Patrick Butter

Captain (retired) Patrick Butter (4 October, 1889 – 24 January, 1949) was an officer in the Royal Navy who would specialize in Aerial Observation in the 1920s.

Life & Career

Butter was born in Boatland, Perth, N.B. He entered the Royal Navy ranked 31st in order of merit of sixty cadets accepted in the May 1904 intake term at H.M.S. Britannia.

He gained two and a half months' time on passing out of Britannia and was appointed to join Hindustan on 15 September, 1905.

In November, 1906 Butter was commended for improvement.

On 8 March 1909 he was admitted to Haslar Hospital with rubella. He was discharged fit for duty on 18 March, but on one April he was sent back suffering from catarrh. He was discharged on 7 April. On 21 September 1909 he joined Part II, having gained second class certificates in Torpedo, Pilotage and Gunnery.

Butter was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 22 June, 1911.

In May 1912 he was appointed to Black Prince in the Third Cruiser Squadron. She paid off on 20 April, 1914. On 2 May, Butter was appointed to the Laforey Class destroyer Louis as first lieutenant.

An appointment in command of Vixen dated 25 October 1915 was cancelled and Butter was instead appointed to Chelmer as first officer on 5 December. On 30 January, 1916, Butter moved to Foxhound as first officer. On 14 March, he was appointed in command of T.B. 18.

Butter was superseded in command of T.B. 18 on 15 August, 1917. On 15 November, he was appointed to Violent, which took him out to transfer to Norseman, where he took command.

Post-War

Butter was superseded in Norseman and appointed in command of the destroyer Ulster on 17 January, 1919. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Commander on 22 June, 1919 and superseded in command on 28 November when he was appointed in command of the destroyer Tyrian. In 1920, he would be cautioned for improper signalling.

On 13 November 1921, Butter was superseded in command of Tourmaline and for charge of a group of destroyers in reserve. Later that month, he scored 219 of 300 marks in an Aerial Observer examination. He would qualify as an Observer on 15 December, 1922, after serving as a probationary observer in Argus and Queen Elizabeth. He then spent a year in Queen Elizabeth as Observer, and on 15 December 1923 was appointed to Argus again, as Observer.

On 22 February, 1924, Butter was appointed to Eagle as Observer, where he was promoted to the rank of Commander on 31 December, 1924. He continued to serve in Argus and Furious as an Aerial Observer, and assisted in bombardment practices with Tiger in 1925. Butter went ashore when he was lent to an Air Pilotage Course at Calshot on 19 January, 1926 and passed out of the course on 20 April.

Butter spent March through November of 1927 as executive officer in Hermes, where Captain Ralph Eliot rated him "very poor" and "lacking in knowledge & experience as a seaman." Not recommended for promotion, Butter commenced a sequence of brief appointments as executive officer in Calliope, Cleopatra, Birmingham, Shakespeare and Cleopatra again, being twice hospitalised for catarrh in 1929 before being appointed in command of the sweeping sloop Magnolia. He would contract malaria while in command, and be hospitalised twice with concomitant neuritis. He found himself in Shanghai General Hospital for three months with a nervous debility. His career was definitely winding down.

Butter was superseded in command of Magnolia in October, 1931 after losing a bower anchor by carelessly backing away from it in an attempt to free it. He took a Technical Course in Portsmouth before receiving his last two command appointments, of Canterbury on 20 January, 1933 and then Curlew on 15 January, 1934. He was superseded in Curlew on 8 April, 1935. Butter was finally placed on the Retired List at his own request with the rank of Captain on 14 October, 1935.

World War II

Butter offered his services, but work with Air-related business delayed his naval service until May 1941 when he was appointed to Selection Board for "Y" Entry. Butter reverted to the Retired List on 31 January 1946 and died in 1949 of stomach cancer.

See Also

• Service Records
• Wikipedia

Naval Appointments
Preceded by Arthur E. H. Wright	Captain of H.M. T.B. 18 14 Mar, 1916 – 15 Aug, 1917	Succeeded by Gilbert R. Gilbert
Preceded by Laurence R. Palmer	Captain of H.M.S. Norseman late 1917 – 17 Jan, 1919	Succeeded by William G. Halliley
Preceded by Arthur Evans	Captain of H.M.S. Ursa 27 Jan, 1919 – 28 Nov, 1919	Succeeded by Ivan B. Colvin
Preceded by New Command	Captain of H.M.S. Tyrian 28 Nov, 1919 – 5 Aug, 1921	Succeeded by Vincent P. Freeman
Preceded by Donal S. McGrath	Captain of H.M.S. Tourmaline 5 Aug, 1921 – 13 Nov, 1921	Succeeded by Charles E. Hamond
Preceded by Arthur E. Buckland	Captain of H.M.S. Magnolia 15 Apr, 1930 – Oct, 1931	Succeeded by Hugh A. C. Dick
Preceded by Harrington Robley	Captain of H.M.S. Canterbury 20 Jan, 1933 – 15 Jan, 1934	Succeeded by ?
Preceded by Charles N. E. Currey	Captain of H.M.S. Curlew 15 Jan, 1934 – 8 Apr, 1935	Succeeded by Charles E. S. Farrant