Donald Macintyre and Walker's ASW command style

Donald Macintyre is judged to deserve more recognition alongside the German commanders Otto Kretschmer and Joachim Schepke. He was one of a wider group of skilled Royal Navy anti-submarine specialists, and retired as a captain. After early destroyer service he trained as a Fleet Air Arm pilot, served seven years in aviation, and turned to ASW after an accident in 1935. The precise accident remains uncertain here, including a tentative recollection that it occurred aboard Courageous. Commands including Kingfisher, Defender, and Venomous, and service during the 1938 Amoy crisis, gave him experience before his wartime escort commands. His aggressive determination to hunt submarines helps explain Walker's later conduct under his command. He is also said to have taken Kretschmer's binoculars after the U-boat commander's capture and used them for the rest of the war.