On April 17, 1943, the body was placed inside a sealed aluminum canister along with dry ice to maintain temperature. The canister was loaded into a vehicle and driven to Greenock, Scotland, where HMS Seraph was waiting.
HMS Seraph was a British S-class submarine commanded by Lieutenant Norman “Bill” Jewell, whose full name was Norman Limbury Auchinleck Jewell. Jewell had previous experience with special operations that required discretion and reliable execution. The Seraph sailed from Greenock on April 19, 1943.
The voyage south through the Atlantic was not smooth. The Seraph was attacked twice during the journey, though it reached its destination without critical damage. The crew was told that the canister contained a weather observation device; only Jewell and his most senior officers knew the actual cargo.
The Seraph arrived in position off the coast of Huelva in the early hours of April 30, 1943. At 4:15 in the morning, Jewell surfaced and brought the canister up. He and his officers opened it, verified the body’s condition and its correct attachment to documents and personal effects, and lowered Glyndwr Michael into the waters of the Atlantic.
Jewell read Psalm 39 over the body before it entered the water.
The submarine’s own movement helped push the body toward the shore. Jewell ordered the empty canister destroyed. Machine gun fire initially failed to sink it because trapped air was holding it up. Plastic explosives were used to finish the job.
Jewell radioed a brief signal to the Admiralty: “Mincemeat completed.”