Michael Langley was born in Wolverhampton in 1911, the son of Cyril Owen Langley DL & Mary Langley.  He joined the Royal Navy as a Cadet in 1928 and was appointed to the Battleship HMS BARHAM on 25 August 1928 for training.  Promoted to Midshipman on 1 May 1929, he subsequently joined the Battleship HMS VALIANT when she recommissioned at Portsmouth on 2 Dec 30.  He was promoted to Sub Lieutenant on 1 April 1932 and attended various naval establishments in Portsmouth for Gunnery, Torpedo and Navigation courses.

After submarine training at HMS DOLPHIN, he was appointed to the Submarine Tender HMS PIGMY (Reserve Group Submarines) at Portsmouth ‘for HMS L16’ on 24 April 1933 followed by the Submarine Depot Ship HMS MEDWAY (4th Submarine Flotilla) at Hong Kong ‘for HMS RAINBOW as Fourth Hand’ on 17 December 1933.

On 1 Aug 34, he was promoted to Lieutenant and an appointment to HMS MEDWAY ‘for HMS OSIRIS as 3rd Hand’ (4th Submarine Flotilla) at Hong Kong followed on 15 Feb 35.  On return to the UK, he was appointed to the Submarine Depot Ship HMS TITANIA ‘for Submarines’ and then to HMS DOLPHIN for HMS H34 as First Lieutenant (5th Submarine Flotilla) at Gosport on 28 Jul 36.  He returned to the Far East in September 1937, eventually to join HMS PANDORA as First Lieutenant.  After returning once again, he was appointed to HMS DOLPHIN for the Commanding Officers Qualifying Course (COQC) in early 1940.

After successful completion of the Course, he joined the Submarine Tender HMS DWARF (5th Submarine Flotilla) at Portsmouth ‘for HMS H49 in Command’ on 15 April 1940.  H49 transferred to the 7th Submarine Flotilla based on the Submarine Depot Ship HMS CYCLOPS at Rothesay (Isle of Bute) on 16 September 1940.  On 23 September, Michael Langley was appointed to the Submarine Base HMS ELFIN (6th Submarine Flotilla) at Blyth ‘for Submarines’ and, later, ‘for HMS SWORDFISH in Command’ on 14 October 1940.  HMS SWORDFISH transferred to the 5th Submarine Flotilla based at HMS DOLPHIN in Gosport. Not long after the transfer, Michael Langley is reported as having died on 7 November 1940 when HMS SWORDFISH sank with all hands after striking a mine off the Isle of Wight.

He was awarded the DSC – see London Gazette dated 3 December 1940 ‘for an attack on a large convoy’ whilst in command of HMS H49.  Michael Langley is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval War Memorial on Panel No 36 Column No 3 and on a War Memorial in the grounds of St Mary and St Chad Church, Brewood.

From the Belfast News of Monday 23 December 1940:

SUBMARINE LOST. HMS SWORDFISH.  “The Board of Admiralty announced last night that HM Submarine Swordfish (Lieutenant M A Langley DSC, Royal Navy) is overdue and must be considered lost. Next of kin have been informed. In October the Swordfish sank a German torpedo boat off the French coast. In February 1937, she struck the bottom when making a deep dive off Portland Bill and a secret piece of mechanism was carried away. So important was the device that divers went down to retrieve it. Lieutenant M A Langley, while in command of the submarine H 49 in September, attacked a convoy of eight supply vessels with torpedoes, two of which found their mark. Just over a fortnight ago he was awarded the DSC. Swordfish’s normal complement was forty.”