Veteran submariner and sailor Con Thode dies at 103

by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World.com/nz on 11 Oct 2014 The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron have announced the passing of their oldest Member, Connell Thode OBE. He passed away peacefully at the grand age of 103.

Con joined the Squadron in 1933, and was due to turn 104 on the 11th March 2015. The RNZYS reports that his last meal with the Cobbies at RNZYS was very memorable and included Oysters, Whiskey, Karen's famous Rum Balls and Rum laced cake.

Lieutenant Commander, RNZNVR (Ret) Con Thode was New Zealand's only submarine commander.

He was prompted to join the Navy after a German fleet bombed the Liverpool restaurant he was eating in. He then went on to become New Zealand's first and only submarine commander in World War 2.

This grim career choice meant he, along with other submariners in the Royal Navy, was only given a 50 percent chance of survival during the war and Thode later said that he could not quite believe he has made it this far.

'I didn't ever expect to become 100, because life has gone on year after year,' he told ONE News.

Thode spent many years at the helm of the Spirit Of Adventure introducing young sailors to the water, a lifestyle he loved.

'Something under the sail with a good breeze going along fairly rapidly is just the greatest thrill of mine,' he said on the occasion of his 100th birthday at RNZYS

To hear Con Thode describing his wartime experiences click here

Con's funeral will be held at St Christopher's Chapel, HM Naval Base, Devonport on Wednesday 15 October 2014 at 11.30am

Peter Montgomery had the privilege of interviewing and speaking at several functions recognising Con Thode's contribution to New Zealand, and kindly provided this collection of notes on Thode's distinguished life.

Before World War 2 Con Thode had made his mark as an outstanding sailor on the big A Class Keelers on the Waitemata

And in the late 30’s was skipper of Iorangi the magnificent Logan design owned by Lawrence Nathan, that today is still sailing as one of the fabulous classic yacht fleet in NZ.

Con Thode worked his passage to the UK intent on joining the Royal Navy.

Con Thode took just two years to rise from a young officer as a navigator, to commander of a submarine.

Recently an Australian Submarine visited NZ and by special invitation Con Thode was piped aboard by the senior officers and the captain told Con he was a legend in the Australian Navy because of his meteoric rise to commander 2 years for Con Today it takes between 17 and 20 years

The other thing to remember was the resistance the Royal Navy had at that time to promoting either 'colonials', or wavy navy - Volunteer Reserve men.

It was understandable in that the investment that was required to make a commander was considerable and colonials were likely to want to go home and wavy navy men were going to be stood down at the end of the war.
Hence the preference for British men in the regular navy.

Con wasn't the only New Zealander to command a submarine. He was however the only RNZVNR, that is, Volunteer Naval Reserve with all the factors against promotion

Before World War 2 Con had made his mark as an outstanding sailor on the big A Class Keelers on the Waitemata
And in the late 30’s was skipper of Iorangi the magnificent Logan design owned by Lawrence Nathan, that today is still sailing as one of the fabulous classic yacht fleet in NZ.

His ability recognised half a world away by the America’s Cup challenger from Britain lead by Sir Thomas Sopwith.
And if it had not been for the outbreak of World War 2 .

Con and his friend Stan Jervis would have been the first New Zealanders to sail in the America’s Cup.

Con and his yachting friends had seen the war clouds gathering for months and had taken steps towards gaining the qualifications they would need to serve in the navy.

In 1939 the New Zealand division of the Royal Navy wasn't recruiting, and would-be officers thinking of joining the Royal Navy in Singapore were advised that 'private means' were a prerequisite.

Disgusted at the elitism, that has been a hall mark of Con throughout his life with a wonderful sense of what is right
Con enlisted in the infantry, only to learn from a fellow crew member on the yacht Iorangi that an Auckland yachtmaster's ticket would open doors in London.

In early 1940 Con worked his passage to the UK intent on joining the Royal Navy. Where men with a Yachtmaster’s ticket were eligible for a commission in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.

But Con's war changed course in 1941 when the Luftwaffe flattened Liverpool dropped a parachute mine on the Liverpool Adelphi Hotel, killing some of his fellow diners. 'It just got to the stage when it all seemed so hopeless,' he says.

Con was angry with what he saw.

It turned out to be a case of mood matching opportunity, because the next day, after he had picked his way through glass and rubble to report for duty, he learned that the Royal Navy was looking for submarine volunteers.

