Peter Du Cane (1901–1984) was a Royal Navy

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

and managing director of the engineering company Vospers. He assisted in the development of the '' Blue Bird II'' amongst other boats.

Biography

Du Cane was born in 1901, the son of Charles Henry Copely Du Cane, of

Braxted Park Braxted Park, formerly called Braxted Lodge, is a country house in the Queen Anne style set in a landscaped 2,000 acre park near the village of Great Braxted, Essex. In the Domesday Book of 1086, Eudo Dapifer is shown as owner of the manor. All Sa ...

. His paternal grandfather Sir

Charles Du Cane Sir Charles Du Cane (5 December 1825 – 25 February 1889) was a British Conservative Party politician and colonial administrator who was a Member of Parliament between 1852 and 1854 and Governor of Tasmania from 1868 to 1874. Du Cane was born ...

was a politician and colonial administrator; his paternal grandmother Georgiana was the daughter of

John Copley, 1st Baron Lyndhurst John Singleton Copley, 1st Baron Lyndhurst, (21 May 1772 – 12 October 1863) was a British lawyer and politician. He was three times Lord Chancellor, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. Background and education Lyndhurst was born in Boston, ...

. He joined 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 ...

as a thirteen-year-old before resigning his commission as a Lieutenant-Commander in 1928. The following year he joined the

Royal Auxiliary Air Force The Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF), formerly the Auxiliary Air Force (AAF), together with the Air Force Reserve, is a component of His Majesty's Reserve Air Forces (Reserve Forces Act 1996, Part 1, Para 1,(2),(c)). It provides a primary rein ...

where he flew

Westland Wapiti The Westland Wapiti was a British two-seat general-purpose military single-engined biplane of the 1920s. It was designed and built by Westland Aircraft Works to replace the Airco DH.9A in Royal Air Force service. First flying in 1927, the Wa ...

s in

No. 601 Squadron RAF Number 601 (County of London) Squadron is a squadron of the RAF Reserves, based in London. The squadron took part in the Battle of Britain, during which the first Americans to fly in World War II were members of the squadron. Reactivated in 2017 ...

. Du Cane was invited by Glen Kidston to join him at Vosper Shipyard. Following Kidston's death and numerous ownership changes, Du Cane was offered the managing director's position. He accepted, while maintaining his position as Chief Designer. Under Du Cane's guidance, Vosper won a number of contracts for high-speed boats, including the construction of ''

Blue Bird K4 ''Blue Bird K4'' was a powerboat commissioned in 1939 by Sir Malcolm Campbell, to rival the Americans' efforts in the fight for the world water speed record. The name "K4" was derived from its Lloyd's unlimited rating#K4, Lloyd's unlimited rating ...

'' which, piloted by

Malcolm Campbell Major Sir Malcolm Campbell (11 March 1885 – 31 December 1948) was a British racing motorist and motoring journalist. He gained the world speed record on land and on water at various times, using vehicles called ''Blue Bird'', including a 1 ...

, took the world water speed record in 1939. Du Cane was awarded the Segrave Medal by the

Royal Automobile Club The Royal Automobile Club is a British private social and athletic club. It has two clubhouses: one in London at 89 Pall Mall, and the other in the countryside at Woodcote Park, near Epsom in Surrey. Both provide accommodation and a range o ...

that year for his efforts. He also designed a high-speed torpedo boat, the ''

MTB 102 ''MTB 102'' is one of few surviving motor torpedo boats that served with the Coastal Forces of the Royal Navy in the Second World War. She was built as a prototype, but was purchased and taken into service by the Admiralty. She was the smalles ...

'', 350 of which were procured by the Admiralty, and which were used extensively during the

D-Day landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

. Du Cane was the naval architect and exterior designer of ''Brave Challenger'', a super-yacht with a top speed of , and powerboats ''Tramontana'' and ''Tramontana II'', the former winning in the inaugural Cowes–Torquay race in 1961. Later in his career, Du Cane joined the

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...

. In 1964, he was made a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE). Du Cane died on 31 October 1984, aged 83, and was buried at sea.

Publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Du Cane, Peter 1901 births 1984 deaths Boat and ship designers People from Essex Royal Navy officers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Burials at sea Military personnel from Essex