Ian Molyneux was born in Preston in Lancashire on 19 May 1974 and grew up in Eccleston in Lancashire.  He joined the Royal Navy as an Artificer Apprentice aged sixteen on 3 September 1990 and, after completion of an apprenticeship in Weapons Engineering at HMS COLLINGWOOD, he served in HMS LANCASTER in 1993 and also in HMS SHEFFIELD.

He was selected for promotion to officer rank and was promoted to Midshipman on 1 May 1995 and to Sub Lieutenant on 1 May 1997.  Ian served in HMS SOMERSET and completed his officer training at the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, from 1998 to 2000 having been promoted to Lieutenant (E) (WESM) on 1 August 1999.

His submarine service from 2001 included HMS VICTORIOUS (Starboard Crew) and HMS VIGILANT (Starboard Crew) ‘as the Tactical Weapons Engineering Officer’.  Ian Molyneux next served with the Warship Support Agency and the Defence Logistics Organisation at Abbeywood, Bristol from January 2004 to April 2006 and this was followed by an appointment to HM Naval Base Clyde ‘for the Staff of the Captain Sea and Shore Training’ from 2006 to 2008 – having been promoted to Lieutenant Commander (E) (WESM) on 1 October 2006.

In January 2009 he was appointed to the HMS AMBUSH ‘as the Weapons Engineering Officer‘ – Standing By whilst building’ at the BAE Shipyard at Barrow in Furness.  In July 2010 Ian Molyneux was reappointed to sea and to the sister submarine HMS ASTUTE ‘as the Weapons Engineering Officer’.

Ian Molyneux died on 8 April 2011 when the submarine was on an official visit to Southampton.  One of the crew ran amok in the Control Room with a gun and Ian Molyneux was shot and killed instantly whilst he was attempting to disarm the gunman and protect others in the Control Room.  One other officer was seriously injured and others were slightly injured whilst restraining the gunman.

Ian’s funeral was a Requiem Mass held at the Sacred Heart Church, Springfield, Wigan followed by burial with full military honours at the Gidlow Cemetery on 28 April 2011.

In March 2012, Lieutenant Commander Molyneux was posthumously awarded the George Medal (GM) for gallantry not directly in the face of the enemy.  The citation reads:

“Lt Cdr Molyneux, with complete disregard for his own safety, had deliberately made an effort to tackle the gunman, knowingly putting himself into extreme danger in order to try to safeguard others from personal injury. His actions were incalculably brave and were carried out in the highest possible service traditions of courage and selfless commitment, resulting ultimately in providing just enough disruption to the sentry’s intent to enable him to be subsequently overwhelmed and disarmed.”

Ian Molyneux was a keen sportsman and took part in the Royal Navy Field Gun competition in 2010 as a member of one of the first submarine service teams to enter – winning in several categories.  At his home near Wigan, he was the head coach of the Shevington Sharks under-12s rugby team for almost five years until sea trials prevented him from travelling back on weekends from his base in Faslane, Scotland.  He was the husband of Gillian and the father of four children – Jamie, Aaron, Bethany and Charlie.