George Arthur Thring DSO, RN
| Born | 13 Sep 1903 | London, England | |
| Died | Dec 2001 | (98) |
| Ranks
Decorations
|
Warship Commands listed for George Arthur Thring, RN
| Ship | Rank | Type | From | To |
| HMS Deptford (L 53 / U 53) | Lt.Cdr. | Sloop | 19 Jan 1940 | 3 May 1941 |
| HMS Wellington (L 65 / U 65) | Cdr. | Sloop | 15 Jun 1943 | 13 Apr 1944 |
| HMS Wellington (L 65 / U 65) | Cdr. | Sloop | Apr 1944 | 21 Sep 1944 |
| HMS Tavy (K 272) | Cdr. | Frigate | 29 Sep 1944 | 31 Mar 1945 |
Career information
George Arthur Thring joined the navy in 1916, then only 13 years old. In 1925 he joined the cruier HMS Hawkins on the China Station where he stayed for 2 and a half years, returning to Britain in 1928.
At the outbreak of war George Arthur Thring, RN was onboard the cruiser HMS Belfast, she was however damaged on 21 Nov 1939 by U-21. Since the Belfast would be out of action for years Thring was then given command of the sloop HMS Deptford on 19 Jan 1940.
He commanded the sloop for the next 18 months, mostly on the Gibraltar-UK route but making two trips to Canada. Deptford was almost torpedoed by a Italian submarine off the Azores.
In late 1941 Thring was promoted to Commander and sent to Washington as a Navy Department liason officer. He was there when the attack on Pearl Harbor took place and helped the US Navy set up a war room similar to the one the Royal Navy had. He returned to Britain in 1943.
He briefly commanded the new corvette Tintagel Castle for a single voyage. With his new command 20th Escort group and frigate HMS Tavy George Arthur sank the U-390 on 5 July 1944.
In December 1944 Thring was commanding HMS Tavy escorting convoy JW.62 to Murmansk when the destroyer Cassandra was torpedoed and heavily damaged. Tavy towed the crippled destroyer for four days to Murmansk.
In 1951 he took command of the cruiser HMS Ceylon and took active part in the war in Korea. Promoted Rear Admiral in 1958 he returned to the Far East as Flag Officer Malayan Area where he helped form the Malayan Navy.
Thring was awarded DSO for his work on the Atlantic convoys and a Bar to his DSO for service in Korea.
He was married to Betty Blacker in 1929, she died in 1983. They had two sons and a daughter.
Sources
Telegraph.co.uk. Obituary of Rear Admiral George Thring.
Events related to this officer
Sloop HMS Deptford (L 53 / U 53)
9 Feb 1941
HMS Deptford (Lt.Cdr. G.A. Thring, DSO, RN) picks up 26 survivors from the British merchants Courland and Estrellano that were torpedoed and sunk by German U-boat U-37 about 160 nautical miles south-west of Cape St. Vincent, Portugal in position 35°53'N, 13°13'W. One of them died of wounds and was buried at sea the next day.
Sloop HMS Wellington (L 65 / U 65)
4 Aug 1943 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Wellington (Cdr. G.A. Thring, DSO, RN), HMS Folkestone (Cdr.(Retd.) J.G.C. Gibson, OBE, RN), HMS Lowestoft (A/Cdr.(Retd.) L.H. Phillips, RN), HMS Gorleston (Cdr.(Retd.) R.W. Keymer, RN), HMS Exe (A/Cdr. M.A.O. Biddulph, DSC, RN) and HMS Ness (A/Cdr. T.G.P. Crick, DSC, RN) conducted a convoy defence exercise off Freetown. (1)
5 Aug 1943 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Wellington (Cdr. G.A. Thring, DSO, RN), HMS Folkestone (Cdr.(Retd.) J.G.C. Gibson, OBE, RN), HMS Lowestoft (A/Cdr.(Retd.) L.H. Phillips, RN), HMS Bridgewater (Cdr.(Retd.) N.W.H. Weekes, OBE, RN), HMS Gorleston (Cdr.(Retd.) R.W. Keymer, RN), HMS Exe (A/Cdr. M.A.O. Biddulph, DSC, RN) conducted night encounter exercises off Freetown with HMML 206 (T/A/Lt.Cdr. H. Leslie, DSC, RNVR) and HMML 305 (T/Lt. N.I. Chester, RNVR). (1)
8 Sep 1943 (position 0.00, 0.00)
HMS Wolverine (Cdr. J.M. Money, RN), HMS Wellington (Cdr. G.A. Thring, DSO, RN), HMS Aberdeen (Lt.Cdr. H. Day, RN), HMS Lowestoft (A/Cdr.(Retd.) L.H. Phillips, RN), HMS Gorleston (Cdr.(Retd.) R.W. Keymer, RN), HMS Fandango (T/Lt. A.G. Fisher, RNR) and HMS Rumba (T/Lt. E.C.F.D. Jacquier, RNVR) conducted night encounter exercises off Freetown with HMS ML 281 (T/Lt. P.S. Castle, RNVR) and HMS ML 289 (T/Lt. G.A.W. Lacey, RNVR). (1)
Sources
- ADM 199/635
ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.
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