ring at the rank of lieutenant. In February 1933 he moved to HMS Dolphin and was promoted lieutenant on 1 February 1933. Submarine service After attending promotion courses in 1932 he joined the Royal Navy Submarine Service the following spring, 1933. He served at Gosport and undertook intensive training on submarines. In September he served in the submarine which was part of the Mediterranean Fleet. It was his first appointment as a submariner. In 1934 he accompanied his new post on trips around the Mediterranean. Visits to Gibraltar, Malta, Algeria, France and Italy followed. In October 1934 he transferred to HMS L56 based with the rest of the 6th Submarine Flotilla at Portsmouth. Wanklyn spent a year on board before becoming the boat's first lieutenant. He learned a number of officer functions and was responsible for the vessel's diving trim and crew discipline. He would recall the performance of the L-class submarine when he commanded other such vessels in early 1940. He served aboard HMS Shark for the majority of 1937 and 1938 and became her first lieutenant. He patrolled around Gibraltar during the Spanish Civil War. Admiralty orders dictated any Nationalist or Spanish Republican Navy vessel that attempted to attack British shipping was to be sunk on sight. On one occasion, the submarine encountered a German U-boat. The two submarines watched each other from a distance of one nautical mile without taking action. While based at Malta Wanklyn married his girlfriend Betty at the Holy Trinity Church, Sliema, on 5 May 1938. Wanklyn invited all the officers and men who formed a guard of honour. It was not usual for officers to mix with lower ranks but Wanklyn showed no prejudice. Wanklyn returned to Gosport in July 1939 and became the first lieutenant and second-in-command of HMS Otway, part of the 5th Submarine Flotilla, in August 1939. The submarine left Gosport on 24 August 1939 and sailed to Gibraltar to take on fuel and supplies. At the outbreak of war Wanklyn was deployed to Malta on 2 September and then to Alexandria in Egypt on 2 October 1939. Over the course of the Phoney War, Otway was in training. On Christmas Day the vessel docked in Marseilles. Wanklyn was ordered to London to receive a new command. He was driven to Paris, where he spent boxing day and then on to Cherbourg, where he sailed for England. Second World