Commander John Simon Kerans (30 June 191512 September 1985) was an officer in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

and later a

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician. He is also the author of the 1964 book ''The World's Greatest Sea Adventures'', Publisher: Odhams Books Ltd.

The Yangtze Incident

As Assistant British Naval Attaché in then

Nanking Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

, China in 1949, Lieutenant-Commander Kerans took command of when the ship came under fire on the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest list of rivers of Asia, river in Asia, the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in th ...

during the final stages of the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...

after the captain and 16 others were killed in the shelling. The ship was detained for ten weeks during negotiations for its release, until Kerans led a night-time escape. Kerans was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

. The ''Amethyst'' incident was later the subject of a film entitled '' Yangtse Incident: The Story of HMS Amethyst'' (1957), in which Kerans was portrayed by the British actor

Richard Todd Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd (11 June 19193 December 2009) was an Irish-British actor known for his leading man roles of the 1950s. He received a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Male, and an Academy Award for Best Actor n ...

Politics

At the 1959 general election he was elected as Conservative Member of Parliament for

The Hartlepools The Hartlepools was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. The constituency became Hartlepool in 1974. The seat's name reflected the representation of both old Hartlepool and West Hartlepool. Hist ...

. He served only one term in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

, and did not contest the 1964 general election. He advocated the representation of Communist China in the United Nations. Kerans was the last

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

to serve as MP for the constituency, (now called

Hartlepool Hartlepool () is a seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Borough of Hartlepool. With an estimated population of 90,123, it is the second-largest settlement in County ...

) until

Jill Mortimer Jillian Wendy Mortimer (née Sowerby; born 20 March 1965) is a British Conservative Party politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Hartlepool since 2021. Personal life Mortimer was born Jillian Wendy Sowerby on 20 March 1965 in Lee ...

was elected following the 2021 Hartlepool by-election.

Grave

His remains are interred in the churchyard of St Peters, Tandridge and the grave can be found in the eastern side near the boundary wall.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kerans, John Simon 1915 births 1985 deaths Royal Navy officers Royal Navy officers of World War II Politics of the Borough of Hartlepool Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1959–1964