Geoffrey Sladen

Geoffrey Sladen
DSC DSO
Full name	Geoffrey Mainwaring Sladen
Date of birth	3 August 1904
Place of birth	Reigate, Surrey, England
Date of death	4 October 1985 (aged 81)
Place of death	Dumfriesshire, Scotland
Rugby union career
Position(s)
Position(s)	Centre
International career
Years	Team
1929	England

Commander Geoffrey Mainwaring Sladen (3 August 1904 – 4 October 1985) was a Royal Navy officer and England international rugby union player. He invented the Sladen Suit, a drysuit used by British manned torpedo riders.

Born in Reigate, Sladen attended Royal Naval College in Osborne and Dartmouth after finishing school. He played rugby in the navy and was capped three times for England in the 1929 Five Nations as a centre three-quarter.^[1]

Sladen was Commanding Officer of the HMS Trident during World War II. He received a Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) in 1940 for demonstrating "courage, enterprise and resource". His submarine torpedoed the German cruiser Prinz Eugen off the Norwegian coast in 1942 and it had to be towed back to Germany for repairs due to a damaged stern.^[2] For this, Sladen was awarded a bar to his DSC.^[3] It was later revealed that for several weeks the HMS Trident had on board a reindeer, which had been gifted by the Soviets and was being transported to London Zoo.^[4]

References

^ "Rugby International Resting". Evening Standard. 18 September 1929.
^ "Man Who Torpedoed German Cruiser". Birmingham Evening Mail. 27 February 1942.
^ "Medals for Prinz Eugen attackers". Daily Mirror. 17 June 1942.
^ "Monster Of The Deep ..." Sunday Post. 8 December 1985.

External links

Geoffrey Sladen at ESPNscrum

[1] "Rugby International Resting". Evening Standard. 18 September 1929.

[2] "Man Who Torpedoed German Cruiser". Birmingham Evening Mail. 27 February 1942.

[3] "Medals for Prinz Eugen attackers". Daily Mirror. 17 June 1942.

[4] "Monster Of The Deep ..." Sunday Post. 8 December 1985.

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