28-672: Acting Captain Frederick Thornton "Fritz" Peters , VC , DSO , DSC & Bar (17 September 1889 – 13 November 1942) was a Canadian-born sailor in the Royal Navy and a recipient of the Victoria Cross , the highest award for valour in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Peters' parents were Frederick Peters ( Premier of Prince Edward Island , 1891–1897) and Roberta Hamilton Susan Gray (daughter of John Hamilton Gray , who
56-577: Is a senior officer rank of the Royal Navy . It ranks above commander and below commodore and has a NATO ranking code of OF-5. The rank is equivalent to a colonel in the British Army and Royal Marines , and to a group captain in the Royal Air Force . There are similarly named equivalent ranks in the navies of many other countries. In the Royal Navy, the officer in command of any warship of
84-598: The Admiralty War Staff in 1912. It was the intelligence arm of the British Admiralty before the establishment of a unified Defence Intelligence Staff in 1964. It dealt with matters concerning British naval plans, with the collection of naval intelligence . It was also known as "Room 39" , after its room number at the Admiralty. The Foreign Intelligence Committee was established in 1882 and it evolved into
112-650: The Royal Navy as naval cadet in 1905 and began the First World War as a lieutenant . He retired in 1920 at the age of thirty as a lieutenant-commander , having won the Distinguished Service Order and the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) during the war. Peters then split his time between Britain, Canada and the Gold Coast . In October 1939 Peters re-volunteered for Royal Navy service. He
140-544: The Admiralty was an operational HQ and could give orders during a battle; while the Imperial General Staff (Army) and Air Staff would give commanders general orders such as, "clear the enemy out of Africa" without telling them how to do it. Hence verbatim translations of naval decodes were sent by Hut 4 to the NID and nowhere else (except for some naval intelligence sent directly from Bletchley Park to Commanders-in-Chief in
168-587: The Mediterranean). Hut 8 which decrypted Enigma messages for Hut 4 to translate and analyse had less information for Ultra as the Kriegsmarine operated Enigma more securely than the German Army and Air Force. Hut 4 also broke various hand cyphers and some Italian naval traffic. The NID also initiated the 30th Assault Unit whose role was information gathering, reconnaissance and sabotage . Members of
196-472: The Naval Intelligence Department in 1887. The NID staff were originally responsible for fleet mobilisation and war plans as well as foreign intelligence collection; thus in the beginning there were originally two divisions: (1) intelligence (Foreign) and (2) Mobilisation. In 1900 another division, War, was added to deal with issues of strategy and defence, and in 1902 a fourth division, Trade,
224-610: The Portsmouth Naval Memorial, (Panel 61. Column 3) Hampshire , England. Mount Peters near Nelson, British Columbia , where his mother lived in her last years with the family of her daughter Helen Dewdney and her husband E.E.L. Dewdney, was named in his honour in 1946. A display of photos and panels on his life is on the main floor of the Daniel J. MacDonald Building in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. His name, along with
252-451: The attack on that post. He remained on the bridge in command of his ship in spite of the fact that the protective armor thereon had been blown away by enemy shell fire and was thereby exposed personally to the withering cross fire from shore defenses. He accomplished the berthing of his ship, then went to the forward deck and assisted by one officer secured the forward mooring lines. He then with utter disregard of his own personal safety went to
280-459: The boom towards the jetty in the face of point-blank fire from shore batteries, the sloop La Surprise , and the destroyer Epervier . Blinded in one eye, he alone of 11 officers and men on the bridge survived. Besides him, 13 ratings survived Walney sinking. The destroyer reached the jetty disabled and ablaze and went down with her colours flying. Captain Peters and a handful of men managed to reach
308-631: The latter with confidential information during the inquiry. In 1910, the NID was shorn of its responsibility for war planning and strategy when the outgoing Fisher created the Navy War Council as a stop-gap remedy to criticisms emanating from the Beresford Inquiry that the Navy needed a naval staff—a role the NID had been in fact fulfilling since at least 1900, if not earlier. After this reorganisation, war planning and strategic matters were transferred to
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#1732868649877336-592: The more junior Army and Royal Marines rank , and in naval contexts, as a "four-ring captain" (referring to the uniform lace) to avoid confusion with the title of a seagoing commanding officer. In the Ministry of Defence , and in joint service establishments, a captain may be referred to as a "DACOS" (standing for deputy assistant chief of staff) or an "AH" (assistant head), from the usual job title of OF5-ranked individuals who work with civil servants. The rank insignia features four rings of gold braid with an executive curl in
364-462: The names of his three brothers who served in the First World War, is on memorial plaques in the St. Peter's Anglican Church in Charlottetown. In 2012, a biography by Peters' great-nephew Sam McBride, based on family letters and titled The Bravest Canadian – Fritz Peters VC: The Making of a Hero of Two World Wars , was published by Granville Island Publishing. Captain (Royal Navy) Captain ( Capt )
392-470: The newly created Naval Mobilisation Department and the NID reverted to the position it held prior to 1887—an intelligence collection and collation organisation. In 1912 the division was established as a component part of the new Admiralty War Staff organisation when that body was abolished in 1917 it continued as a division of the new Admiralty Naval Staff until 1964 when the Admiralty Department
