Bill King
Military Person
1910 – 2012
Who was Bill King?
Commander William Donald Aelian "Bill" King, DSO & Bar, DSC was a British naval officer, yachtsman and author. He was the oldest participant in the first solo non-stop, around-the-world yacht race, the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, the only person to command a British submarine on both the first and last days of World War II. and the last surviving British World War II submarine commander at the time of his death.
Brought up by his mother and grandmother, King went to the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth. He was first assigned to the battleship Resolution, and later became commanding officer of the submarine Snapper. He served on three separate vessels in World War II, and was promoted to commander and awarded seven medals during the war. King not only survived World War II, but succeeded in a singlehanded circumnavigation in 1973 on his third attempt. During the latter journey, he managed to reach port despite a collision with a large sea creature 400 miles southwest of Australia.
We need you!
Help us build the largest biographies collection on the web!
- Born
- Jun 23, 1910
- Spouses
- Anita Leslie
(1949/01/01 - )
- Anita Leslie
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Profession
- Education
- Britannia Royal Naval College
- Died
- Sep 21, 2012
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
Use the citation below to add to a bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Bill King." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 17 Apr. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/commander_bill_king>.
Discuss this Bill King biography with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In