A sea captain who earned the Victoria Cross after sacrificing his life to save his crew has been honoured on the centenary of his death.

During the First World War Archibald Bissett Smith served as the captain of the SS Otaki, a cargo ship sailing out of London with a crew of 71 men.

The vessel was on its way to New York on March 10, 1917, when it encountered the German raider SWS Mowe.

Its captain ordered Bissett Smith to stop but the Aberdonian refused to surrender and opened fire on the far more heavily armed Mowe.

The crew of the Otaki fought bravely and scored a series of hits on the Mowe but after a 20-minute skirmish the cargo ship was on fire and sinking.

Bissett Smith ordered his men to abandon the Otaki while he stayed behind and went down with the ship.

Six others aboard the vessel were killed and another 200 were captured by the Mowe, which lost five of her own in the battle.

Bissett Smith's heroism was honoured at a ceremony in Aberdeen on Friday, 100 years to the day since his death.

A commemorative paving slab was unveiled on Schoolhill, where he went to school at Robert Gordon's College.

Aberdeen lord provost George Adam said: "We cannot possibly begin to imagine the fear going through the minds of all those aboard the SS Otaki 100 years ago but the bravery of captain Smith and his crew is a matter of record, and that bravery is what we commemorate today.

"It is my hope that generations of Aberdonians to come will see this stone and take the time to find out more about the bravery of Archibald Bisset Smith and the story of his life."

Bisset Smith was one of only two merchant seamen to be awarded the Victoria Cross during the First World War.

Merchant Navy sailors were not eligible for the VC during the conflict so he was posthumously enlisted as a lieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserves.