Peter Du Cane (1901–1984) was a Royal Navy

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 ...

and managing director of the engineering company

Vospers Vosper & Company, often referred to simply as Vospers, was a British shipbuilding company based in Portsmouth, England. History The Company was established in 1871 by Herbert Edward Vosper, concentrating on ship repair and refitting work. By ...

. He assisted in the development of the '' Blue Bird II'' amongst other boats.

Biography

Du Cane was born in 1901, the son of Charles Henry Copely Du Cane, of

Braxted Park Braxted Park, formerly called Braxted Lodge, is a country house in the Queen Anne style set in a landscaped 2,000 acre park near the village of Great Braxted, Essex. In the Domesday Book of 1086, Eudo Dapifer is shown as owner of the manor. All ...

. His paternal grandfather Sir

Charles Du Cane Sir Charles Du Cane (5 December 1825 – 25 February 1889) was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician and colonial administrator who was a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament between 1852 and 18 ...

was a politician and colonial administrator; his paternal grandmother Georgiana was the daughter of

John Copley, 1st Baron Lyndhurst John Singleton Copley, 1st Baron Lyndhurst, (21 May 1772 – 12 October 1863) was a British lawyer and politician. He was three times Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. Background and education Lyndhurst was born in Boston, Massachusetts, ...

. He joined the

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 ...

as a thirteen-year-old before resigning his

commission In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...

as a Lieutenant-Commander in 1928. The following year he joined the

Royal Auxiliary Air Force The Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF), formerly the Auxiliary Air Force (AAF), together with the Air Force Reserve, is a component of His Majesty's Reserve Air Forces ( Reserve Forces Act 1996, Part 1, Para 1,(2),(c)). It provides a primary re ...

where he flew

Westland Wapiti The Westland Wapiti was a British two-seat general-purpose military single-engined biplane of the 1920s. It was designed and built by Westland Aircraft Works to replace the Airco DH.9A in Royal Air Force service. First flying in 1927, the Wa ...

s in No. 601 Squadron RAF. Du Cane was invited by

Glen Kidston George Pearson Glen Kidston (23 January 1899 – 5 May 1931) was an English motor racing driver and aviator who completed a record-breaking flight from Netheravon, Wiltshire to Cape Town, South Africa, in 1931. He was one of the " Bentley Boys ...

to join him at Vosper Shipyard. Following Kidston's death and numerous ownership changes, Du Cane was offered the managing director's position. He accepted, while maintaining his position as Chief Designer. Under Du Cane's guidance, Vosper won a number of contracts for high-speed boats, including the construction of '' Blue Bird K4'' which, piloted by

Malcolm Campbell Major Sir Malcolm Campbell (11 March 1885 – 31 December 1948) was a British racing motorist and motoring journalist. He gained the world speed record on land and on water at various times, using vehicles called ''Blue Bird'', including a 1 ...

, took the world water speed record in 1939. Du Cane was awarded the Segrave Medal by the

Royal Automobile Club The Royal Automobile Club is a British private Club (organization)#Country or sports club, social and athletic club. It has two clubhouses: one in London at 89 Pall Mall, London, Pall Mall, and the other in the countryside at Woodcote Park, ne ...

that year for his efforts. He also designed a high-speed torpedo boat, the ''

MTB 102 ''MTB 102'' is one of the few surviving motor torpedo boats that served with the Coastal Forces of the Royal Navy in the Second World War. She was built as a prototype but was purchased and taken into service by the Admiralty. She was the smal ...

'', 350 of which were procured by the Admiralty, and which were used extensively during the

D-Day landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

. Du Cane was the naval architect and exterior designer of ''Brave Challenger'', a super-yacht with a top speed of , and powerboats ''Tramontana'' and ''Tramontana II'', the former winning in the inaugural Cowes–Torquay race in 1961. Later in his career, Du Cane joined the

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is the naval aviation component of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy (RN). The FAA is one of five :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, RN fighting arms. it is a primarily helicopter force, though also operating the Lockhee ...

. In 1964, he was made a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE). Du Cane died on 31 October 1984, aged 83, and was buried at sea.

Publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Du Cane, Peter 1901 births 1984 deaths Boat and ship designers People from Essex Royal Navy officers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Burials at sea Military personnel from Essex 20th-century Royal Navy personnel 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel