The Submarines Association of Australia (SAA) advises with sadness the passing of Associate Member Peter Dechaineux on the 26 th of May this year.

Peter was born on September 29, 1939, in Hazelmere, England, just weeks after the start of World War II. He was the son of Emile and Mary Dechaineux (née Harbottle). At the time of Peter’s birth, his father, Commander Emile Dechaineux of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), had just completed the Royal Navy’s Staff Course and was working at the Admiralty.

When Peter was only five years old, his father died of wounds received in a kamikaze attack on the heavy cruiser HMAS Australia. Emile Dechaineaux had been singled out for higher command in the RAN, and his death was a tragedy—not only for Mary and her family but for the Navy as a whole. The family on their return to Australia settled in Melbourne.

In January 1953, at the age of 13, Peter followed his father into the RAN as a Cadet Midshipman. He graduated from the Royal Australian Naval College (RANC), then located at HMAS Cerberus, in early 1957. He proceeded to the United Kingdom for training at the Royal Naval College, where he specialised as an Engineering Officer and he was awarded two months’ “time gained” for his promotion to Sub-Lieutenant. He returned to Australia in August 1958 and was posted to the Battle-class destroyer HMAS Tobruk to earn his engineering watchkeeping qualifications. Tobruk was emerging from a long refit, and soon after joining her, Peter qualified as a compressed air diver, gaining his full diving qualifications twelve months later. He was awarded his Engineer Officer’s Watchkeeping Certificate and his Engineering Certificate of Competence in late 1959, while the ship was serving in the Far East.

Peter then returned to the UK for professional engineering training. He was promoted to Lieutenant in May 1961. Upon completion of his training, he returned to Australia as a qualified Marine Engineering Officer and was posted to the light carrier HMAS Melbourne for two years. In 1964 Peter Married Maureen Massey at the HMAS Watson Chapel.

Peter soon returned to the UK to undertake the Long Engineering Course at the Royal Naval Engineering College Manadon (HMS Thunderer) in Devon. He later served as Divisional Staff at the RANC and then as the Deputy Marine Engineering Officer on the Daring-class destroyer HMAS Vampire from 1966 to 1968. In 1968, he took up a position as a Project Planner for submarines at Garden Island Dockyar d.

In May 1969, Peter was promoted to Lieutenant Commander, and in December of that year he was appointed as the Marine Engineering Officer of the Daring-class destroyer HMAS Duchess. While serving on Vampire and Duchess, he made several escort trips to Vietnam. Twelve months after joining Duchess, he returned to the UK as an instructor at Manadon. In December 1972, he became the Marine Engineering Officer of the guided missile destroyer HMAS Perth and he was promoted to Commander on the last day of 1973 whilst serving on Perth. In 1976, Peter became the Deputy Director of Fleet Maintenance in Navy Office, and in June 1980 he was promoted to Captain. He served as Commanding Officer of HMAS Creswell and the RANC and he was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 1984 Australia Day Honours List for his services to the Material Division of the RAN. He was later promoted to Commodore, serving as the Director General of the Naval Engineering Division.

Peter joined the Submarines Association of Australia in 2004 as an Associate Member, following the naming of the Collins-class submarine HMAS Dechaineux in honour of his father, Emile Dechaineux. He was a regular attendee at SAA functions for many years.

A naval funeral service for Peter Dechaineux will be held on Tuesday, 16 June, at 9:00 am at the Royal Military College Chapel, Duntroon, followed by a gathering at the Commonwealth Club, Yarralumla. The Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Mark Hammond, will deliver the eulogy, and the Deputy Chief of Navy, Rear Admiral Matthew Buckley, will recite the Naval Ode.

The SAA extends its sincere condolences to Peter’s widow, Maureen, and to his family and friends.