420-471: The quarter-deck and assisted in securing the aft mooring lines so that the troops on board could disembark. At that time the engine room was in flames and very shortly thereafter exploded and the ship turned on its side and sank. The survivors were released on 10 November 1942 when the French garrison surrendered. In the meantime, the French systematically destroyed the harbour facilities at Oran: Operation Reservist
448-452: The rank of commander and below is informally referred to as "the captain" on board, even though holding a junior rank, but formally is titled "the commanding officer" (or CO). Until the nineteenth century, Royal Navy officers who were captains by rank and in command of a naval vessel were referred to as post-captains ; this practice is now defunct. Captain (D) or Captain Destroyers, afloat,
476-719: The shore, where they were taken prisoner. Hartland came under fire from the Typhon and blew up with the loss of half her crew. The survivors, like those of Walney , were taken prisoner as they reached shore. Captain Peters was also awarded the United States Army's Distinguished Service Cross for the same actions. The citation, issued in Allied Force Headquarters General Orders No. 19 23 November 1942, stated that: Captain Peters distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism against an armed enemy during
504-614: The unit, including Ralph Izzard , are acknowledged as inspirations for Ian Fleming (who also worked for the NID) in the creation of his fictional spy, James Bond . The Geographical Section of the Naval Intelligence Division, Naval Staff, Admiralty, produced a series of Geographical Handbooks from 1917 to 1922 to provide information for the British Armed Forces . The Naval Intelligence Division Geographical Handbook Series
532-413: The upper ring. When in mess dress or mess undress, officers of the rank of captain and above wear gold-laced trousers (the trousers are known as "tin trousers", and the gold lace stripes thereon are nicknamed "lightning conductors"), and may wear the undress tailcoat (without epaulettes). British Naval Intelligence The Naval Intelligence Division ( NID ) was created as a component part of
560-805: Was Premier of Prince Edward Island at the time of the Charlottetown Conference of 1864). He was educated at St. Peter's School on Prince Edward Island, at school in British Columbia and at Naval College in England. Two of Peters' brothers died in action on the Western Front during the First World War—John Francklyn Peters in April 1915 and Gerald Hamilton Peters in June 1916. Peters entered
588-698: Was abolished. During World War I the NID was responsible for the Royal Navy's highly successful cryptographic efforts, Room 40 . The interception and decoding of the Zimmermann Telegram played a role in bringing the United States into the War. It has described as the most significant intelligence triumph for Britain during World War I, and one of the first occasions on which a piece of signals intelligence influenced world events. Naval Ultra messages were handled differently from Army and Air Force Ultra because
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#1732868649877616-454: Was an attempt to capture Oran Harbour, Algeria and prevent it from being sabotaged by its French garrison. The two sloops HMS Walney and HMS Hartland were packed with British Commandos , soldiers of the 6th United States Armored Infantry Regiment and a small detachment of United States Marines . On 8 November 1942 Captain Peters, commanding in Walney , led his force through
644-602: Was an operational appointment commanding a destroyer flotilla or squadron , and there was a corresponding administrative appointment ashore, until at least a decade after the Second World War . The title was probably used informally up until the abolition of frigate and destroyer squadrons with the Fleet FIRST reorganisation circa 2001. Ashore, the rank of captain is often verbally described as "captain RN" to distinguish it from
672-463: Was coming back to Britain in a Sunderland flying boat, which crash-landed in Plymouth Sound in thick fog, at the entrance to the Royal Navy's Devonport Dockyard, near Plymouth, Devon . In spite of efforts by the pilot, Flight Lieutenant Wynton Thorpe, RAAF, who held on to him for ninety minutes in the water, he was dead when the rescue launch reached them. He has no known grave and is remembered on
700-630: Was created for matters related to the protection of merchant shipping. The Trade Division was abolished in October 1909 in the wake of the Committee of Imperial Defence inquiry into the feud between the First Sea Lord , Admiral Sir John Fisher and former Commander-in-Chief Channel Fleet , Admiral Lord Charles Beresford , when it was discovered that the captain heading the Trade Division had been supplying
728-597: Was made the commander of an anti-submarine flotilla. In 1940 he was awarded a Bar to his DSC and was later appointed acting captain for special services. Peters was 53 years old, and an acting captain in the Royal Navy during the Second World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC: Operation Reservist (part of Operation Torch , the Allied landings in French North Africa)
756-519: Was produced between 1941 and 1946 to provide information for the British Armed Forces. In 1965, the three service intelligence departments were amalgamated in the new Defence Intelligence Service at the Ministry of Defence . However, well before the mid-1990s another Royal Naval branch existed, namely the Directorate of Naval Security & Integrated Contingency Planning (DNSyICP), which
784-425: Was thus a complete failure. In addition to his service with the Royal Navy, Fritz worked with British Naval Intelligence and advised Prime Minister Winston Churchill . British double agent Kim Philby noted his admiration for Secret Intelligence Service instruction leader "Commander Peters" in his book My Silent War . Captain Peters was killed in an air crash three days after his release, on 13 November 1942. He
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