William James Lanyon Smith

William James Lanyon Smith (1 December 1922 – 2 December 2018) was a New Zealand naval officer. He served in the Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve during World War II and was second-in-command of a midget submarine during an attack in Singapore codenamed Operation Struggle, for which he was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order.

Early life Smith was born in Gore, New Zealand, on 1 December 1922 and became a school teacher.

Second World War During World War II, Smith was a member of the Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve. In May 1944 he was posted to the Royal Navy's midget submarine base at Port Bannatyne in Scotland and he became a temporary sub-lieutenant in September 1944. He served on the ‘X’ craft midget submarine depot ship HMS Bonaventure from December 1944 to April 1946.

Following the attack on the Takao, Smith was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order. His citation, published in a supplement to the London Gazette dated 13 November 1945, read:

Reed received the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal, while Magennis and Fraser were both awarded the Victoria Cross.

Smith died in Wellington on 2 December 2018.

Honorific eponym The Royal New Zealand Navy's headquarters for its operational diving team, maritime operations evaluation team and diving school are housed in the Commander William Smith Building—named in Smith's honour and officially opened by him in 2006—at the Devonport Naval Base in Auckland.