World War - the sinking by 26th Destroyer Flotilla of the Japanese heavy cruiser Haguro in the Malacca Strait in the early hours of May 16 1945.

It was one of only two occasions during the whole of the war at sea when a flotilla of Royal Navy destroyers attacked and sank a superior enemy by torpedoes and guns at night, the classical fighting pattern for which destroyers were originally designed.

The Haguro was one of the largest cruisers ever built; she was also fast and extremely well-armed. With a full outfit of stores, oil fuel and ammunition, she displaced some 15,000 tons - more than twice as much as all five of the destroyers in the flotilla that would oppose her.

The 26th Destroyer Flotilla, composed of Verulam, Venus, Virago, Vigilant and Saumarez, was commanded from Saumarez by Captain Manley "Lofty" Power and sailed for the Far East in early 1945. Bromley, the junior commanding officer in the flotilla, had been in command of Verulam since 1944.

At about 11 pm on May 15, Haguro, flying the flag of Rear-Admiral Hashimoto and heading for her base at Singapore, was picked up on Venus's radar. Saumarez had the contact on radar at about midnight, and within 45 minutes Verulam, Virago and Vigilant had all picked up the target.

Captain Power allocated attacking sectors, and at 12.39 signalled to the flotilla that he intended to strike at 1 am. By 12.50, Power felt that "the situation was entirely in accordance with plan. The net was spread and the quarry, with little encouragement, was walking straight into it".

The destroyers were to the south-west and south-east of Haguro, between her and Singapore. Three torpedoes fired from Verulam and Saumarez hit the Haguro at 1.15, causing tremendous explosions; by 1.51 the flotilla had fired 37 of its 40 torpedoes and Haguro was dead in the water. She had also been engaged by gunfire, and one 4.7 in shell had scored a direct hit on the bridge, killing Admiral Hashimoto and most of his officers.

Just after 2 am, Venus closed and fired her two remaining torpedoes. After a few tense moments, an eye-witness recalled: "One after the other, two huge grey shapes leapt into the air, looking for all the world like poplars, one hit on the stern and one on the bow." Within five minutes the Haguro had sunk.