RELATIVES of the youngest submarine commander in the Royal Navy in World War I gathered in Ripon Cathedral this week to mark the centenary of his death.

Lt Ingleby Stuart Jefferson’s submarine was torpedoed by a German U-boat when it partially surfaced in the North Sea – with only its conning tower showing.

Of the ship’s company of 19 men, only one survived. Lt Jefferson was just 24 when he died.

The young lieutenant was renowned for his sporting abilities and for his bravery – two years before his death he had been awarded a medal by the Royal Humane Society for saving a soldier from drowning in Immingham Docks.

Lt Jefferson’s family were joined by the family of his great friend Lt Hanley Hutchinson – with whom he had grown up in Ripon.

Lt Hutchinson also lost his life in 1917 – the two friends were to die less than six weeks apart.

The commemoration was led by the Dean of Ripon, the Very Rev John Dobson, who said: “The names of some 250 men and choristers from the Ripon area who died in World War I are inscribed in tablets near the high altar.

"In remembering Lt Jefferson and Lt Hanley, we honour their memory too.”

Lt Jefferson’s nephew, Richard Jefferson, who lives in Norfolk, said: “We all feel very proud of him. He was a huge loss to the family and if he had lived he could have had an outstanding career.”

Lt Jefferson was the elder son of Dr William Jefferson of North House, Ripon, who for 50 years was the city’s Chief Medical Officer. His grandfather, was a canon at Ripon Cathedral in the 1800s.