The Shropshire Star has linked up with Ron Cope of Horsehay to bring you extracts from the dramatic first-hand account of his late father, Cyril Cope, who was a torpedoman on the destroyer HMS Hardy in the First Battle of Narvik, which took place 70 years ago.

In this second instalment, we pick up after HMS Hardy has fired the opening shots.

“After firing our torpedoes we went to the assistance of the aft tubes crew. One torpedo hit the iron ore jetty.

“Leaving the harbour at full speed, our Captain signalled our other destroyers to go in and attack with torpedoes only. This they did, except for the Hostile. For some unknown reason she did not fire any.

“The four ships followed us down the fjord, but not very far though because on my headphones I heard the Captain say ‘We have done a good job, but we must go back to do some more.’ We turned back into the harbour, moving very fast, and began firing all our guns, doing much damage to destroyers and enemy transports, as well as the iron ore ships taken over by the Germans.

“We made our way out of the harbour with our other ships following us. Down the fjord we sped to what we thought would be the open sea and maybe home. It was not to be.

“Once again I heard the Captain say ‘We did a lot more damage but now we must go back and this time we will be staying. All the men selected for landing party get ready.’

“The Germans had thought our previous attacks had been air attacks. However, on our third approach they fired at us. We could not get into the harbour as there was oil on fire in the water. Ships were on fire and some were sinking. We fired our shells through the entrance and then we turned down the fjord.

“As we cleared the entrance we could see three enemy destroyers bearing down on us, chasing. Through the heavy mist two large ships were sighted passing across our bows. They started to fire full salvoes at us.

“Hardy, being the leader, came in for a lot of heavy punishment. A full salvo hit our bridge, killing or wounding all the personnel. A shell hit the wheelhouse and the ship was temporarily out of control. My mate Bill Pimlett was hit. There was not much left of him.

“One shell cut off the steam to the engines. As the ship lost speed Lt Stanning gave the order to steer to the shore. The ship drifted to shore until it grounded.”

l In our final instalment we shall cover Cyril’s escape from the stricken ship and his eventual rescue.