Claud Lacy Yea Dering

Commander Claud Lacy Yea Dering, D.S.O. (13 October, 1885 – 31 October, 1943) was an officer in the Royal Navy. He commanded several submarines during the Great War but faced persistent health challenges which ultimately abbreviated his post-war career.

Life & Career

On 2 June, 1903, Dering was appointed to the pre-dreadnought Exmouth in the Mediterranean. On 18 May, 1904 he transferred to the Prince of Wales on the same station where he remained until being invalided with Mediterranean Fever on 7 August, 1905. He was sent back to Portsmouth and was admitted to Haslar Hospital on 14 August. He regained fitness on 2 January, 1906 and on the 15th he was appointed to join Goliath. This appointment was rather abbreviated, as he joined College on 13 February, 1906. This proved premature, as he was again found unfit. He participated in the annual manoeuvres in H.M.S. Triumph, and was found fit again afterward, rejoining college afterward,

Dering was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 31 December, 1907.

On 15 August, 1908, Dering was appointed to Mercury, additional, for instruction in submarines.

On 25 January, 1910, Dering was stricken with appendicitis and admitted to Plymouth Hospital. He was not fit before April, 1910.

Dering was appointed in command of the submarine A 10 on 8 August, 1910.

Dering was appointed in command of the submarine B 4 on 5 May, 1911.

Dering was appointed in command of the submarine C 14 on 19 March, 1913. On 27 August, 1913, Dering was reported to be suffering from pneumonia and his condition was serious enough that his mother was to arrive that day. He would not be declared fit for service before 25 November, 1913.

On 13 February, 1914 Dering was sent to Mexico City with a Maxim gun party to protect British life and property. He was apparently still there when war broke out, as on 24 August, 1914 he was ordered home "as soon as possible."

Back in England, Dering was appointed in command of the submarine C 9 on 7 September, 1914.

On 2 July, 1915, seven one pound treasury notes despatched from Bonaventure to C 12 went missing.

Dering was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Commander on 31 December, 1915.

Dering was appointed in command of the submarine E 56 on 1 April, 1916. In November, he was appointed to Dolphin for L 4, to take command upon her commissioning.

Post-War

On 25 February, 1919, Dering was appointed to Dolphin for M 2, to take command upon her commissioning. Awarded a D.S.O. for services in submarines between 1 July 1918 and the end of the war, the award was invested at Buckingham Palace on 28 June and Dering was promoted to the rank of Commander on 31 December, 1919.

In July, 1920, Dering was admitted to Plymouth Hospital with a femoral hernia and applied to be placed on the Retired List at his own request upon being relieved in command of M 2. Before this even occurred, he asked that he be restored to the Active List and was refused, as the Royal Navy still had an excess of Commanders. Before his effective retirement, Dering reversed course again in a letter sent from Plymouth Hospital, and his retirement became effective upon his relief on 18 September, 1920.

Dering eventually died in 1943 of peritonitis and a strangulated hernia.

See Also

• Service Records
• Wikipedia

Naval Appointments
Preceded by Thomas C. Meryon	Captain of H.M.S. A 10 8 Aug, 1910 – 5 May, 1911	Succeeded by Percy B. O'Brien
Preceded by Robert H. T. Raikes	Captain of H.M.S. B 4 5 May, 1911 – 19 Mar, 1913	Succeeded by Alton Wishart
Preceded by Cecil P. Talbot	Captain of H.M.S. C 14 19 Mar, 1913 – 10 Sep, 1913	Succeeded by George W. E. Naper
Preceded by John R. G. Moncreiffe	Captain of H.M.S. C 9 7 Sep, 1914 – 1 Apr, 1916	Succeeded by Henry F. M. Peto
Preceded by John G. H. Steedman	Captain of H.M.S. E 56 1 Apr, 1916 – Nov, 1917	Succeeded by Oswald E. Hallifax
Preceded by New Command	Captain of H.M.S. L 4 Nov, 1917 – 25 Feb, 1919	Succeeded by Christopher P. Satow
Preceded by ?	Captain of H.M.S. M 2 25 Feb, 1919 – 18 Sep, 1920	Succeeded by Hubert Vaughan-Jones