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George Pilkington was born on 18 August 1885 and joined the Royal Navy in May 1900. After serving in HMS HANNIBAL and HMS ROXBURGH, he joined submarines in September 1909.

In October 1911 he took command of HMS A5 and subsequently, in February 1912, of HMS A13. In November 1912, he was appointed to command HMS C31.

Pilkington sailed in C31 for a two-day patrol off Zeebrugge on 4 January 1915, with orders to report at Harwich on 7 January 1915. Nothing more was heard from C31 and, on 10 and 11 January, the destroyers HMS LURCHER and HMS FIREDRAKE attempted to find out what had happened, but were thwarted by the stormy weather prevailing. C31’s fate is not known, but the date of the loss is accepted as being Thursday 7 January 1915.

George Pilkington is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval War Memorial on Panel No. 7.