George Menzies was an officer in the 4th Submarine Flotilla serving on the China station in 1928-1929 commanding one of the L Class submarines. He had already served in the 1st World War 1916-1919 and in the 2nd World War commanded the Submarine Depot ship HMS Forth. He married Constance Grice-Hutchinson in April 1936.
"Light Airs" in seven volumes was the journal of the 4th Submarine Flotilla. The submarines seem to have each taken it in turns to compile a volume of the journal. Printed by Kelly & Walsh Ltd., Hong Kong, Vol. VI was compiled by members of the crew of HM Submarine L3. The editor was R.G. Liveing and the pages I shall be uploading is from the copy kept by the commanding officer, Lt.-Cdr. W. R. Fell. The journal gives a flavour of life on a submarine and is a nice example of 1920s humour - submariner humour.
Lt Randy Gordon-Duff was an officer on HM Submarine L3 in the 4th Submarine Flotilla on the China Station 1928-1929. The task of the flotilla was to chase down pirates up and down the China coast, mainly around Wei-Hai-Wei, Bia's Bay and Hong Kong. Gordon-Duff was promoted to Lt Cmdr and returned to Hong Kong commanding HMS Proteus in 1939-1940. He died when HMS Culver which he was commanding in 1942 was hit and sunk by two torpedoes off Cape Clear while escorting a convoy. He married Mollie Olga Sinclair in 1937.
HMS Titania was a submarine depot ship, often seen in Hong Kong during 1919-1929, when she was part of the 4th Submarine Flotilla. The flotilla also included a second depot ship, HMS Ambrose, and 13 L-class submarines: L1, L2, L3, L4, L5, L6, L7, L8, L9, L15, L19, L20 and L33.
Wikipedia has a good page about HMS Titania. Here are some of the key dates mentioned there:
My Great Uncle, John Edward Barrow, was an Engine Room Artificer in the Royal Navy. In 1919 he was assigned to HMS Titania and he sailed from England to Hong Kong. According to my family members, he spent a lot of time aboard submarines. After HMS Titania docked in Hong Kong in April 1920, he left the Royal Navy and settled in Hong Kong.
