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{{Short description|U.K. Royal Navy officer (1891–1949)}}
{{Orphan|date=February 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
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[[File:SM UB 45.jpg|thumb|The U-boats ''UB-19'' and ''UB-37'', sunk by ''Penshurst'' while Naylor was aboard, were similar to the submarine shown in this photograph]]
[[File:Penshurst crew.jpg|thumb|Some of the crew of the ''Penshurst'' in a mixture of naval rig and Q-ship merchant seamen disguises]]
From 25 November 1915 Naylor served aboard [[HMS Penshurst|HMS ''Penshurst'']], initially as first lieutenant under her captain, Commander FH Grenfell.<ref name=records1>{{cite web |title=Royal Naval Reserve: Officers' Service Records: Cedric Naylor |url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14630205 |website=National Archives |date=11 December 1920}}</ref><ref name=bridgland>{{cite book |last1=Bridgland |first1=Tony |title=Sea Killers in Disguise: The Story of the Q-ships and Decoy Ships in the First World War |date=1999 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |isbn=978-1-55750-895-9 |url=https://
Another submarine ([[SM UB-19|SM ''UB-19'']]) was sighted at 7.30 am on 29 November 1916. The ''Penshurst'''s panic party was sent off in its boats but the submarine refused to approach closer than {{convert|3000|yd|m}} to the Q-ship. Grenfell ordered his crews to open fire, with caused the submarine to dive. ''Penshurst'' steamed to the location and dropped depth charges to no success. As the ''Penshurst''{{'s}} appearance was now known to the Germans, Grenfell had his vessel repainted overnight. The following day at 2 pm the submarine was spotted again, submerged. It was attacked by a seaplane from [[Portland Harbour]] to no effect. Grenfell signalled the aircraft to land and asked its pilot to guide him to the submerged submarine. The plane crashed while taking off and Grenfell launched boats to rescue its pilot. The U-boat took the opportunity to attack and, at a distance of {{convert|5000|yd|m}} surfaced and opened fire with its deck gun. The ''Penshurst'' feigned an attempt at fleeing and, being gained on by the submarine, sent off its panic party. The submarine approached the panic party, intending to secure papers or the capture the ship's master or the aircraft pilot. As the submarine passed to starboard Grenfell ordered the disguises dropped and opened fire at {{convert|200|yd|m}} range. The second shot from his 12-pounder guns passed through the submarine's engine room, disabling her. She afterwards sank, with ''Penshurst'' rescuing the survivors.<ref name=winnepeg/> Grenfell received the [[Distinguished Service Order]] (DSO) for this action and Naylor the [[Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom)|Distinguished Service Cross]] (DSC), though it was not [[gazetted]] until 16 February 1917.<ref name=winnepeg/><ref name=records1/><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=29947|date=16 February 1917|page=1648}}</ref>
Naylor was promoted to the temporary rank of lieutenant on 19 December 1916.<ref name=records1/> In January 1917 the ''Penshurst'' sank the submarine [[SM UB-37|SM ''UB-37'']] by gunfire. The submarine had surfaced and fired upon ''Penshurst'' for half an hour, killing two of her gun crews and wounding others. The survivors lay still until the U-boat showed its broadside when the disguise was dropped and a return fire opened.<ref name=watson/> In February ''Penshurst'' damaged [[SM U-84|''U-84'']], a particularly heavily armed U-boat.<ref>{{cite book |title=Shipbuilding & Shipping Record: A Journal of Shipbuilding, Marine Engineering, Dock, Harbours & Shipping |date=1941 |page=91 |url=https://
=== In command ===
From 28 June Naylor was in temporary command of ''Penshurst'' due to the illness of Grenfell.<ref name=records1/> At 1.30 pm on 2 July ''Penshurst'' spotted a submarine at {{convert|6000|yd|m}} range.<ref name=bridgland/> Naylor continued his course, pretending not to have seen the vessel. The submarine dived and approached to within {{convert|500|yd|m}} of the port bow and fired a torpedo. Naylor adjusted course to avoid the torpedo, which passed {{Convert|10|ft|m}} from the vessel, and set off his panic party. The submarine surfaced at 3.35 pm some {{convert|5000|yd|m}} to the starboard quarter and opened fire for more than half an hour. Naylor ordered his gun crews to open fire at 4.14 pm, hitting the submarine sixteen times which he suspected caused serious damage. The submarine managed to escape, despite the arrival of three British destroyers.<ref name=chatterton>{{cite book |last1=Chatterton |first1=E. Keble |title=Q-ships and Their Story |date=1922 |publisher=Sidgwick and Jackson |location=London |pages=
