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Oldest surviving WWII submarine commander turns 100

SUBMARINER, SAILOR and author Cdr Bill King is due to celebrate his 100th birthday with friends, family and neighbours in Oranmore, south Galway, today.

Cdr King, the oldest surviving submarine commander from the second World War, danced to a version of Cab Calloway’s Sweet Jenny Lee on his actual birthday two days ago at his home in Oranmore Castle.

“We had lamb on a spit, lobster, music,” his daughter, artist Leonie King, told The Irish Times. “He rose to the occasion and we had a good old jamboree into the small hours.” Joining them were his son Tarka, grandchildren Cian and Heather, nephews, nieces and cousins.

The wider community is marking the occasion today, when the Fastnet Trophy, which he was recently awarded by the Irish Cruising Club for his sailing achievements, may also be displayed.

Cdr King already holds the Blue Water Medal, presented by the Cruising Club of America. He secured it for being the first Irish sailor to circumnavigate the globe single-handedly, in his yacht Galway Blazer II , after several attempts and a dramatic collision with a whale or shark.

He holds seven medals for military service. Cdr King was raised by his mother in England, as his father and uncle were killed in the first World War. Aged just 12, he was dispatched to the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth, where flogging was regularly employed as incentive and deterrent. He was sent to sea aged 17. His “nursery” was a battleship, HMS Resolution , in the Mediterranean....
Read entire article at Irish Times