Peter Piper (Royal Navy officer)

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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]

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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)
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