Bill King (Royal Navy officer)

William Donald Aelian King (b. 1910) was a British naval officer, yachtsman and author, who in 1969 was the oldest participant in The Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, the first solo non-stop around the world yacht race (opens image).

History

William Donald Aelian King, commonly known as Commander Bill King, was born to Lieutenant-Colonel William Albert de Courcy King (D.S.O., Royal Engineers) [1] and "a Mrs. Uzielli" [2]. He is the oldest surviving World War II submarine commander [3] [4].

On 1 January 1949 King married divorceé Anne (Anita) Theodosia Mouira Leslie (b. 1914, d. 1984), eldest child [5] of Sir John Randolph Shane Leslie (3rd Baronet of Glaslough) [6], and the Vermont daughter of the US ambassador to Spain, Marjorie Ide (PDF file [7]. They had met in Lebanon in 1943, where he served for 5 months as Executive Officer of the submarine base at Beirut. She was on a skiing trip after doing duty in Africa in the Motor Transport Corps (1940-42). Leslie-King then became an ambulance driver in the French Army (1944-45). For the latter, she was awarded the Croix de Guerre in 1945 by General Charles de Gaulle [8]. As Anita Leslie, she wrote over a dozen books, including Love in a Nutshell (1952), The Remarkable Mr. Jerome: The Life and Times of Leonard Jerome, Sir Winston Churchill's American Grandfather (1954). In 1974 she wrote the biography of Francis Chichester, the first person to sail around the world single-handedly. The Kings had two children, Richard Tarka Bourke King (b. 27 August 1949), and Leonie Rose King (b. 10 October 1951) [9].

At the age of twelve, King was sent to the naval college at Dartmouth. From December 1927 to April 1930 he was assigned to the battleship HMS Resolution, which did duty in the Mediterranean [10] [11]. During this time he became a midshipman. From June 1932 to January 1934 King was posted on the submarine HMS Orpheus, which served near China [12] [13]. In April 1935 King, by now a First Lieutenant, was assigned to the service vessel HMS Pigmy. After seven months he was transferred to HMS Starfish (19S), then to HMS Narwhal, before being sent to Portsmouth for a commanding officers' course on HMS Dolphin. A four month stint aboard the submarine depot ship HMS Titania (opens image) followed, before King was appointed commanding officer of HMS Snapper, a S-class submarine.

During World War II, King served in three submarines of the Royal Navy: HMS Snapper (39S), HMS Trusty (N45), and HMS Telemachus (P321). He patrolled the North Sea, the Mediterranean, and the Far East [14].

At the outbreak of the war Lieutenant King and HMS Snapper was sent to patrol the North Sea. Between December 1939 and July 1940 HMS Snapper sank six ships, mainly in the Skagerrak Strait [15]. In 1941 King served on the T-class submarine HMS Trusty in the Mediterranean Sea [[16]]. From July 1943 to August 1945 King commanded the T-class submarine HMS Telemachus, which in July 1944 sunk the Japanese submarine I-166 in the Strait of Malacca [17] (see [Kadai class submarine], KD5).

During the War King was promoted to Commander, and awarded seven medals, including the Distinguished Service Order (May 9, 1940) and Bar (January 16, 1945), the Distinguished Service Cross (September 6, 1940) [18]. In 2006 he received an eighth, the Arctic Emblem (2006).

King was still alive in September 2007 [[19]].

Bibliography

Books authored by Commander Bill King:

• 1958: The Stick and the Stars.
• 1969: Capsize. (Nautical Publishing
• 1975: Adventure in Depth.(Putnam Publishing).
• 1983: Dive and Attack. Revises and updates The Stick and the Stars, describes author's experiences during World War II. (W. Kimber/ Hutchinson)
• 1997: Kamikaze: the Wind of God (Minerva Press)

External links

• In the Company of a True Hero--Commander Bill King. Blogger recounts a 2006 encounter with King, posts photographs.
• The Stick and The Stars: The Life & Times of Commander Bill King. A proposed documentary on Bill King.
• Tree of peace planted as former enemies embrace beside Galway Bay. In 2004 King meets the son of a Japanese chief engineer, whose submarine (I-166) was sunk on July 17, 1944 by HMS Telemachus under King's command.
• A medal at 96? I was not brave or clever. Oldest surviving sub commander. Danger money was 'six bob a day'. Article in the The Times with King in 2006 about his Arctic Medal and war stories.

References

• Allied Warships: HMS Snapper (N 39), Submarine of the S class. http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3425.html
• Allied Warships: HMS Telemachus (P 321)Submarine of the T class. http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3519.html
• Commander William Donald Aelian King. thePeerage.com. "A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe."

See Also

• HMS Resolution (09)
• HMS Snapper (39S)
• HMS Telemachus (P321)
• HMS Trusty (N45)
• Shane Leslie