Paul Skelton was born in Epsom, Surrey on 24 January 1915, the son of the Reverend Henry Aylmer Skelton and Margaret Jermyn Skelton (née Tomlinson).  He joined the Royal Navy as a Cadet on 1 May 1932 and was promoted to Midshipman on 1 January 1933 and, on 1 July 1933, he was appointed to the cruiser HMS DORSETSHIRE.  He was promoted to Acting Sub Lieutenant on 1 May 1935 and confirmed in that rank on 16 November 1935.

He was appointed to HMS DOLPHIN for the Submarine Course on 12 December 1936 and, on 24 February 1937 he was appointed to HMS GRAMPUS as Third Hand. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 16 January 1938.  On 15 September 1939 he was appointed to HMS ODIN as Third Hand.  ODIN carried out three war patrols with Paul Skelton onboard – the first in the Sunda Straits from 26 September to 19 October.  The second patrol was off the Maldives from 7 to 22 November and the third Patrol was off the Chagos Archipelago from 28 November to 25 December 1939.

Paul Skelton then served in HMS H28 as First Lieutenant from 15 July 1941 and in HMS TORBAY as First Lieutenant from 14 October 1940.  After a relatively short period as First Lieutenant of TORBAY, Paul Skelton was appointed to the Commanding Officers Qualifying Course on 19 May 1941, and on successful completion of the course he was appointed to HMS H28 in command from 20 June 1941 to 20 October 1941.  Next came an appointment to HMS P611 in command on 1 December 1941.  With a Royal Navy crew, he delivered HMS P611 to the Turkish Navy as ORUC REIS at Iskanderun on 25 May 1942.

He was appointed to HMS MEDWAY II (the Submarine Base at Beirut in the Lebanon) on 16 December 1942 and is understood to have served in HMS OSIRIS in command from 19 January 1943, whilst the submarine was undergoing a refit in Alexandria.

Paul Skelton died in an air crash on 23 March 1943. He is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial on Panel 72 Column 3.  His Next of Kin were his parents – at the time his father was the Bishop of Lincoln.