Peter Piper (Royal Navy officer)

Last updated

Aston Dalzell Piper
Nickname(s)Peter
Born(1913-04-19)19 April 1913
Dovercourt, England
Died8 November 1995(1995-11-08) (aged 82)
Exeter, England
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Naval Reserve
Years of service1932–1950
1951–1966
Rank Captain
Commands held HMS Sirdar (1945)
HMS Tribune (1944–45)
HMS Unsparing (1942–44)
HMS H34 (1942)
Battles/wars Second World War
Awards Distinguished Service Order
Distinguished Service Cross & Two Bars
Decoration for Officers of the Royal Naval Reserve
Ardingly College Ardingly College, Sussex.jpg
Ardingly College

Captain Aston Dalzell Piper, DSO, DSC & Two Bars, RD (19 April 1913 – 8 November 1995), known as Peter Piper, was an officer in the Royal Naval Reserve in the Second World War. He was notable for two events: he was the first reservist to command a submarine, and the first reservist officer to receive the Distinguished Service Cross in the Second World War. [1]

Captain (Royal Navy) senior officer rank of the Royal Navy

Captain (Capt) is a senior officer rank of the Royal Navy. It ranks above commander and below commodore and has a NATO ranking code of OF-5. The rank is equivalent to a colonel in the British Army and Royal Marines, and to a group captain in the Royal Air Force. There are similarly named equivalent ranks in the navies of many other countries.

Distinguished Service Order UK military decoration

The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat. Since 1993 all ranks have been eligible.

Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) British medal for act of gallantry

The Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) is a third level military decoration awarded to officers, and since 1993 ratings and other ranks, of the British Armed Forces, Royal Fleet Auxiliary and British Merchant Navy, and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries.

Contents

Early life and career

Piper was educated at Dovercourt High School, followed by Ardingly College. [2] He spent three years in the Merchant Navy, mostly with the United Baltic Steamship Line. During his time in the Merchant Navy, he served on, amongst other ships, the SS Baltraffic as navigator. [2] He joined the Royal Naval Reserve on 18 March 1932. [1] [2]

Ardingly College school in West Sussex, England

Ardingly College is a selective co-educational boarding and day independent school near Ardingly, West Sussex, England. The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and of the Woodard Corporation of independent schools and as such has a strong Anglo-Catholic tradition. It was originally a boarding school for boys, and became fully co-educational in 1982. For the academic year 2015/16, Ardingly charged day pupils up to £7,710 per term, making it the 29th most expensive Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) day school. It is a public school in the British sense of the term. As of 2017, there are about 416 pupils enrolled at the school, aged between 13 and 18. Additionally, there are about 520 pupils aged from 2½ to 13 at the Ardingly College Preparatory school, whom it shares some common grounds with.

Royal Naval Reserve volunteer reserve force of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom

The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve, created in 1859, and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR), created in 1903. The Royal Naval Reserve has seen action in World War I, World War II, the Iraq War and Afghanistan.

Piper started training for submarines in 1937, on HMS H49, in which he stayed until February 1938. [1] [2] On 8 November 1939, he was made navigating officer of HMS Ursula, before winning the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) in December 1939. [1] In 1941, he was promoted to first lieutenant on HMS Unbeaten. While aboard Unbeaten, he won two Bars to his DSC: one for "successful and aggressive patrols", and one for the sinking of U-374. [1]

HMS H49 was a British H-class submarine built by William Beardmore and Company, Dalmuir. She was launched on 15 July 1919 and commissioned on 25 October 1919.

A ship and two submarines of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Ursula:

First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces and, in some forces, an appointment.

Piper then commanded HMS Upspring for fourteen patrols, sinking several ships and on one occasion scoring four hits with four torpedoes. [1] For these patrols he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. [1]

Related Research Articles

Ian Edward Fraser British military diver. Recipient of the Victoria Cross

Ian Edward Fraser was an English diving pioneer and recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Fraser was born in Ealing in Middlesex and went to school in High Wycombe. After initially working on merchant ships and serving in the Royal Naval Reserve, he joined the Royal Navy at the start of the Second World War. After being awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for actions while serving on submarines, he was placed in command of a midget submarine during an attack in Singapore codenamed Operation Struggle. For his bravery in successfully navigating the mined waters, and successfully placing mines on a Japanese cruiser, Fraser was awarded the Victoria Cross.

