Cedric Naylor

Captain Cedric Naylor (12 June 1891 – 12 January 1949) was a Royal Navy officer of the First and Second World Wars. Naylor was a merchant seaman before joining the Royal Naval Reserve on the outbreak of the First World War. In November 1915 he was posted as first lieutenant to HMS Penshurst, a Q-ship, a warship disguised as a merchant vessel intended to fool German U-boats into surfacing so they could be sunk. Naylor received the Distinguished Service Cross for his part in the sinking of SM UB-19 on 30 November 1916 and a bar for further operations in February and March 1917. Naylor was granted temporary command of Penshurst after its captain was incapacitated in June and the next month damaged a submarine, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. Further distinguished service in the following months saw him receive a bar to the medal and a transfer to the Royal Navy. Naylor was hunting for SM U-110 on Christmas Eve 1917 and Penshurst was struck by a torpedo fired by the submarine. Despite suffering heavy damage Naylor remained onboard with two gun crews, hoping the U-boat would surface to finish off the ship. When U-110 surfaced it was hit twice and damaged before Penshurst sank. Naylor survived and was awarded a second bar to his DSO. He commanded the sloop Polyanthus for the remainder of the war.

In the inter-war years Naylor served on a variety of vessels from gunboats to battleships before joining the Royal Navy Submarine Service. He retired in 1935 but was asked to return briefly in 1938 as an instructor in anti-submarine warfare. Naylor became commandant of a Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve station in 1939 but was recalled to the navy at the start of the Second World War. He was initially posted to the shore establishment HMS Calliope, but commanded the landing ship Karanja from 6 September 1941. He captained the ship during the 5 May 1942 landings in the Battle of Madagascar and was mentioned in dispatches for bravery. From 1942 he commanded a shore establishment in India, with the acting rank of captain. He returned to England in 1944 and was placed in charge of detention facilities at a naval establishment in Glasgow. After the war Naylor retired, becoming the administrator of a pensioner's residence in Chelsea.

Early life and career

Cedric Naylor was born in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire on 12 June 1891. He was the eldest son of William Naylor a Fulwood, Lancashire civil engineer with his own firm (Messrs. Naylor and Walker), who later became a Royal Air Force lieutenant. Naylor received his Board of Trade certificate in 1913 and joined F. Leyland and Co. on 17 July 1913. He made six voyages aboard the company's SS Alexandrian before being discharged on 8 December 1914, after the outbreak of the First World War. He received training at the shore establishment HMS Excellent in Portsmouth from December 1914 until 8 January 1915. He was aboard the Orion-class battleship Conqueror from 8 January until 26 August when he was appointed to the armed merchant cruiser Oropesa. The Penshurst was a Q-ship, a merchant vessel taken up by the Royal Navy and armed with concealed weaponry. The Q-ships would sail around disguised as merchants, hoping to entice an attack by a German submarine (known as a U-boat). The submarines would often surface to attack and sink merchants with the deck guns to save torpedoes, at which point the Q-ship would drop its disguise and attack the submarine. The Q-ship had a "panic party" of sailors disguised as merchant seamen who would feign abandoning ship to add to the deception.

Naylor was promoted to the temporary rank of lieutenant on 19 December 1916. On 23 May 1917 Naylor received a bar to his DSC for his service in action against submarines on 20 and 22 February and 8 March. The London Gazette noted only that the award was made "for miscellaneous services" but his service record notes "his behaviour was admirable throughout the actions".

In command From 28 June Naylor was in temporary command of Penshurst due to the illness of Grenfell. Naylor was commended for his "great coolness, excellent judgement and ability" in the action and was awarded the DSO. On 3 October 1917 Naylor was appointed the permanent Commander of Penshurst.

Sinking

On Christmas Eve 1917 the Penshurst was in the Irish Sea steaming at towards Smalls Lighthouse in response to the reported sighting of a German submarine.

The explosion caused Penshurst aft 12-pounder gunhouse to collapse and unmasked her midships 4-inch guns, exposing her as a warship. The panic party went aboard the ship's sole surviving lifeboat and two rafts. These and Penshurst were closely inspected by the circling U-boat via periscope. U-110 was the 11th U-boat engaged by the Penshurst, a record for a Q-ship; her career was also the longest of any Q-ship.

Later life

Naylor commanded the Aubrietia-class sloop Polyanthus from 26 January 1918. Naylor was married at the Congregational Church in Fulwood, Lancashire, on 6 July 1918 to Lillian Margaret Jenson from Preston. He was granted permission to wear his naval uniform for the ceremony. Afterwards Naylor commanded HMS Salsette, a Royal Navy combined operations base at Lake Khadakwasla in India, with the acting rank of captain. He was granted permission to wear his uniform at his son's wedding in 1948, and died on 12 January 1949.