Commander Anthony Walter Langridge's service
Richard Langridge's father, Anthony Walter Langridge, served with submarines. He was born around 1920 and joined the Navy from school. His first command was in 1934. He was first commissioned for service in 1937. Richard shared photos of his medals from war service and of his commission letter signed by King George in 1935.
He was commander of HMS Ulster around 1940 and HMS Spirit around 1941. A pilot mistakenly thought that HMS Spirit was a German submarine and dive-bombed the ship; luckily, everyone survived, and the pilot, Michael Godson, sent a signed photograph with an apology for the friendly fire incident.
He received the Distinguished Service Cross in 1945, and this was recorded in the Supplement to the London Gazette.
His last sea-going command was on HMS Belfast in 1953, where he served as chief executive officer.
He used to come down to Gosport for reunions. He wanted his ashes scattered with his favourite ship. His ashes were scattered from the ship into the Thames so that he could ultimately drift out to sea. His obituary was in the Daily Telegraph in 2001.
