Michael Jupp was born in 1920, the son of Hugh Fleming Jupp and Norah Keats Jupp of Burdock Vean, Falmouth in Cornwall.  He was educated at Cheltenham College from where he joined the Royal Navy as a Cadet. He was promoted Midshipman on 1 May 1938 and, on the same day was appointed to the battleship HMS BARHAM.

He was promoted to Sub Lieutenant and was appointed to HMS DOLPHIN ‘for Submarine Training’ on 17 June 1940 and was subsequently promoted to Lieutenant.  On 29 July 1940 he was appointed to the Submarine Depot Ship HMS FORTH at Rosyth ‘for Submarines’.  HMS FORTH was transferred to the Holy Loch and, on 29 September 1940, he was appointed to ‘Submarine HMS TIGRIS as Third Hand’.  On 23 September 1941 he was reported to be serving in HMS TIGRIS as First Lieutenant, now deployed to Polyarnoe in Northern Russia.  TIGRIS returned to the Holy Loch on 27 January 1942. Michael Jupp was awarded the DSC – see London Gazette dated 27 January 1942 for ‘bravery, coolness and skill in successful submarine patrols‘ in HMS TIGRIS.

Michael Jupp left HMS TIGRIS with an appointment to HMS FORTH ‘for Submarine Staff Duties’ on 1 October 1942 and then to HMS DOLPHIN ‘for Submarines’ on 2 November 1942. He completed his Commanding Officers Qualifying Course and was then appointed to the Submarine Depot Ship HMS CYCLOPS at Rothesay ‘for Submarine H33 in Command’ on 28 December 1942.

He was appointed to HMS DOLPHIN ‘for Submarine HMS SYRTIS- completing and in Command on Commissioning’ on 16 March  1943.  HMS SYRTIS (P241) was built by Cammell Laird at Birkenhead and was laid down on 14 October 1941, launched on 2 October 1942 and was commissioned on 24 March  1943.  After commissioning, SYRTIS joined the 3rd Submarine Flotilla based on the Submarine Depot Ship HMS FORTH at the Holy Loch on 21 April 1943.

HMS SYRTIS left Lerwick on 16 March 1944 for a patrol of the Norwegian Coast and, on 20 March 1944. was ordered to an area in the vicinity of Bödo.  Records indicate that she carried out attacks on enemy vessels in the area on 22 March.  HMS SYRTIS was ordered to leave patrol on 28 March but failed to return to Lerwick.  An air search was carried out but no sign of her was found.  Mines are now known to have been laid in the area in which SYRTIS was working and it is almost certain that the submarine was lost with all hands by striking a mine off Bödo between 22 and 28 March.

Michael Jupp of Tresahor Vean, Constantine, near Falmouth, Cornwall  is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial on Panel 81, Column 1.

From Cheltenham Chronicle, Saturday 31 January 1942

D.S.C. AWARD FOR OLD CHELTONIAN

In Tuesday night’s ” London Gazette” is a list of awards to officers and ratings of the Royal Navy for various acts of gallantry. For “bravery, coolness and skill in successful submarine patrols,” the Distinguished Service Cross is conferred on Lieut. Michael Hugh Jupp, R.N. Lieut. Jupp, who is a Londoner, entered Cheltenham College in 1933 and passed direct from college into the Navy.