List of Ships and Sailors of The Royal Navy - Famous People

Famous People

• Anthony Bate, English actor, possibly best known for his role as Oliver Lacon in the BBC television adaptations of the John le Carré novels Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People, served with the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve in 1945-47.
• Peter Bull, English character actor, served as an RNVR lieutenant-commander during World War II, awarded the DSC.
• James Callaghan, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979, was conscripted in 1942 as an Ordinary Seaman, and was promoted to Lieutenant in April 1944.
• Sean Connery, actor, enlisted into the Royal Navy in 1946, and served as an anti-aircraft gunner before receiving a medical discharge in 1949.
• Harry H. Corbett, actor famous for Steptoe and Son, served in the Royal Marines during the latter part of World War II.
• Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond novels, served in the Naval Intelligence Division during World War II.
• William Golding, novelist and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, served as a lieutenant and was present (on board a destroyer) at the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck.
• John Gregson, actor, conscripted to serve on minesweepers in the Royal Navy during World War II. Used this experience playing the Captain of HMS Exeter, in the 1956 film The Battle of the River Plate.
• Alec Guinness, actor, served during World War II, initially as a rating, but later commissioned in 1941. He commanded a landing craft taking part in the invasion of Sicily and Elba and later ferried supplies to the Yugoslav partisans.
• Jack Gwillim, served in the Navy for 20 years rising to the rank of commander, but after being invalided out in 1946 he became an noted character actor.
• Michael Havers, Baron Havers, QC and Attorney General, served as a 19 year old midshipman on Sirius in Force Q during World War II.
• Michael Horden, actor, served on Illustrious in "Operation Ironclad" (the 1942 Battle of Madagascar) and later as a Lt.-Cdr in the office of the First Sea Lord.
• James Robertson Justice, joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, but after sustaining an injury in 1943 (thought to be shrapnel from a German shell), he was pensioned off.
• Sir Ludovic Kennedy, journalist, broadcaster and author served in the Royal Navy during World War II. His father commanded HMS Rawalpindi, the P&O armed merchant ship in her ill-fated encounter with the powerful German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in 1939.
• Laurence Olivier, actor, served in the Fleet Air Arm during World War II, rising to the rank of lieutenant.
• Peter O'Toole, actor, served as a radioman during his National Service in 1950-52.
• Patrick Macnee, actor, served during World War II, with the rank of lieutenant.
• Nicholas Monsarrat, author, served as a RNVR lieutenant-commander during World War II.
• Kenneth More actor, RNVR lieutenant, on board Aurora in Force Q during World War II.
• Jon Pertwee, actor, best known for his portrayal of the Third Doctor in Doctor Who, served during World War II, as an radioman, and was transferred off the Hood just before it was sunk to become an officer, and served in the security division.
• Michael Redgrave, English stage and film actor, director, manager and author, served in Illustrious during World War II.
• Ralph Richardson, actor, served as a lieutenant-commander during World War II.
• Nevil Shute, author and engineer, served as an RNVR lieutenant-commander working on weapons development during World War II.
• Patrick Troughton, actor, best known for his portrayal of the Second Doctor in Doctor Who, served in Coastal Forces during World War II, rising to the rank of lieutenant, and commanding a motor gun boat.
• Godfrey Winn, a British journalist known as a columnist, and also a writer and actor. Trained at HMS Ganges. His book PQ17 was an account of his experiences on Convoy PQ 17 during the Second World War, serving in HMS Pozarica.