View source for Archibald Bisset Smith

{{Short description|Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
|name=Archibald Bisset Smith
|birth_date= {{Birth date|df=yes|1878|12|19}}
|death_date= {{Death date and age|df=yes|1917|03|10|1878|12|19}}
|birth_place= [[Cults, Aberdeenshire]]
|death_place= [[Atlantic Ocean]]
|placeofburial=
|image= File:Captain Archibald Bisset Smith d March 7 1917.jpg
|caption= portrait published in the ''Auckland Weekly News'' on 12 April 1917
|nickname=
|allegiance= {{UK}}
|serviceyears= 
|rank=*Merchant Navy: [[Master mariner|Master]]
*Royal Navy: [[Lieutenant (navy)|Lieutenant]]
|branch= {{flagicon|UK|naval}} [[Royal Naval Reserve]]<br/>{{flagicon|UK|civil}} [[Merchant Navy (United Kingdom)|Merchant Navy]]
|commands={{SS|Otaki|1908|2}}
|unit= [[Royal Naval Reserve]]
|battles= [[World War I]]
*[[Action of 10 March 1917]] {{KIA}}
|awards= [[Victoria Cross]]
|laterwork= 
}}

'''Archibald Bisset Smith''' [[Victoria Cross|VC]] (19 December 1878 – 10 March 1917) was a [[Scotland|Scottish]] recipient of the [[Victoria Cross]], the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to [[United Kingdom|British]] and [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] forces.

Smith is one of only two members of the UK [[Merchant Navy (United Kingdom)|Merchant Navy]] to have been awarded the VC for his First World War service.{{sfn|Waters|1939|p=76}}

==World War I action and Victoria Cross==
Smith received this award for his action as [[Master mariner|Master]] of the [[New Zealand Shipping Company]] [[cargo ship]] {{SS|Otaki|1908|2}}. On [[Action of 10 March 1917|10 March 1917]] in the [[Atlantic Ocean]], ''Otaki'', armed with one [[QF 4.7-inch Mk V naval gun|4.7-inch gun]], sighted the German [[merchant raider]] {{SMS|Möwe|1914|6}}, which was armed with four [[15 cm SK L/45|150 mm]], one [[10.5&nbsp;cm SK L/45 naval gun|105 mm]] guns and two 500&nbsp;mm torpedo launchers.{{sfn|Gröner|1985|p=154}}

The raider ordered ''Otaki'' to stop but Captain Smith refused. A duel ensued, during which ''Otaki'' secured a number of hits and caused ''Möwe'' considerable damage, but ''Otaki'' sustained much damage and was on fire. Captain Smith therefore ordered his crew to abandon ship, but he himself stayed aboard and went down with his ship.

His citation reads:{{blockquote|For most conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty when in command of the S.S. "Otaki", on the 10th March 1917. "At about 2.30 p.m. on 10th March 1917, the S.S."Otaki", whose armament consisted of one 4.7 in. gun for defensive purposes sighted the disguised German raider "Möwe", which was armed with four 5.9 in., one 4.1 in. and two 22 pdr. guns, and two torpedo tubes. The "Möwe" kept the "Otaki" under observation for some time and finally called upon her to stop. This Lieutenant Smith refused to do, and a duel ensued at ranges of 1,900–2,000 yards and lasted for about 20 minutes. During this action the "Otaki" scored several hits on the "Möwe", causing considerable damage, and starting a fire which lasted for three days. She sustained several casualties and received much damage herself, and was heavily on fire. Lieutenant Smith, therefore, gave orders for the boats to be lowered to allow the crew to be rescued. He remained on the ship himself and went down with her when she sank with the British colours still flying, after what was described in an enemy account as "a duel as gallant as naval history can relate."<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=31354|supp=y|page=6446|date=23 May 1919}}</ref>}}

As a Merchant officer, Smith could not receive the VC at that time. In 1919 he was posthumously commissioned as a temporary [[Lieutenant (navy)|lieutenant]] in the [[Royal Naval Reserve]], which entitled him to receive the VC posthumously.

As a British Merchant seafarer with no known grave, Smith is commemorated on the [[Tower Hill Memorial]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/4002876 |title=Archibald Bisset Smith |publisher=CWGC}}</ref> On 10 March 2017 a memorial stone was laid at Schoolhill, Aberdeen, to commemorate the centenary of his action.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/aberdeen/1192073/aberdeen-victoria-cross-hero-honoured-100-years-after-his-death/ |last=Hebditch |first=John |title=Aberdeen Victoria Cross hero honoured 100 years after his death |newspaper=[[The Press and Journal (Scotland)|The Press and Journal]] |publisher=[[DC Thomson]] |date=11 March 2017 |access-date=14 January 2020}}</ref>

His VC is preserved at the [[Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company|P&O]] Heritage Collection in London.<ref>{{harvnb|Stewart|2017|p=}}{{page needed|date=October 2020}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Smith was born at Cosie Brae in Cults on 19 December 1878, one of five children of William Smith, an accountant and wholesale merchant, and Annie Smith (née Nicol), both originally from [[Rhynie, Aberdeenshire|Rhynie]]. William Smith was a descendant of [[Bold Peter Smith]], a [[Jacobite risings|Jacobite]] killed at the [[Battle of Culloden]].<ref name=RMC>"[http://www.rgc.aberdeen.sch.uk/assets/0004/0757/Archibald_Bisset_Smith___the_Otaki.pdf Archibald Bisset Smith VC] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180728101150/http://www.rgc.aberdeen.sch.uk/assets/0004/0757/Archibald_Bisset_Smith___the_Otaki.pdf |date=28 July 2018}}," [[Robert Gordon's College]] website. Retrieved 28 July 2018.</ref>

