Distinguished Service Order : Lieutenant J Howell-Price, Royal Naval Reserve

Distinguished Service Order (Geo V). Unnamed as issued.

John Howell-Price was born on 16 September 1886 in Sydney. At the age of 14 he joined the merchant navy. He later joined the Royal Naval Reserve as a sub lieutenant in March 1915. He was serving aboard the armed merchant cruiser HMS Alcantara during an encounter with the German raider SMS Grief in the North Sea in February 1916. Both ships were sunk and the survivors nearly froze to death in open boats before they were rescued. Howell-Price was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his part in the engagement. He later transferred to submarine service and was promoted to lieutenant in July 1917. On the night of 22/23 April 1918 Howell-Price took part in the British Navy's raid of the Belgian port of Zeebrugge which aimed to disable a major German U-boat base. Howell-Price was second-in-command and navigator of the submarine C3 which blew up the viaduct connecting the harbour defences to the shore. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. After the war he transferred to the Royal Australian Navy and returned to Australia in command of the submarine J3. In 1921 he rejoined the merchant navy as a master with the Federal Steam Navigation Co. Ltd, making several trips to Australia. Howell-Price died on 13 November 1937 in Liverpool, England. He was one of five brothers who were decorated for their distinguished military service in the First World War.