Death of former commander of HMS St Angelo

Captain Maurice 'Ginger' Cavenagh-Mainwaring, a distinguished submariner who commanded HMS St Angelo between 1952-54, has died aged 94.

Captain Cavenagh-Mainwaring was noted for his care of the Maltese sailors who then formed a division of the Royal Navy, but he also found plenty of time to play polo, the Daily Telegraph reported in an obituary.

He was appointed a Commander of Merit of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta for his help in raising funds to restore a chapel at St Angelo.

Captain Cavenagh-Mainwaring was responsible for some daring and aggressive patrols close to the enemy-held French coast in 1940.

While in the submarine Tuna off the Gironde Estuary he spotted a Norwegian merchant ship, the Tirranna, which had been captured by a German raider in the Indian Ocean three months before.

Tirranna had been on passage from Australia to Britain via East Africa, carrying a valuable cargo of flour, wheat, wool, beer, peaches and jam as well as 178 military vehicles. Cavenagh-Mainwaring sank her with three torpedoes. Unfortunately, 90 of the 279 allied and neutral prisoners of war on board were killed in the attack.

Two days later Cavenagh-Mainwaring sank another freighter, despite her being closely escorted by two destroyers.

He was awarded the DSO for these patrols and operations.

Later in the war he helped to train a new generation of submariners and later became second-in-command of the 2nd Submarine Squadron in the Far East.

After serving in Malta, he was naval attaché in Paris from 1957 to 1960. He became an ADC to the Queen and was made a commander of the French Legion of Honour when President de Gaulle visited Britain in 1960.

On leaving the Navy in 1960, Cavenagh-Mainwaring worked for the marketing department of Simpson's in Piccadilly.

Cavenagh-Mainwaring married Iris Mary Denaro, daughter of Colonel Denaro of the Royal Malta Artillery; he met her while he was based on Malta and serving in the submarine Oberon. He is survived by his wife and one son, who served in both the Royal Marines Reserves and the Honourable Artillery Company.