George Naper was born in 1884, the son of Lieutenant Colonel W D Naper of Bayswater, London.  He joined the Royal Navy in 1899.

He joined submarines in 1906 and was promoted to Lieutenant.  By the end of the year he had completed his training and had been appointed to the Submarine Depot Ship HMS FORTH ‘for Submarines’.  In 1908 he was further appointed ‘for Command of Submarine Boats’ although no particular submarine is specified.

George Naper was next appointed to HMS FORTH ‘for Command of Submarine B8’ in 1909.   In 1911 he returned to the Surface Fleet for his ‘Big Ship’ time with an appointment to the battleship HMS KING EDWARD VII.

His next submarine appointment came in 1913 when he took command of HMS C14. A few months later, C14 sank at Devonport after a collision with Government Hopper No. 29.  Luckily, there were no casualties and the submarine was raised and re-fitted.  George Naper was promoted to Lieutenant Commander in 1914 while still serving in C14.

In 1915 he took command of HMS E24.  He sailed from Harwich on 21 March 1916 with orders to carry out a Mine Laying Operation in the Heligoland Bight. The submarine did not return from this operation and was understood to have been sunk in a minefield on or about 24 March 1916.

George Naper is buried in Hamburg Cemetery.  He was the only one of the twenty five members of the crew, whose remains were recovered from the wreck in 1973, who was able to be identified – from his uniform jacket.  He is also commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial, on panel 11 and on the memorial in the churchyard at Sullington in Sussex.