So in mid-1941 Con decided to volunteer for submarines and after his specialist training he was appointed as Navigator of HMS PROTEUS, which was in the Mediterranean Fleet, based in Egypt.

Con Thode took just two years to rise from a young officer as a navigator, to commander of a submarine.

The other thing to remember was the resistance the Royal Navy had at that time to promoting either 'colonials', or wavy navy - Volunteer Reserve men.

It was understandable in that the investment that was required to make a commander was considerable and colonials were likely to want to go home and wavy navy men were going to be stood down at the end of the war.
Hence the preference for British men in the regular navy.

Con wasn't the only New Zealander to command a submarine. He was however the only RNZVNR, that is, Volunteer Naval Reserve with all the factors against promotion.

After world War 2 Con Returned to New Zealand and life after war and returned to his old job of working for chemicals giant ICI, but like so many young men unsettled by the war could not fit back into civilian life. He cleared his head by going farming at Matakana,

He was a volunteer master for the Spirit Adventure Trust Early 80’s skipper of Viking for Admiral Sir Gordon Tait.

From an article published in the Sunday Star Times:

Keen Auckland sailor Con Thode went to work as usual on September 3, 1939, despite the morning news.
After all, he and his yachting friends had seen the war clouds gathering for months and had taken steps towards gaining the qualifications they would need to serve in the navy.

But although his first rank was 'Acting probationary temporary sub-lieutenant', he never expected to see the war through a periscope.

The living room of the 98-year-old's home at Okura, north of Auckland, is testament to four years of service with distinction in submarines. In one corner is the ship's bell from the Scythian, which he commanded. On one wall is an artist's impression, published in the Illustrated London News, of a head-on collision between his first submarine, the Proteus, and an Italian destroyer off the Greek coast.

At 98, Con retains an alertness that belies his years, and, although some of the memories are a bit hazy now, he clearly remembers how he nearly didn't make it to sea at all.

In 1939 the New Zealand division of the Royal Navy wasn't recruiting, and would-be officers thinking of joining the Royal Navy in Singapore were advised that 'private means' were a prerequisite.

Disgusted at the elitism, Con enlisted in the infantry, only to learn from a fellow crew member on the yacht Iorangi that an Auckland yachtmaster's ticket would open doors in London. Sailing community contacts helped him 'un-enlist' and he left New Zealand for the first time, working his way to England on the Port Darwin, and arriving to a London of sandbags and gasmasks.

Training in Brighton and convoy escort duty on corvettes followed, where the only sign of the other side was a Focke-Wulf Condor circling out of range.

But Con's war changed course in 1941 when the Luftwaffe dropped a parachute mine on the Liverpool Adelphi Hotel, killing some of his fellow diners. 'It just got to the stage when it all seemed so hopeless,' he says.

It turned out to be a case of mood matching opportunity, because the next day, after he had picked his way through glass and rubble to report for duty, he learned that the Royal Navy was looking for submarine volunteers.
Over the next four years Con was twice mentioned in dispatches after patrols that sank troopships in the Aegean and protected the Allies' Arctic convoys.

And there was an enormous party for his crew and everyone else in Trincomalee harbour, Sri Lanka, on the day it was all over.

'There was supposedly a great shortage of booze, it was amazing how much appeared that night. Rockets and flares... it was a big night.'

It was over, except it wasn't. Back in New Zealand, he married and returned to his old job of working for chemicals giant ICI, but could not fit back into civilian life. He cleared his head by going farming at Matakana, near where he now lives.

He has a fantastic view of the sea, and given those days and nights of dim lighting and stale air, he surely appreciates the sunshine and salt air more than most.

'Near miss', says the caption in neat capital letters. Understatement isn't the word, given that the image it accompanies is of a German bomb landing close to HMS Leander in the Mediterranean.

Peter Montgomery takes up the story on the ocacsion of Con Thode celebrating his 100th birthday at RNZYS: In March this year, Con Thode of Auckland celebrated his 100th birthday at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. Fit, alert and still driving, Con continues to live a full life, which has revolved around ships and the sea.

Before the Second World War, Con was a keen yachtsman. In early 1940 Con decided to get himself to the UK where men with a Yachtmaster’s ticket were eligible for a commission in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. Con embarked in a merchant ship, working his passage as a deck-hand. They met no German U-boats, but he remembers that a ship in his convoy was sunk by a magnetic mine.