On 19 August the ''Penshurst'' was proceeding south in the [[Western Approaches]] at around {{coord|47.45|N|8.35|W}}, making {{convert|8|knots|km/h}}.<ref name=chatterton/> A submarine ([[SM UC-72|''UC-72'']]) was spotted at a range of around {{convert|6|mi|km}}, making an attack approach.<ref name=chatterton/><ref name=watson>{{cite book |last1=Watson |first1=Bruce |title=Atlantic Convoys and Nazi Raiders: The Deadly Voyage of HMS Jervis Bay |date=2006 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |location=Westport, Connecticut |isbn=978-0-275-98827-2 |page=15 |url=https://
That night Naylor transferred the non-essential crew to ''Leonidas'' while the remainder worked to slow the flooding and save the ship. ''Penshurst'' managed to limp into Plymouth at 1.30 pm on 20 August. She had suffered no casualties in the action and was repaired at the dockyard, the opportunity being taken to upgrade one of her 12-pounders to a 4-inch gun.<ref name=chatterton/>
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=== Sinking ===
[[File:U 111 at sea 1919.jpg|thumb|''U-110'', which sank the ''Penshurst'', was similar to the submarine shown]]
On Christmas Eve 1917 the ''Penshurst'' was in the [[Irish Sea]] steaming at {{convert|8|knots|km/h}} towards [[Smalls Lighthouse]] in response to the reported sighting of a German submarine.<ref name=wales/> Naylor was on the bridge as captain, navigator and lookout, at 12.10 pm when submarine [[SM U-110|''U-110'']] was spotted at approximately {{coord|51.31|N|5.33|W}}, some {{convert|5|mi|km}} distant.<ref name=wales/><ref name=chatterton/> The U-boat dived within two minutes. ''Penshurst'' zig-zagged and attempted to tempt the U-boat to surface so it could be attacked with gunfire. ''U-110'' instead launched a torpedo at ''Penshurst'' at 1.31 pm from a distance of {{convert|300|yards|m}}.<ref name=wales/> Naylor ordered a hard port turn but ''Penshurst'' was struck between her boilers and the engine room and began to sink by the stern.<ref name=wales>{{cite web |title=U-boat encounter on Christmas Eve results in sinking of Q-ship Penshurst|url=https://rcahmw.gov.uk/u-boat-encounter-on-christmas-eve-results-in-sinking-of-q-ship-penshurst/ |website=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales |access-date=2 March 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Chatterton |first1=E. Keble |title=Q-Ships and their Story |date=1922 |publisher=Sidgwick and Jackson |location=London |isbn=978-3-7340-4503-5 |page=109 |url=https://books.google.
The explosion caused ''Penshurst''{{'s}} aft 12-pounder gunhouse to collapse and unmasked her midships 4-inch guns, exposing her as a warship.<ref name=wales/> Only the two 12-pounders at the bridge remained disguised.<ref name=chatterton/> Despite this, Naylor ordered the crew to carry out the usual panic party drill.<ref name=wales/> Because ''Penshurst'' was sinking he sent off the entire crew, except for himself and the crews of the two 12-pounders.<ref name=winnepeg>{{cite news |title=H.M.S. Penshurst, Gallant 'Q' Ship, Battles Foe |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/36439538/ |work=Winnepeg Tribune Magazine (via Newspapers.com) |date=10 November 1928 |language=en}}</ref> The panic party went aboard the ship's sole surviving lifeboat and two rafts. These and ''Penshurst'' were closely inspected by the circling U-boat via periscope.<ref name=chatterton/> The captain of ''U-110'' was convinced that it was safe to surface and, at 2.40 pm, she came up at {{convert|250|yd|m}} off ''Penshurst''{{'s}} port bow, opening fire with her deck gun. ''Penshurst'' dropped her remaining disguises and returned fire. By now her stern was very low in the water and the surviving guns could not depress low enough to bear on the U-boat, except when the pitch and roll of the vessel allowed it. Despite this, some six rounds were fired, with the second hitting the deck of the submarine and the fourth her conning tower, before ''U-110'' dived again at around 3.47 pm.<ref name=wales/>
