Pete served for 25 years in the Royal Navy. His career started aged just 15 at HMS Ganges and HMS St Vincent in 1961 where he became a seaman specialist. A few years later he found himself serving on operations in Borneo and Malaya with the patrol boat HMS Maryton. As he said himself "there's nothing more scary than a matelot with a gun!". As a member of the Submarine Service he served on HMS Grampus and Ocelot. I'm sure it was due to his gradual increase in weight (too much buoyancy, they would have been unable to dive!)that he then moved to surface ships. He served on the Frigate HMS Sirius and travelled the globe. In the mid Seventies he transferred to the Mine Warfare branch and served at HMS Vernon in Portsmouth before moving to his biggest challenge, the aircraft carrier and flagship HMS Hermes. He served on HMS Hermes for five years from 1977 to 1982, during which time he went on numerous deployments to Norway and the USA with the Royal Marine Commandos (and the odd relative) often on board. These five years were the longest with one ship. Pete was promoted to Chief Petty Officer during this time. He also saved the lives of two fellow sailors by rescuing them from a smoke filled compartment and fire. Despite this feat he seemed more proud of being deliberately set up by his mates in Florida; Everyone in a bar stood up when he arrived and pretended to the Americans that he was the ship's Captain. He didn't have to buy a drink for a month! In 1982 Pete landed his first overseas accompanied 'draft' and the family moved to Hong Kong. The move to Hong Kong was probably the most significant shared event for the whole family. (It became a place the whole family loved and all returned to live there again at some point). On returning from Hong Kong Pete re-joined the Submarine Service. But this time he was land based at HMS Dolphin in Gosport. He retired from the Senior Service in 1986. He became a member of the Ton Class Association and the Royal Naval Association.