George Hunt (Royal Navy officer)

In January 1930, while still 13, he entered HMS Conway as an officer cadet in the RNR (Royal Naval Reserve), graduating as a senior cadet captain in August 1932 with a nomination to midshipman RNR.

At the age of 16, he became an indentured cadet in the Merchant Navy, joining the Henderson Line, serving first on board the SS Arracan then later on the SS Henzada as a senior cadet, both ships plying between Great Britain and the Burma.

In 1935, he joined the light cruiser HMS Achilles for RNR service as a midshipman. Her commanding officer, Captain Colin Cantlie, had been a submariner during World War I and his enthusiasm for the Submarine Service was to influence Hunt's future career and that of other midshipmen on board, five out of eight of whom subsequently joined the Submarine Service.

In 1936, Hunt returned to Glasgow to study for his second mate's certificate. There he met his future wife, Phoebe Silson, who had been born in South Africa and was in Scotland furthering her studies in physiotherapy. After gaining his second mate's certificate, he joined the Blue Funnel Line, on the SS Leomedon voyaging to the Far East.

During the Second World War, Hunt served in the submarines HMS Unity as navigation and signals officer, HMS H31 as first lieutenant, the Dutch submarine HNLMS O 10 as liaison officer, HMS Urchin as first lieutenant while under construction then as liaison officer when she commissioned under Polish command as the ORP Sokół, HMS Proteus as first lieutenant, HMS H33 as captain, HMS H50 as captain, HMS Ultor as captain and HMS Taku as captain.

It was during his service as captain of the submarine Ultor that he achieved the record of sinking the highest number of ships sunk by any British submarine during the war. During her seventeen patrols, Ultor sank or destroyed over 50,000 tons of Axis shipping. Admiralty records of 5 September 1944 show 20 vessels sunk, two damaged by torpedo, and 10 sunk by gunfire (including one destroyed on the stocks), giving a total of 30 vessels sunk and two damaged. In addition, Ultor took part in one bombardment, one beach-marking and one special operation. In achieving this record, Ultor carried out 27 torpedo attacks, of which 23 were successful, a success rate of 85.2 per cent. She fired 68 torpedoes, of which 32 were hits (plus two possibilities), a success rate of 47 per cent, which was the highest rate of any British submarine.[2]

Counting his time in other submarines, Hunt carried out 32 patrols.

While serving at the Staff College in Greenwich in 1945, Hunt was honoured to be one of two submariners selected by the Admiralty to have their portraits painted for the War Artists' Advisory Committee by the celebrated Official War Artist Anthony Devas. The portrait remains on display in the Imperial War Museum.