Historical Dictionary of British Intelligence

RABAGLIATI, EUAN• 435

PUJOL, JUAN.SeeGARBO.

PUTLITZ, WOLFGANG ZU.See ZU PUTLITZ, WOLFGANG.

–Q–

Q SHIPS.Naval code name assigned to dummy warships—either well-
armed vessels camouflaged as vulnerable merchantmen to entrap U-
boats during World War I, or harmless steamers disguised as recog-
nizable battle cruisers in World War II. In October 1914Winston
Churchillordered the construction of a dummy fleet of 10 ships to
enhance the strength of the fleet; they were moored at Scapa Flow as
the 10th Battle Squadron to deceive the enemy.

QUEEN’S MESSENGERS.SeeKING’S MESSENGERS.

–R–

RABAGLIATI, EUAN.The head of theNetherlands Sectionof the
Secret Intelligence Service(SIS), Euan Rabagliati’s first opera-
tion—sending two agents by boat to Holland across the North Sea
in March 1942—proved a disaster. A brand new vessel,MGB 325,
commanded by a peacetime solicitor, Peter Williams, was assigned
the task of taking the agents across the Channel.MGB 325was a
110-foot Fairmile ‘‘C’’ Type vessel, capable of 27 knots and carrying
a crew of 16. The two agents, one of whom was a Dutch sailor named
Maessen, were accompanied by Angus Letty, a leading figure in
SIS’s private navy. Having reached the Dutch coast, the agents were
rowed ashore byCharles Elwell, theMGB 325’s first lieutenant. Un-
fortunately, their craft capsized and a German patrol caught both
men. Maessen was subsequently shot, and Elwell went to a PoW
camp, ending up at Colditz Castle, but not until he too had been ques-
tioned. He was later to comment that his chief inquisitor ‘‘not only
knew the actual numbers of his gunboat, but also the names of many
of the officers based at Great Yarmouth,’’ where the 15th Motor Gun-
boat Flotilla was berthed.