Lt. Commander Max Shean
SHEAN, Maxwell Henry (Max), BE(hons) HonFIEAust CD DSO & Bar (1918-2009)
Max was born in River Street (now Douglas Avenue), South Perth, on July 6, 1918, the only son of civil servant Henry Lounsborough Shean and his wife Gladys Alicia Shean (nee Bailey). His father had joined WA Crown Law in 1904 and ultimately became WA Under Secretary for Law.
Max mainly grew up in South Perth with his family living in a number of houses near Suburban Road (now Mill Point Road) such as River Road, Tate Street and Judd Street. His father had purchased a block at 178 Suburban Road in 1924 and by 1926, his family was living there, with his father having built a wood framed house on the block.
Max initially attended South Perth State School for his primary education. Around 1929, his family took on the Tuck Shop on the corner of Thelma Street and Labouchere Road. He spent a short while at Como State School then moved to North Perth State School in Grade 4. By 1930 the family had moved back to 178 Suburban Road and he resumed schooling at South Perth State School for Grade 5 to Grade 7.
His secondary education commenced at the Perth Junior Technical College as he expected that he would pursue a trade. He then studied at Perth Technical College completing his Junior Certificate in 1934 and his Leaving Certificate in 1936. He had not considered university until his lecturer, Ray Davis, rang his father to say that Max should study engineering.
Max secured a position as a Laboratory Assistant in the Faculty of Agriculture, at the University of WA, in 1937 and was able to commence his Engineering Degree part time until completing French: a language was essential for a full matriculation. He studied the First Year Engineering subjects of Chemistry and Physics while completing requirements for Matriculation.
He completed First Year Engineering in 1938 and was in Third Year Electrical Engineering when he first attempted to enlist in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in early 1940. He was told to go finish his engineering degree. As hostilities intensified, he felt obliged to again offer himself for service. His second attempt to enlist, in October 1940, was successful and he Joined the RAN as an acting sub lieutenant RANVR.
After brief training at HMAS Leeuwin he was transferred to HMAS Cerebus in the Mornington Peninsula, in Victoria, for a month and then for substantive submarine warfare training at HMAS Rushcutter in Sydney. The training in Sydney included extended periods at sea on HMAS Kybra totalling 7 weeks.
By May 1941, Max was fully trained and volunteered to sail to London to take up a posting with the British Navy. In July 1941, Max joined the crew of the flower class corvette HMS Bluebell for 14 months. During this time, the corvette undertook the dangerous task of escorting convoys in the Atlantic. Max took part in 12 convoy missions from Liverpool to Gibraltar, five of which were attacked by U-boats, including one in which HMS Bluebell attacked and sank a U-boat. Max regarded his involvement in the Battle of the Atlantic as being at least equivalent to his subsequent service in submarines due to the importance of maintaining supply lines to Britain.
In September 1942, Max and four other Australians were accepted to train for a special and hazardous mission. As part of the 12th Submarine Flotilla, they would operate special submarines, known as X-craft, that had a crew of four and were designed for operation in enemy ports. Max trained on the X-craft in Scotland and, in September 1943, took part in Operation 'Source', an attempt to sink the German battleship Tirpitz in Kaa Fjord in north Norway.
The X-craft had to be towed to their target by another submarine and Max, the diver with X9, was on board the tow ship when they discovered X9 had broken the tow and disappeared. On the morning of 16 September, when X9 was due to surface as usual for ventilation, there was no sign of the submarine, only the slack tow line astern of the tow ship. The towline became caught in the port propeller and Max was sent out to clear the snag. Working without his usual diving suit, which was in X9, Max managed to clear the line, but X9 and its crew was never recovered. Two of the remaining X-craft submarines managed to attack Tirpitz and, although they did not sink the battleship, they inflicted severe damage. Another of the submarines was scuttled on the tow home. In all, six of the X-craft and nine men were lost during the operation.
Max continued to serve in submarines and in April 1944 commanded X24 in Operation 'Guidance'. He and his crew entered Bergen harbour in Norway on a mission to sink a large floating dock. After being detected and shaking off their pursuer, X24 made it to the target area, but faulty intelligence and incorrect charts led them to lay their charges not on the floating dock, but on a large enemy ship nearby, which was sunk in the explosion. Nevertheless, the mission was regarded as a success and Max was awarded the Distinguished Service Order.
Max was posted to the submarine depot ship HMS Bonaventure in December 1944 and returned to the Pacific. This time he was selected to lead a special mission, Operation 'Sabre', to cut two underwater cables off French Indochina. The submarine telegraph cables were part of the Japanese communications network, linking Singapore, Saigon, Hong Kong and Tokyo. The Allies had cracked the Japanese codes and could decipher their radio traffic but were not able to access communications sent via the underwater cables.
Due to the difficult nature of the cables, the men spent some time in the workshop on board HMS Bonaventure developing a grapnel hook that would catch the telegraph cables. Max's engineering background was most useful and he developed a special flat grapnel for XE4 that was eventually used for the mission off the coast of Vietnam.
The X-craft crewmembers took part in a number of training exercises in Hervey Bay in Queensland while they prepared for their mission. Two of their most experienced divers lost their lives during these exercises.
