William Dunkerley was born on 10 March 1908, the son of William and Amy Constance Dunkerley. He joined the Royal Navy in September 1921. After time as a Midshipman, including in HMS DURBAN on the China station, he joined submarines as a Sub Lieutenant in September 1929.

Promoted to Lieutenant in July 1930, in September 1930 he was appointed to HMS K26 in Malta as Third Hand.  He was then sent to Australia to HMS OXLEY, which then transferred to the First Submarine Flotilla in the Mediterranean. There then followed four First Lieutenant appointments:  H43 in October 1931; R4 in July 1932; L22 in September 1933; and CLYDE in August 1934.  

Dunkerley’s Commanding Officer’s Qualifying Course followed in August 1936, after which he went to command HMS H43 in April 1937. He was promoted to Lieutenant Commander in July 1938.  In March 1940, he was appointed to command HMS TUNA, but was very shortly (July 1940) sent to command HMS THAMES.

THAMES was lost with all hands on Dunkerley’s first patrol. Having left Dundee on 22 July 1940, he successfully attacked one of the escorts of the German battlecruiser GNEISENAU near the Skagerrak. It is possible that THAMES was sunk from damage inflicted by one of her own torpedoes, but it is more likely the sinking was later (3 August) and caused by a mine.

William Dunkerley, the husband of Jena Dunkerley of Mere in Cheshire, is commemorated on the Plymouth Naval War Memorial on Panel No. 36 Column No. 3.