William Donald Ælian King (1910–2012)

This is an excellent book, and easy reading, for the wartime submarine captain gives the reader a very good flavour of the damp, cramped, life on board a small 'boat' in wartime, “A submarine is a most disagreeable place in which to pass long periods …” he writes.

He does not, however, help the reader insofar as dates and years are concerned or, indeed, with ranks of a number of the few he actually names. There is a Wikipedia entry for Bill King - he is William Donald Aelian King (1910-2012) - and it's worth reading that short article before starting chapter one; for more information, obituaries in The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian are free to read online. For ease of reference he was First Lieutenant of HMS Starfish 1935-36 and First Lieutenant of HMS Narwhal 1936-38. He commanded HMS Snapper 1939-1940, HMS Trusty 1941 and HMS Telemachus 1943-45. In 1942 he was Staff Officer Submarines in Malta and then in Beirut on the staff of Captain Philip Ruck-Keene. In Sep 1945 he was appointed Executive Officer (second-in-command) of the submarine depot ship HMS Forth and, having spent some fifteen years in the Submarine Service, he resigned in 1948. He was a Lieutenant in command until early in the war, then a Lieutenant Commander from 1 Dec 1940, and he was promoted to Commander on 30 Jun 1943, just a week after his 33rd birthday; he took command of HMS Telemachus three weeks later. He was awarded the DSC in 1940, the DSO later that same year and a bar to the DSO (DSO*) in 1945. See also https://www.unithistories.com/officers/RN_officersK2.html.

The description of the dreadful food makes one very glad not to be there, let alone the lack of sleep and the dangers of patrols in the often-shallow North Sea off the Dutch coast. The ever-present danger and the knowledge that your chums had not returned to base made one live for the moment, perhaps in the same way that Bomber Command's aircrew did. King is then deployed to the Norwegian Sea where he starts to have success sinking enemy ships and one lives through these tense times and the stress with author, then a Lieutenant, about 29-30 years old. He later commands HMS Trusty in the Indian Ocean, the South China Sea and the Java Sea, a patrol that he finds frustrating for the lack of targets to sink and the troublesome equipment and machinery inside his boat. He fights off illness and feels unsuited to staff jobs and his final seagoing appointment is in command of the new T class boat HMS Telemachus, which he takes from the builder's yard. First, of course, it's trials and then he takes her to Ceylon, Singapore, the Java Sea and the west coast of Australia. He sinks a Japanese submarine and is engaged in clandestine operations, landing a party ashore in enemy-held territory (and finding out that this meant he missed taking part in the Battle of Leyte Gulf). As war's end approaches his story tails off, as does much of war action, and he recounts his returning to a life in London.

A tale I rather liked was that of his taking his officers to the Officers' Club in Singapore, only to find the club had taken a direct hit as the Japanese softened up the port while their land forces marched ten miles a day south through the Malay Peninsula. At the club bomb-site, they see a case of six Champagne bottles - Roederer 1929 - and, soon, six corks are popping and he sees the wardroom bar chit book nearby, so he dutifully 'signs' for six bottles and puts the book back where he found it; theft would have been quite improper!

This book is a great sea story, a great war story, a human story and an easy read - it's highly recommended.… (plus d'informations)