Commander David Patrick Blackwood Ryan was a descendant of Captain Henry Blackwood of H.M.S.Euryalus, one of Nelson’s closest and most trusted Commanders at the Battle of Trafalgar. His grandfather was lost in HMS/M E24 in 1916, his father died in the tragedy of the sinking of HMS/M Thetis in Liverpool Bay in 1939, and his son is the only fourth generation Submarine Officer in the world.

Paddy, as he was always known in the RN, was only just two when his father died but it was always his ambition to follow his father, and grandfather, in to Submarines. He passed in to Dartmouth in 1955, completing his submarine training in 1959. He spent the rest of his life in submarine, or submarine related, appointments, and was latterly particularly involved in the development of the UK and NATO Submarine Rescue Systems. At the time of the loss of the Russian submarine Kursk in 2000 he was the submarine adviser to the BBC.

He commanded HMS/M Ambush, HMS/M Narwhal, HMAS/M Onslow ( in Australia), and, after promotion to Commander, the Polaris Submarine HMS/M Renown. The late 1960s to early ’80s were a purple patch for Marlborough, with five OMs being in command of our Polaris Submarines and the UK’s ultimate Nuclear Deterrent. This meant that for much, if not most, of that period there was an OM’s finger on the firing button!

It is said that as Captain of Renown he fired more missiles than any other submarine Captain, albeit of ‘Test Firings’ with unarmed warheads! Following his two and a half years as Captain of Renown, which included a number of cold war deterrent patrols, he was awarded a military OBE.

He was a submariner who was held in great affection by his Ships' Companies, and all those who served under him, by his contemporaries and colleagues, and by those Senior Officers he served under. He was a true submariner, who gave his all to a special and closely-knit, ‘silent’ Service. He was always cheerful, positive, determined and willing to help out on anything.

Latterly, despite months of treatment for cancer, and within two weeks of major surgery, he insisted, as Chairman of the Parish Council, on attending a Public Enquiry regarding an unlawful gypsy encampment in his village, which was widely reported in the national press. Shortly afterwards, his friends sailed his boat to the Solent so that he, far from fit, could witness the Trafalgar Bicentenary Fleet Review at Spithead, in June 2005.

The Battle of Trafalgar having been fought on 21^st October 1805, the prime Naval ‘Trafalgar Night Dinner’ to celebrate the bicentenary of the great victory was held in the Painted Hall of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, on 19^th October 2005. Having commanded a major warship he was eligible to, and insisted that he did, attend. Early the next morning he flew down to southern Spain, and joined the Royal Cruising Club Dinner, and the next morning their ‘ Re-enactment of the Battle’ off Cape Trafalgar. This was a man, still far from fit, who showed remarkable courage, dedication and determination. His ancestor would have approved!

He died suddenly on 16th November 2007, on his way to the Airport with his wife Nicky, for a month’s holiday back in Australia, which was to include, naturally, a number of submarine reunions!.

His Memorial Service was held at the remote Somerset village where he was born, brought up, and lived in retirement. On a freezing December morning, overlooking the Somerset Levels, five hundred of his friends and colleagues turned out, including at least fifteen Admirals. He was a remarkable, and much loved man, and a very special and great submariner.

RTM Innes (C3 1951-54)