On Boxing Day 1943 Bates was electrical officer in Duke of York, the flagship of Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser, when Scharnhorst slipped out of the Norwegian fjords to attack Russian convoy JW55B, off the North Cape. Bates's report enabled Fraser to close within visual range at 8,000 yards, enabling Duke of York to surprise Scharnhorst with a first salvo. German near-misses were soon falling around the British ship when, with a sudden whoosh, the radar failed. Bates and his two operators were thrown in a heap to the deck, and when he picked himself up the radar, though seeming to work, showed no echoes. Puzzled, Bates climbed two-thirds the way up the swaying mast. Feeling about in the dark, with the aid of a small torch between his fingers, he found that the aerial was pointing skywards: the shock wave of a German 11-inch shell, which had passed though the tripod mast and under Bates's feet, had blown it out of alignment.
Bates returned the aerial to the horizontal and restarted the gyro-stabiliser so that within a few minutes the radar was working again, thus restoring to Fraser the advantage of a clear tactical picture in the prevailing low visibility. When Duke of York's guns re-commenced firing in radar-control, 25 of 44 salvoes were near-misses, 16 of them within 200 yards; at least three hits were seen, one of them starting a fire on the after superstructure...
...At about 18:20, Duke of York scored a direct hit, which penetrated Scharnhorst's starboard side and put a boiler-room out of action, thereby reducing the speed so that she was was sunk a few hours later...
...Later, he witnessed the surrender of the Japanese from the quarterdeck of the battleship King George V in Tokyo Bay in August 1945.
As commander of a landing party, he was commended for his initiative and compassion in searching for and releasing large numbers of allied prisoners of war, some of whom were held in secret camps...
...As a captain Bates was assistant director of Naval Intelligence, and then deputy director of the Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment at Portland, before retiring in 1969.
Bates then bought and ran a filling station and shop at Yarnbrook crossroads, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, where he was assisted by an ex-chief petty officer, known only as "Mr Fido", who was vigilant in guarding the sweet counter from small boys.
Bates enjoyed a beer at the Long Arms opposite, from where he could view the forecourt and sally forth as necessary to serve customers.
Bates had a passion for motor cars, owning a Rover Speed 20 drophead coupé, a Jaguar XK120 and many later models of Jaguar. He also bought one of the first Mini Coopers, which he had to drive with his large frame doubled-up. In his spare time he was usually head under the bonnet, stripping down engines and maintaining cars for family and friends - not always an easy task with his huge hands.
Sometimes described as "tall, dark and some hands", family legend had it that he inherited these from a miller grandfather, John White of East Redford, Lincolnshire, who was said to be able to throw a bag of flour further than any man in the county.
He preferred the company of woman...
RIP