Patrick Ryan was First Lieutenant HMS TRIDENT (Standing By whilst Completing at Cammell Lairds) having been appointed on 7 September 1938. He was one of the three officer passengers from TRIDENT including T C C Lloyd – the CO and A G Jamieson – the Engineer, who were onboard for familiarisation and who were all lost when HMS THETIS sank in Liverpool Bay.

He was part of what developed into a four generation tradition of this family in the submarine service.  His father, Edward Ryan (q.v) was Commanding Officer of HMS E26 which was lost with all hands in July 1916.

His son, Commander Patrick “Paddy” Ryan commanded six submarines before becoming heavily involved in submarine escape and rescue and was a driving force in the early procurement of a NATO Submarine Rescue System.  Paddy’s son, also Patrick, qualified as a submariner in 2004.