William King (Royal Navy Officer)

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Commander William Donald Aelian "Bill" King, DSO & Bar, DSC (born 1910), is a retired British naval officer, yachtsman and author. He was the oldest participant in the first solo non-stop around the world yacht race, the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, and is the oldest surviving World War II submarine commander. Brought up by his mother and grandmother, King went to the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth. He was first assigned to HMS Resolution, and later became Commanding Officer of HMS Snapper. He served on three separate vessels in World War II, and was promoted to Commander and awarded seven medals during the war. King not only survived World War II, but succeeded in a singlehanded circumnavigation in 1973 on his third attempt. During the latter journey, he managed to reach port despite a collision with a large sea creature 400 miles (640 km) southwest of Australia.