“TONY” as we knew him, rode various Royal Navy submarines from 1941 through 1947. He started as the most junior office on boats and rapidly became the Skipper of a former U. S. Navy “S” Class submarine dubbed “The Reluctant Dragon“.

When the United States “loaned” fifty old four-stack destroyers to England, they also included three old S-Boats. “TONY” was given command of “The Reluctant Dragon” with which he made several war patrols. All in all, with this boat and others, he served in the Mediterranean, off Norway, and in the Java Sea. He was mentioned in dispatched and was decorated with the DSC.

His time with ” The Reluctant Dragon” came to a swift and sorrowful end. Upon returning from a patrol, he was on his way to deliver his patrol report. Most of the men were already ashore on leave while a handful were aboard, running the engines to charge the batteries …and they were smoking! This ignited the hydrogen fumes given off during battery charging, killing some of the men aboard, rendering the boat useless and out of the war.