Captain John Catterall Leach, (1 September 1894 – 10 December 1941) was a British naval officer. He was the only captain of the battleship HMS Prince of Wales (53) during its short period in service.

Early life and career

The son of Charles Rothwell Leach, a solicitor, Leach entered the Royal Naval College, Osborne as a cadet in 1907 and served in the Royal Navy during the First World War.

Bismarck

Very soon after Prince of Wales entered active service in 1941, the ship fought under Leach's command in the Battle of the Denmark Strait, and suffered damage fighting the German battleship Bismarck. However, damage inflicted by Prince of Wales caused Bismarck to lose fuel, forcing the latter to attempt to return to a base in occupied France. Despite a proposal to court-martial Leach for breaking off the action with Bismarck after Hood had sunk, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his part. In the 1960 film Sink the Bismarck! Leach was played by actor Esmond Knight, who had been on the bridge of Prince of Wales' with Leach during the Battle of the Denmark Strait and was partially blinded when the ship was hit by Bismarck 's gunfire.

Force Z

In late 1941, Prince of Wales formed part of Force Z sent to Singapore. Off the coast of Malaya, she was sunk by the Japanese. Leach died in the sinking. His son was Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry Leach (1923–2011), who was First Sea Lord during the Falklands War.