''U-110'' surfaced again some {{convert|5|mi|km}} to the starboard of ''Penshurst''. A British [[P-class sloop]] appeared on the scene and the U-boat soon withdrew. ''Penshurst'' sank at 8.05 pm, having lost two crew members killed in action.<ref name=wales/> The post-sinking inquiry found no fault in the behaviour of Naylor and his crew.<ref name=wales/> Naylor was awarded a second bar to his DSO, in 22 February 1918, for his part in this action and one of his lieutenants, E. Hutchinson, was awarded the DSO.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=30536|date=19 February 1918|page=2301|supp=y}}</ref><ref name=wales/> At the time it was thought that ''U-110'' was sunk by a British patrol boat the following day, though she actually survived until March 1918 when she was sunk after being depth charged by the British [[Admiralty M-class destroyer]]s [[HMS Michael (1915)|''Michael'']] and [[HMS Moresby|''Moresby'']].<ref name=chatterton/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kemp |first1=Paul |title=U-boats Destroyed: German Submarine Losses in the World Wars |date=1997 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |isbn=978-1-55750-859-1 |page=45 |url=https://
== Later life ==
[[File:HMS Polyanthus IWM SP 001656.jpg|thumb|HMS ''Polyanthus'' as a Q-ship]]
[[File:Battleship HMS Commonwealth - IWM Q 75239.jpg|thumb|HMS ''Commonwealth'']]
Naylor commanded the [[Aubrietia-class sloop]] [[HMS Polyanthus (1917)|''Polyanthus'']] from 26 January 1918.<ref name=records3>{{cite web |title=Naylor, Cedric : officers service record|url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8116794|website=National Archives |access-date=2 March 2021 }}</ref> Naylor was married at the Congregational Church in [[Fulwood, Lancashire]], on 6 July 1918 to Lillian Margaret Jenson from Preston. He was granted permission to wear his naval uniform for the ceremony.<ref name=marriage>{{cite news |title=Marriages |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/258186874/ |work=The Manchester Guardian (via Newspapers.com) |date=8 July 1918 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=records3/> The Mayor of Preston marked the occasion by presenting Naylor with an engraved plate, commemorating his naval career.
[[File:HMS Titania, submarine depot ship - IWM Q 75563.jpg|thumb|HMS ''Titania'']]
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Naylor was recalled to the navy soon after the start of the [[Second World War]] and returned to duty at ''Pembroke'' on 11 September 1939. He was posted to [[HMS Calliope (shore establishment)|HMS ''Calliope'']], the Royal Naval Reserve base on the Tyne, on 27 November 1939. He served aboard the armed yacht [[HMS Star of India|''Star of India'']] for two days from 8 April 1941. Naylor commanded the landing ship [[HMS Karanja|''Karanja'']] from 6 September 1941 until 17 August 1942.<ref name=records3/> This included the 5 May landings at the start of the [[Battle of Madagascar]], for which he was [[mentioned in dispatches]] on 25 August 1942 "for bravery and enterprise while serving in H.M. Ships, Transports and Royal Fleet Auxiliaries in the successful operations which led to the surrender of the important base of [[Antsiranana|Diego Suarez]]".<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=35679|date=21 August 1942|page=3716}}</ref> Afterwards Naylor commanded [[HMS Salsette|HMS ''Salsette'']], a Royal Navy combined operations base at [[Khadakwasla Dam|Lake Khadakwasla]] in India, with the acting rank of captain.<ref name=records3/> He held this position until transferred to command the shore establishment [[HMS Braganza|HMS ''Braganza'']] in 1943.<ref name=records3/>
Naylor returned to England on 23 April 1944 and on 30 June was officer in charge of naval detention at HMS ''Spartiate'', a [[Western Approaches Command]] shore establishment in Glasgow. He was in temporary command of the destroyer depot ship [[HMS Montclare (F85)|''Montclare'']] from 24 January 1945, returning to his former role at HMS ''Spartiate'' on 21 February. After the
== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naylor, Cedric}}
[[Category:1891 births]]
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[[Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom)]]
[[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]]
[[Category:Royal Naval Reserve personnel]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Wolverhampton]]
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