Archibald was a student at [[Robert Gordon's College]] before joining the Merchant Navy in 1895. He gained his Master's ticket in 1903 while serving with the [[New Zealand Shipping Company]], and served on the steamers ''Waikato'', ''Rakaia'', ''Waimate'' and ''Turakina''.<ref name=RMC/>

Shortly before World War I, Smith married Edith Clulee (née Powell), whom he had met while working in [[Port Chalmers]], New Zealand. She had a son, Alfred, from a previous marriage. Alfred later took his stepfather's surname.<ref name=RMC/>

==Legacy==
In November 1917 Smith was awarded a posthumous commendation.<ref>{{London Gazette |title=Honours to the Mercantile Marine |issue=30386 |date=17 November 1917 |page=11924 |supp=y |accessdate=14 January 2021}}</ref> After the [[armistice of 11 November 1918]] more details of the battle reached the UK authorities. ''Möwe''{{'}}s captain, [[Nikolaus zu Dohna-Schlodien]], described ''Otaki''{{'}}s resistance as "a duel as gallant as naval history can relate". In May 1919 Smith was posthumously awarded the [[Victoria Cross]].<ref>{{London Gazette |title=Lieutenant Archibald Bisset Smith, R.N.R. |issue=13449 |date=27 May 1919 |page=1768 |city=e |accessdate=14 January 2021}}</ref>

King [[George V]] presented Smith's VC to Edith and Alfred at [[Buckingham Palace]]. After Edith's death in 1951, Alfred sold the VC and Archibald's other medals (the British War Medal, Victory Medal, and Mercantile Marine Medal) to the New Zealand Shipping Company for [[Pound sterling|£]] 125.<ref name=McEwen>{{cite web |last=McEwen |first=Alistair |year=2014 |url= http://www.scotlandswar.ed.ac.uk/sites/default/files/pdf_Scottish_VCs_0.pdf |title=Scottish Victoria Cross awards |work=Scotland's War |access-date=28 July 2018}}</ref>

In 1937 his family presented the Otaki Shield to Robert Gordon's College, to be an annual award to the senior boy who is judged "pre-eminent in character, in leadership and in athletics". The shield is accompanied by the prize of six weeks in New Zealand as Otaki Scholar, visiting various schools as a "roving ambassador" for the college.<ref name=RMC/><ref name=McEwen/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book |editor-last=Buzzell |editor-first=Nora |year=1997 |title=[[The Register of the Victoria Cross]] |publisher=[[This England (magazine)|This England]] |isbn=0-906324-27-0}}
*{{cite book |last=Gröner |first=Erich |author-link=Erich Gröner |year=1985 |title=Die deutschen Kriegsschiffe 1815–1945 |volume=3: U-Boote, Hilfskreuzer, Minenschiffe, Netzleger, Sperrbrecher |place=Koblenz |publisher=Bernard & Graefe Verlag |page=154 |isbn=978-3-7637-4802-0 |language=de}}
*{{cite book |last=Harvey |first=David |author-link=David Charles Harvey |year=1999 |title=Monuments to Courage: Victoria Cross Headstones and Memorials |volume=2, 1917–1982 |publisher=Kevin & Kay Patience |oclc=59437300}}
*{{cite book |last=Ross |first=Graham |year=1995 |title=Scotland's Forgotten Valour |publisher=MacLean Press |isbn=1-899272-00-3}}
*{{cite book |last=Snelling |first=Stephen |year=2002 |title=VCs of the First World War – The Naval VCs |series=[[VCs of the First World War]] |place=Stroud |publisher=[[The History Press]] |isbn=978-0-7524-8733-5}}
*{{cite book |last=Waters |first=Sydney D |year=1939 |title=Clipper Ship to Motor Liner; the story of the New Zealand Shipping Company 1873–1939 |place=London |publisher=The [[New Zealand Shipping Company]] Ltd |pages=74–78}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Biography}}
*{{cite web |last=Stewart |first=Iain |date=3 March 2017 |url= http://www.victoriacross.org.uk/ggatsea.htm |title=Holders of the Victoria Cross Buried at Sea or Lost at Sea. |publisher=victoriacross.org.uk |access-date=10 March 2017}}
*{{Find a Grave|10716429|accessdate=9 August 2010}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Archibald Bisset}}
[[Category:1878 births]]
[[Category:1917 deaths]]
[[Category:British World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross]]
[[Category:Captains who went down with the ship]]
[[Category:British sea captains]]
[[Category:Civilians killed in World War I]]
[[Category:Royal Navy recipients of the Victoria Cross]]
[[Category:People from Cults]]
[[Category:British Merchant Navy officers]]
[[Category:People educated at Robert Gordon's College]]
[[Category:British Merchant Service personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:People lost at sea]]
[[Category:Royal Naval Reserve personnel]]
[[Category:Scottish naval personnel]]