Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

Geoffrey Mainwaring Sladen (3 August 1904 – 4 October 1985) was a

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 England international

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player. He invented the Sladen Suit, a drysuit used by British manned torpedo riders. Born in

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'', and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The ea ...

, Sladen attended Royal Naval College in Osborne and Dartmouth after finishing school. He played rugby in the navy and was capped three times for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in the

1929 Five Nations The 1929 Five Nations Championship was the fifteenth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship following the inclusion of France into the Home Nations Championship. Including the previous Home Nations Championships, this was the forty-s ...

as a centre three-quarter. Sladen was Commanding Officer of the HMS Trident during World War II. He received a

Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries. *Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) *Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) *Distinguished Service Cross (U ...

(DSC) in 1940 for demonstrating "courage, enterprise and resource". His submarine torpedoed the

German cruiser Prinz Eugen German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

off the Norwegian coast in 1942 and it had to be towed back to Germany for repairs due to a damaged stern. For this, Sladen was awarded a bar to his DSC. It was later revealed that for several weeks the HMS Trident had on board a

reindeer The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, taiga, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only re ...

, which had been gifted by the Soviets and was being transported to London Zoo.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sladen, Geoffrey 1904 births 1985 deaths English rugby union players England international rugby union players Royal Navy rugby union players Rugby union centres Rugby union players from Surrey Military personnel from Surrey Sportspeople from Reigate Royal Navy submarine commanders Royal Navy officers of World War II English inventors Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) Companions of the Distinguished Service Order 20th-century English sportsmen

See also

References

External links