Sidney Ravensdale was born in Leek, Staffordshire on 24 February 1902, the son of Richard and Grace Hannah Ravensdale. A Royal Fleet Reservist, Sidney Ravensdale served in submarines from 30 December 1927 to 23 February 1932 in HMS H27, H28, POSEIDON, PERSEUS, OSIRIS, PANDORA & OTUS. He was recalled for further service in submarines at the time of the Munich Crisis in 1938 and again on the outbreak of WWII in 1939 in HMS H32.

On 27 July 1944 he was serving in the Russian manned submarine V-1 as liaison crew. V-1 was the ex-HMS SUNFISH which had been transferred to the Russian Navy and was enroute to Russia with a Russian Navy crew when it was sunk in error in the North Sea by RAF aircraft.

Sidney Ravensdale was the husband of Violet Ruby Ravensdale (née Jay), and he is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial on Panel 88 Column 3.

NOTE: For a long time, the official story of her loss was that V-1 had left her assigned transfer corridor and dived when the aircraft came in sight instead of staying on the surface and firing recognition signals as instructed.

However, the documents of the inquiries carried out by the Admiralty and the RAF about the incident show that it was actually the crew of the Liberator who was at fault. They were out of position and did not properly identify their target before attacking despite being warned about the presence of Allied submarines in their patrol area.