On 25 July 1945, HMS Bonaventure with the X-craft sailed to Brunei Bay in Borneo and then on to Subic Bay in the Philippines where they were launched on their mission to Saigon. Max too had a narrow escape en route to Indochina. He was swept overboard and nearly drowned but 'after swimming the fastest few strokes of my life' he was able to swim back and climb aboard his craft, the XE4.
At 12.29 on 31 July 1945, Australian diver Sub-Lieutenant Ken Briggs, RANVR, went into the South China Sea. According to the patrol report for the mission,
12.36 Diver cut Saigon-Singapore cable.
12.42 Diver in with short length of cable as evidence.
The second cable, the Saigon–Hong Kong cable was cut by Sub-Lieutenant A K Bergus, RNVR. It took three attempts. He was forced to increase his dive depth using 10 feet (3 metre) increments until at 14.07 (2.07 pm) he finally cut the cable at a depth of 50 feet (15 metres).
14.52: Diver in with pieces of cable. Due to the four cuts, cable had fallen apart and several pieces of armoury were lost in the mud. However the diver had about one foot of the core as evidence.
It took the X-craft three days to return to the HMS Bonaventure, which was waiting for them in Brunei Bay. Max was awarded a Bar to his DSO and the US Bronze Star. Plans were being made for another series of attacks on Japanese ports when the war ended.
In July 1942, Max had been hosted for leave in Aberfeldy, Scotland. Here he met Mary Golding. A friendship grew through correspondence and the occasional period of leave. Max and Mary were married on 14 June 1944, at Aberfeldy. After the end of the war, Max returned to Australia and was demobilised in September 1945. Mary joined him in Australia in November 1945 having travelled to Australia by the troopship SS Umtali from Liverpool via Sydney as a war bride. Initially the couple lived with Max’s parents at 178 Suburban Road. In 1947, Max advertised for a house to buy in South Perth. It was not until 1950 that they were able to secure war service land and a house at 1 Welwyn Avenue in Manning. The family — Max, Mary, and children Heather and Ruth — moved to Floreat in 1960, and then to Claremont in 1976. .
Max had returned to his studies in 1946 graduating with a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours in April 1947. He was then appointed to the City of Perth Electricity and Gas Department working in metering and then as Consumers Engineer dealing with customers of both gas and electricity. When the City of Perth Electricity and Gas Department was taken over by the State Electricity Commission, in 1948, he became part of that body and was posted to the East Perth Power Station.
Max joined the RAN Reserve on 18 November 1949 as a Lieutenant (engineer) and served at HMAS Leeuwin. He also conducted regular periods of training in HMAS Australia , Sydney and Vengeance and was promoted to Lieutenant Commander (engineer) on 30 June 1955. Max resigned from the RAN Reserve on 31 December 1955, reluctantly, as it was made clear at the time by one of his bosses that he could serve the State Electricity Commission or the Navy — but not both.
In 1950 on completion of the 100 megawatt South Fremantle Power Station he was involved in commissioning the four steam turbines and became the Efficiency Engineer for the station.
In 1956, Max was involved in the commissioning of the new 120 megawatt Bunbury Power Station then becoming the Power Production Engineer being responsible for East Perth, South Fremantle and Bunbury Power Stations. When he retired in 1978, he held the position of Manager Power Production.
A colleague, Bruce James, wrote “through his dedicated leadership skills the generation efficiency of each Station was increased together with a higher reliability factor and the setting up of a very effective training scheme for both the trade and professional staff”.
Max described himself as being born with salt water in his veins and an urge to be on the ocean. He was an active sailor being involved with the development of the South of Perth Yacht Club and sailing in the open class in the yacht “Wendy” which he co-owned with his brother in law, Eddy Nevard. He became a Member of the Fremantle Sailing Club in 1976 with the sail number F80 for his 34 foot Sparkman and Stevens yacht “Bluebell”. Following his retirement he competed in the open division of the 1979 Parmelia Yacht Race from Plymouth to Fremantle via Cape Town for which he was the overall winner on corrected time.
Max contributed to the community throughout his life from being the Building Fund Committee Secretary for the Manning Infant Health Centre, President of Perth Legacy Club, volunteer on energy efficiency at Cancer Council WA, Board Member of St Catherines College to being the Joint Patron of the Fremantle Submarine Museum. He was awarded the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977 and Life Membership of the Fremantle Sailing Club in 1990. His work at Fremantle Sailing Club centred around leading a cruising yacht flotilla each new year, and more than twenty years of voluntary work in cathodic protection of steel piles supporting the club’s mooring jetties.
Max joined the Institution of Engineers Australia as a Junior Member in 1946, becoming a Member in 1947 and a Fellow in 1968. He was made an Honorary Fellow in 1997. A grandson, also named Max, also completed an engineering degree with honours in 2011 at the University of Western Australia.
Max died on June 15, 2009, aged 90. He was survived by his wife Mary and daughters Heather and Ruth, and five grandchildren.
References
West Australian, 20.6.1944, p. 2.
Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, August 1, 1977
Margaret Sacks (Editor), The Way 79 Who is Who, Crawley Publishers Pty Ltd, 1980, Crawley
News from Engineering WA, Engineers Australia WA Division Newsletter, August 2009
Cutting cables - Anzac Portal (dva.gov.au) accessed July 11, 2023
Max Shean, Corvette and Submarine, 1992, Claremont
Max Shean, Ten decades autobiography of Maxwell Henry Shean, private publication
