Only after landing, almost out of fuel, did he discover that his tailplane had been hit by a cannon shell which must have narrowly missed his cockpit.

At one point a cannon shell struck behind his cockpit seat; on another, a shell hit his ammunition reserve but didn't go off.

As he pulled away, his wings were riddled with cannon shells, but he managed to make it back to the carrier.

Both destroyers made high-speed evasive manoeuvres, fired hundreds of cannon shells and launched depth charges.

His aircraft was hit by four cannon shells, leaving him badly injured and setting his cockpit ablaze.