Early Life
Lonsdale was born in Dublin and educated at St. Cyprian's School, Eastbourne and RNC Osborne. He began in the submarine branch of the service in 1927 and within four years was first lieutenant of XI, a large experimental submersible. With four 5.2-inch guns and displacing 2,780 tons this was by far the biggest craft before the advent of nuclear vessels.
In 1934 he passed the demanding submarine command qualifying course, and his first command was H44, a legacy of World War I, of 440 tons, with four torpedo tubes and a machine-gun. Lonsdale was promoted lieutenant-commander in May 1936 and in 1937 he took over the newer Swordfish for a year.
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