Who or what sank the Canadian warship HMCS Regina off Padstow in 1944?

Tomorrow night the second part of the ITV series Deep Wreck Mysteries programme Fatal Decision tells the story of the sinking of the Regina and the American Liberty ship, SS Ezra Weston which resulted in the loss of 30 lives.

Here in Falmouth, Andrew Anderson, one of only two Englishmen aboard the Regina, described by Canadian survivors as the "Mystery Man", has broken his silence of over 60 years to tell his side of the story.

Andy of Manor Road, Falmouth, now aged 81, recalled the incident to me as his wife Valerie looked on. A shy and reserved gentleman Andy also saw service in the Murmansk Convoys, although that is another story.

Until 18 months ago, Canadian survivors from Regina didn't even know that two young Englishmen had been aboard the ship on the fateful night she blew up. Andy was serving in the Royal Navy at Devonport when he received orders to proceed to south Wales to join the corvette.

"I was only on the ship a matter of hours before we sailed so I didn't know anyone," said Andy.

In August, 1944, the Regina was the sole escort for a ten ship convoy EBC-66 bound from Milford Haven for a Normandy beachhead. The ships in two columns of five were steaming along eight miles off Trevose Head, with the Regina a mile ahead zig-zagging her course.

"I was on deck with my friend admiring the view of the North Cornwall coast," said Andy.

A fine summer's evening with clear skies and calm seas, the quietness of the night was pierced by a tremendous explosion from the third ship in the starboard column, the American merchantman Ezra Weston. The ship signalled, requesting the corvette to take her in tow and pick up survivors.

Regina's commanding officer, Lt Radford, decided to stop his ship dead in the water and hove to some 300 yards from the American ship to receive survivors. A decision that would haunt the Canadian Navy and the sailors who survived the incident.

Andy, who had been on the ship less than 24 hours, remembered his friend saying: "If we stop now we will be the next to get it."

Without warning the Regina was blown apart, disappearing in a massive plume of water. Thirty seconds later there was nothing left of the warship except for men and debris floating on the surface.

"One minute we were on deck, the next there was an almighty explosion and we were blown overboard." Andy spent two hours floating in the water before being picked up by a motor boat which took him to Padstow, from where he was taken to Truro by ambulance.

Thirty brave Canadian sailors went down with their ship. Within minutes the Ezra Weston also sank after sustaining a broken back caused by the explosion.

Had both ships run into rogue mines or were they the victim of a German U-Boat ?

"I honestly think we were torpedoed," said Andy. German U Boat records show that U 667, commanded by Kapitan Lt Karl-Heinz Lange, sank both ships. Less than three weeks later the U 667 sank with the loss of all hands in the Bay of Biscay when she entered a minefield code named Cinnamon.

At a subsequent board of inquiry held at the Imperial Hotel in Falmouth, the captain of Regina was heavily criticised for placing his ship in unnecessary danger. The inquiry was unable to reach a decision as to whether the ship had been mined, as most of the ship's company thought, or whether it had been torpedoed by a U-boat lurking inshore of the convoy lane. Minesweepers found no evidence of any mines having been laid in the area.

A year ago, Andy had a private reunion with Canadian survivors from the Regina at the Falmouth Hotel. "They didn't realise I had been aboard the ship. After our meeting they called me the Mystery Man," said Andy.

After the war Andy had several jobs, eventually becoming group accountant and director of a regional newspaper, which at that time owned the Falmouth Packet.