Captain James Gregson Roper
Served from 1919
An outline of his career may be found here: (scroll down the page to get to his entry)
https://www.unithistories.com/officers/RN_officersR3.htmlHe evidently went to the prestigious Oundle school – see:
http://oundle-heritage.daisy.websds.net/Filename.ashx?systemFileName=OUNRohwwII000191.pdf&origFilename=OUNRohwwII000191.pdfYou should also see his records from the National Archives:
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8116504http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8126468For his death, see:
https://www.ozatwar.com/ozcrashes/nsw173.htm#:~:text=Captain%20James%20Gregson%20Roper%20%28RN%29%20They%20were%20all,adjacent%20to%20the%20sewer%20viaduct%20and%20Muddy%20Creek.
An outline of his service-
Career:
[presumably Cadet at BRNC Dartmouth 1919]
Midshipman 11 October 1920
Sub-Lieutenant 15 September 1921
Lieutenant 15 April 1923
Lieutenant Commander 15 April 1931
Commander 30 June 1935
Captain 31 December 1940
Appointments:
11 October 1920 battleship HMS REVENGE
3 January 1923 RN College Greenwich (for training)
23 August 1924 submarine HMS K.14
3 September 1925 submarine HMS H.43
18 April 1927 battleship HMS IRON DUKE
18 April 1928 submarine HMS L.69
10 December 1929 depot ship HMS ALECTO
21 April 1930 submarine HMS H.32 (In command)
19 September 1930 sub depot HMS DOLPHIN
16 October 1930 submarine HMS H.32 (in command)
24 October 1931 battleship HMS RESOLUTION
3 October 1933 minesweeper HMS FERMOY
23 January 1934 submarine HMS L.22 (in command)
4 September 1934 submarine HMS SHARK (in command)
4 January 1936 courses/staff HMS PRESIDENT
1 November 1938 cruiser HMS BELFAST (executive officer)
1 February 1940 sub depot ship HMS FORTH
18 April 1940 depot ship HMS AMBROSE (in command)
8 February 1942 subs shore base HMS DOLPHIN (as Chief Staff Officer)
24 April 1944 cruiser HMS NEWCASTLE (in command)
2 April 1945 depot ship HMS MONTCLARE (in command)
May 1945 headquarters ship HMS LOTHIAN as Chief Staff Officer Far East Fleet
Details of what these ships were up to can be provided if you want
Other bits and pieces:
for Oundle School:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oundle_SchoolMarriage notice appeared in newspapers in April 1927:
April 9 at St Jude’s Church, Southsea, by the Rev. B H Geary, V.C. assisted by the Rev. C F Ayerst M.A., vicar, JAMES GREGSON ROPER Lieut., Royal Navy, eldest son of Mr & Mrs J G Roper of Seascale, Cumberland, to MARGARET, only daughter of Eng. Rear Admiral W A Dathan & Mrs Dathan, Southsea.
The Hampshire Telegraph carried a report on the wedding, which rather concentrates on what the ladies were wearing… so we know that the brides dress was embroidered with pearls and had a brocade train with a tulle veil; the bridesmaids were the two sisters of Lieut Roper and were kitted out in apricot dresses and all carried bouquets of apricot carnations … the bridegrooms gift to the bridesmaids were opal brooches .. the brides mother was in gold and red (!) and the grooms mother was in blue… the pair had their honeymoon “motoring in the west Country”
Several notices in Portsmouth local newspapers of Lieut J G Roper playing Rugby for the Navy in late 1920’s/1930’s
OBE in March 1940
“…for exemplary conduct and cheerfulness in adversity after an explosion had occurred in his ship” (this was HMS Belfast, now moored as a museum in London)
Hope all this lot helps ..