the cruisers, while the convoy scattered. A day later, it became clear that the threat from German surface ships did not exist, and that the scattered ships of the convoy were being picked off individually by U-boats and aircraft. It was by then too late to reform the convoy; Broome's destroyers were low on fuel after their high-speed dash in company with the cruisers, and the oilers which had accompanied the convoy had themselves been sunk. Twenty-one of the convoy's thirty-five ships were sunk following the order to scatter. The Royal Navy felt themselves disgraced by the unhappy episode. Later that year, the First Lord of the Admiralty, A. V. Alexander paid a visit to HMS Keppel. Broome asked the reason why PQ 17 was scattered but received no satisfactory answer. Later naval career After a brief spell in the Mediterranean, during which EG1 played a peripheral part in Operation Pedestal, HMS Keppel was paid off late in 1942. Broome was surprised to be promoted to captain, and also awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in 1943. (Broome was aware that not only was anyone connected with PQ 17 liable to have that episode on their record, but also that his habit of drawing and circulating acerbic caricatures of senior officers had made him unpopular with some.) He commanded the escort carrier HMS Begum in 1942–1944. Begum served with the Eastern Fleet. Her aircraft sank a particularly troublesome U-Boat in the Indian Ocean late in 1944, for which Broome was Mentioned in Dispatches. He was also awarded the Burma Star for his service in Indian waters. He was commandant of a shore establishment at Portsmouth, HMS Vernon II in 1945 before being appointed captain of the aged battleship HMS Ramillies in 1945–1946. Writer and cartoonist Broome retired from the Royal Navy in 1947. From 1947 to 1951, he busied himself as editor of the Sketch Magazine. He wrote a number of books on naval subjects, and edited and illustrated several humorous collections of naval signals. He was also a founder member of the Lord's Taverners Cricket Club. He was naval advisor for several films, including The Cruel Sea. Actor Jack Hawkins apparently based his portrayal of the fictional Lieutenant Commander George Erickson on Broome. He also wrote television and film scripts. He and his first wife divorced in 1954, and he subsequently married Joan Featherstonhaugh Crisp. Towards the end of his