A KEIGHLEY sailor’s top secret mission against the U-boats ended in his death in the cold ocean.

Harold Walker was among brave mariners who protected British merchant ships by tricking captains of the feared German submarines.

Harold was an engine room artificer on HMS Tulip which, although heavily armed, went to sea disguised as a helpless merchant vessel.

It was one of the First World War’s illustrious Q ships, which lured U-boats close then dropped false panels and camouflaged screens to reveal their guns.

Men of Worth researcher Andy Wade said: “This was an extremely brave thing to do as they were under extreme threat of the U-boat firing first.”

That may be what happened in April 1917 when HMS Tulip, an Aubretia Class convoy sloop launched only the year before, was sunk by U62.

Harold was born in Keighley in 1895 and, after leaving Keighley Boys Grammar School in 1909, trained at the Technical School while working as an engineer for Keighley firm Hudson and Griffiths.

He joined the Royal Navy in 1916, and after training at HMS Pembroke, he was posted to HMS Tulip that October.

He was a bachelor, so his sister Ada Stockdale received his Navy Prize Fund money of around £28.