Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (India), in India ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ' ...

Edward Dudley Norman (2 August 1910 – 1998, in

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

) was a distinguished

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

submarine commander, senior

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

officer and senior Royal Malayan Navy (now known as

Royal Malaysian Navy The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN, ; Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ) is the naval arm of the Malaysian Armed Forces. RMN is the main agency responsible for the country's maritime surveillance and defence operations. RMN's area of operation consists of 603,2 ...

) officer. He was the first Chief of Navy for

Federation of Malaya Malaya, officially the Federation of Malaya, was a country in Southeast Asia from 1948 to 1963. It succeeded the Malayan Union and, before that, British Malaya. It comprised eleven states – nine Malay states and two of the Straits Settleme ...

(now known as

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Early life

Norman was born on 2 August 1910, in

Burton Bradstock Burton Bradstock is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England, approximately southeast of Bridport and inland from the English Channel at Chesil Beach. In the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census the parish had a population of 948. The ...

, to Alfred Headley Norman ( 1881; 1973), a Royal Navy

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

(later

Vice Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

). Born into a naval family, Norman joined the Royal Navy as Cadet and later was commissioned as Lieutenant in 1934.

Military career

Royal Navy

Norman was assigned to the

Royal Navy Submarine Service The Royal Navy Submarine Service is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. It is sometimes known as the Silent Service, as submarines are generally required to operate undetected. The service operates six fleet submarines ( SSNs), ...

and commanded six submarines throughout

. His first submarine was , which he took command of on 12 March 1940. His mission with ''H44'' was to conduct combat patrols in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

. Under his command, ''H44'' sank enemy shipping off the Norwegian coast, for which Norman was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. He was then assigned to until December 1940. Norman was given a new task: to take command of the

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

-based submarine HMS ''Upright''. He was then involved in the Siege of Malta with other Royal Navy submarines. ''Upright'' and the other submarines were later dubbed "The Fighting Tenth". Their story was documented in "The Fighting Tenth: The Tenth Submarine Flotilla and the Siege of Malta," a 2003 book by John Wingate. On 5 February 1941, ''Upright'' made a torpedo attack on an Italian convoy near Kerkenah,

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

. But the attack failed, and all four torpedoes fired missed their targets. The hunt for the enemy convoy continued, and on 23 February, ''Upright'' torpedoed and sank the Italian merchant ship, SS ''Silvia Tripcovich''. Two days later, on 25 February, ''Upright'' attacked an Italian convoy. ''Upright'' managed to torpedo and sink the Italian cruiser ''Armando Diaz''; however, they missed a bigger prize, a

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

. Because of his success in attacking the enemy convoy and also the siege, Norman was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

. Norman then took command of a surrendered German

Type VIIC Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

, ''U-570'', which had surrendered to an RAF Hudson aircraft south of

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

in August. The submarine was then renamed . Norman commanded the ''Graph'' for one year, and from his experiences, he gave valuable information to the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

' forces about the construction, performance, and weaponry of the standard Type VII submarine. After Graph, Norman was in charge of the long-range A-Class patrol submarines and in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

. Norman left the Submarine Service in 1947 and was then appointed at the Admiralty in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and later as

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer ...

of HMS ''Heron'' (now known as RNAS ''Yeovilton''), a naval air station, where he learned to fly. Norman later took command of HMS ''Nereide'', a sloop on the South African Station.

Royal Malayan Navy

Prior to 1957, Norman operated in the Southern

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

with the HMS ''Nereide''. The Malayan government began purchasing Royal Navy

minesweepers A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

after gaining independence from the United Kingdom in 1957, and Norman was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

by the Royal Navy to assist the newly formed Royal Malayan Navy as the Commanding Officer of the Royal Malayan Navy, succeeding Captain H.E.H. Nicholls . On 1 July 1958, when the Malayan government gained complete control of the Royal Malayan Navy from the Royal Navy, Norman was lent to the new navy. Concurrently, the Malayan government promoted Norman to

and appointed him as the first Chief of Navy. Norman played a crucial role in setting up the future of the Royal Malayan Navy. All his setups helped Malayan a lot during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation. Under his command, Commodore Norman encourages the locals to take up important roles and officer positions in the Royal Malayan Navy. New recruiting plans are also implemented under him, causing many locals to want to join the navy.

Retirement from military

Commodore E. D. Norman retired from the Royal Malayan Navy on 7 February 1960, and from the Royal Navy on 2 August 1960, with the respective ranks of Commodore (Royal Malayan Navy) and Captain (Royal Navy).

Honours

Norman got numerous honours for his participation in

and the

Malayan Emergency The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War, was a guerrilla warfare, guerrilla war fought in Federation of Malaya, Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Arm ...

. His awards include the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC), the

Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal () is a commemorative medal instituted to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953. Award This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir from the Queen to members of the Royal Family ...

, the Active Service Medal (Malaya) (), and '' Pingat Jasa Malaysia'' (PJM).

Later work

After his retirement, Norman became secretary of the

Royal Malta Yacht Club The Royal Malta Yacht Club (RMYC) is a yacht club in Ta’ Xbiex Marina, Ta' Xbiex (Malta). History The date of the first establishment of the Royal Malta Yacht Club has not been ascertained, although there are rumours as to the existence of an ...

and was involved in organising the first Whitbread Round-the-World Yacht Race (now known as

The Ocean Race The Ocean Race is a yacht race around the world, held every three or four years since 1973. Originally named the Whitbread Round the World Race after its initiating sponsor, British brewing company Whitbread, in 2001 it became the Volvo Ocean R ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norman, Edward Dudley 1910 births 1998 deaths Royal Malaysian Navy personnel Royal Navy submarine commanders Military personnel from Dorset