John Linton Welsh military officer

Commander John Wallace Linton was a Royal Navy submariner and a Welsh recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. His nickname was "Tubby" and he was a fine Rugby football forward, playing for the Royal Navy, United Services, and Hampshire County teams.

Max Horton Royal Navy admiral

Admiral Sir Max Kennedy Horton, & Two Bars, SGM was a British submariner during the First World War and commander-in-chief of the Western Approaches in the later half of the Second World War, responsible for British participation in the Battle of the Atlantic. Max Horton was born in Anglesey to Robert Joseph Angel Horton and Esther/Hester Maude Goldsmid, of the famous Goldsmid/D'Avigdor Goldsmid Anglo Jewish family. Esther was born at the Hambro Synagogue in London and so Admiral Max Horton was fully Jewish on his mother's side and regarded as halachically Jewish.

HMS <i>Storm</i> submarine

HMS Storm was an S-class submarine of the Royal Navy, and part of the third group built of that class. She was built by Cammell Laird and launched on 18 May 1943. So far, she is the only RN ship to bear the name Storm.

Arthur Hezlet Royal Navy admiral and submarine commander

Vice Admiral Sir Arthur Richard Hezlet, nicknamed Baldy Hezlet, was a decorated Royal Navy submariner. He became the Royal Navy's youngest captain at the time – aged 36 – and its youngest admiral, aged 45. In retirement he became a military historian.

The Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNZNVR) is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN).

Ernest Martin Jehan DSC was an officer in the Royal Navy during the First World War. Jehan is best known for the sinking of a German U-boat by he and his crew aboard the smack Inverlyon. He began the war as a warrant officer and was decorated and commissioned after sinking SM UB-4 (2).

Edward Preston Young English book publisher and naval officer

Edward Preston "Teddy" Young & Bar was a British graphic designer, submariner and publisher. In 1935 he joined the then new publishing firm of Penguin Books and was responsible for designing the cover scheme used by Penguin for many years as well as drawing the original penguin logo. During World War II he served in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) and became the first British RNVR officer to command a submarine. After the war he returned to the publishing world and eventually became managing director of the Rainbird Group. Having written his wartime biography, One Of Our Submarines, in 1952, he later wrote several other books.

Vice Admiral Sir John Anthony Rose Troup, was a Royal Navy officer. A submariner, he served as the last Commander-in-Chief Far East Fleet (1971).

Admiral Sir (Allen) Gordon Tait, KCB, DSC was a senior Royal Navy officer who went on to be Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel.

Richard Barklie Lakin, DSO, DSC & Bar was a British industrialist, chairman of Vickers Armstrong and an officer in the Royal Navy during the Second World War.

George Hunt (Royal Navy officer) Royal Navy officer

Captain George Edward Hunt, was a highly decorated Royal Navy submarine commander during the Second World War. While commanding HMS Ultor, he became the British submarine commander with the greatest number of sinkings of enemy vessels to his name, though David Wanklyn achieved sinkings of greater tonnage. Of the 68 torpedoes Hunt fired, 47% hit their targets.

William Hedley Kett, DSC and Bar was a British submariner who commanded two ships during the Second World War.

Robert Atkinson (businessman) Royal Navy officer in WW2

Sir Robert Atkinson, was a British businessman and decorated Royal Navy officer. He served in the Royal Navy during World War II and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross three times. Later, he was a businessman involved in shipbuilding and served as Chairman of British Shipbuilders from 1980 to 1984.

Herbert Arthur Stonehouse

Herbert Arthur Stonehouse (1909-1984) was a British Royal Navy Reserve officer who was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and bar for his service escorting convoys during the Second World War and who in 1943 sank the German submarine U-192.

Captain Leslie William Abel Bennington DSO & Bar, DSC & Two Bars was a British Royal Navy officer, who was highly decorated for his actions as a submarine commander during the Second World War.

Captain Howard Francis Bone was a British Royal Navy officer, who was highly decorated during his service as a submarine commander during the Second World War.

Michael Lindsay Coulton Crawford

Captain Michael Lindsay Coulton "Tubby" Crawford DSC & Bar was an officer in the Royal Navy and submariner.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Wilson, Alastair; Callo, Joseph F. (2004). Who's Who in Naval History (1. publ. ed.). London: Routledge. p. 248. ISBN   9780415308281.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Unit Histories. Hans Houterman & Jeroen Koppes http://www.unithistories.com/officers/RNR_officersP.html . Retrieved 4 November 2013.Missing or empty |title= (help)