After training he spent the next winter in a corvette in the Battle of the Atlantic. By mid-1941 Con decided to volunteer for submarines and after his specialist training he was appointed as Navigator of HMS PROTEUS, which was in the Mediterranean Fleet, based in Egypt.

As well as battleships, cruisers and destroyers, the Mediterranean Fleet included a strong submarine force—PROTEUS was one of nearly a score of British submarines there. The German and Italian air forces dominated the skies across most of the Mediterranean so submarines were one of the few offensive weapons available to the British. PROTEUS, along with the other boats (traditionally submarines are called ‘boats’) operated in the Aegean Sea, off the Greek west coast and in the Gulf of Taranto, to intercept enemy convoys re-supplying Rommel’s forces in North Africa.
PROTEUS had had a number of successful patrols, and in 1941 was the first British submarine equipped with radar. Soon after Con joined, he used the radar set to track a target at night and set up a successful attack.

Thode was not the only Kiwi in the Alexandria-based submarines, others like him were RNZNVR men now mobilised, who volunteered for the submarine service, while some were Kiwis who had joined the RN pre-war. A total of some 200 New Zealand officers and ratings served in British submarines during the War. All the Kiwis who served in submarines had to reach a high level of training to earn their Dolphins, the badge for the qualified submariners. Some were unlucky; five Kiwis were lost with their shipmates when their boats were sunk by the enemy.

Aboard PROTEUS, Con Thode and his shipmates had a close call when the Italian destroyer SAGITTARIO attacked the submarine at night; PROTEUS turned towards the destroyer and the two ships hit nearly head-on. PROTEUS’ forward hydroplane acted like a can opener, slicing into the destroyer’s hull. The submarine lost its hydroplanes and suffered serious leaks, but amazingly the pressure hull was intact. The submarine limped home for repair (the damaged destroyer also had to head back to base).

From PROTEUS Thode moved on to become First Lieutenant of ULTOR, a brand new U-class submarine. The Royal Navy had a system of naming each class of ships with a common initial letter; the three classes of submarine under construction during the war were the S-class, T-class and U-class. Of course U-class submarines should not be confused with German U-boats. Another Kiwi, Larry Herrick, who had joined the Royal Navy in 1936 from Napier, was given command of a U-class submarine, which had previously had only a pennant number, ‘P31’. Herrick was informed that the boat was to be named ‘Ullswater’ but that was not appealing to any sailor; Herrick suggested instead UPROAR, which was accepted.

As the young submarine officers gained experience, so they became eligible for the Perisher course, the submarine command course. Larry Herrick had completed his in 1942; Con Thode underwent his Perisher in 1943. As a regular RN officer, even though a Kiwi, Herrick’s opportunity to become a CO was not unusual, but as a Volunteer Reserve officer, Thode’s selection was rare. There were only a handful of Volunteer Reserve officers who commanded operational submarines, with just one Canadian and only one New Zealander—Thode— among them.

The newly qualified COs were first given command of an old training submarine, before being placed in an operational boat and sent on war patrols off Norway. That completed their training and, from 1943 onwards, they were generally sent to commission a newly built submarine, test it and work up their crew.

Con Thode commissioned SCYTHIAN in late 1944 and after a work up took his submarine to Ceylon (today, Sri Lanka). SCYTHIAN’s first patrol began in February 1945: four weeks in the waters off the southern coast of Burma (today Myanmar). There were few large Japanese ships by that stage of the war; instead the British submarines would board local junks to check if they were carrying supplies for the enemy. Those with enemy cargoes were sunk by gunfire, after the crews were sent to safety. As well, SCYTHIAN patrolled specified areas as an air-sea rescue ship during major allied air raids.

SCYTHIAN’s third war patrol was with two other British submarines to ambush a Japanese cruiser. Their operation in the Japanese-controlled Malacca Straits lasted one month, but in the event the enemy cruiser, HAGURO, was intercepted by British destroyers and sunk in a classic night attack.

Next, SCYTHIAN trained with Commandos, who were to be landed in Malaya. Before the mission could go ahead, the Pacific War ended. Looking back at his time as a submarine CO, Con commented “They were dire times. I was in a leadership position, so I just did it, had to make decisions, give orders and expect them to be followed.”

For Con, being appointed in command of an operational submarine was a special achievement. The Kiwi submariners, although dispersed throughout the submarine service, were none-the-less a courageous group who made a distinctive contribution to the war effort.