This unusual method of selection was used after the Admiralty board was unable to choose which members of the crew deserved the honour after a desperate engagement between a Q-ship and a German submarine off the Irish coast.

His later career included command of the liner RMS Empress of Britain and the management of the London office of a major transatlantic shipping company.

Neil worked in the city as a dock superintendent and owner of a wholesale tea shop before dying suddenly while preparing for a return to the Merchant Navy.

[4] He was initially educated at Shaw Street College, but following his father's death was forced to leave and take a job as a clerk in an office.

In February 1917, Campbell decided that in order to properly invite an attack, the Farnborough would have to actually be torpedoed before combat and then engage the submarine as she closed to finish the job with shellfire.

[8] On 17 February this theory was proven correct off Southern Ireland when the lone Farnborough was struck by a torpedo fired at extreme range.

Campbell ordered the twelve men remaining aboard into a lifeboat and attempted to take a final survey of his vessel, only to be driven back by another exploding depth charge.

[12] Following the action Stuart remained with Campbell and Loveless as Inspectors of Shipping, choosing those vessels they believed to be best suited to Q-ship work for naval service.

After some time ashore all three returned to sea in a vessel they had personally chosen, an old, battered tramp steamer named SS Vittoria.

For the first few days her duties consisted only of rescuing survivors from sunken cargo ships but with increasing German activity, an attack was expected at any moment.

While the hidden gun crews watched the enemy approach the lifeboats, the officer in charge of the boats, Lieutenant Francis Hereford, realised that the submarine would follow his movements, as its commander assumed him to be the captain.

This made the submarine commander believe that the ship's crew were planning to regain their vessel and he immediately closed to just 50 yards (46 m), surfaced and began angrily semaphoring to the "survivors" in the boats.

[16] Numerous holes were blown in the conning tower and the submarine desperately attempted to flee on the surface before slowing down and heeling over, trailing oil.

Unusually, the Admiralty were unable to decide who among the ship's crew should receive the Victoria Cross as all were deemed to have participated in the action with equal valour.

It was thus decided for the first time, under article 13 of the Victoria Cross's royal warrant,[14] that one officer and one enlisted man would be granted the award following a ballot by the ship's company.

[17] Due to the official secrecy surrounding the activities of the Q-ships, Stuart's and Williams's Victoria Crosses were announced without fanfare or explanation of their actions; even the Pargust's name was omitted from the citation.

[20] A few months after assuming command, on 15 October 1917, Stuart was on hand to rescue the United States Navy destroyer USS Cassin after she was torpedoed by U-61 in heavy weather.

[22] The dead crew member was Osmond Ingram, who had died throwing burning munitions overboard and was later posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

[23] Twenty miles from the Irish coast and in total darkness, the Tamarisk not only found the crippled ship but was able to come alongside in high seas and a strong gale and pass across a tow line.

Upon the armistice the full details of his Victoria Cross action were revealed and, in 1919, he was mentioned in despatches in recognition of the service he had performed during the Q-ship operations.

After a short period in charge, he was again promoted and transferred, taking up the role of staff captain on the liner RMS Empress of Australia.

Just a year later he again moved, becoming full captain on the 15,000-ton liner SS Minnedosa – a smaller and slower ship that transported immigrants to Canada.

[25] Stuart was one of a number of Royal Naval Reserve officers employed by Canadian Pacific, part of a deliberate recruitment policy by the company.

After three years in command of the Empress on the England to Quebec route, Stuart was given a desk job managing the company's assets in Montreal.

Retiring in 1951, Stuart retreated to his sisters' cottage in Charing, Kent, and spent his days reading, walking, observing nature and visiting the cinema, where he was reportedly notorious for "jeering embarrassingly loudly at falsely heroic, sentimental or emotional passages" and shouting "Mush!"

[7] Following his death, 'Stuart Close' in Lee-on-Solent was named for him and his medals were collected and donated on permanent loan to the National Maritime Museum, where they are on display.