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A submission from an expert group to the government says it must bolster the Naval Service to protect the country's maritime security.

The submission, seen by the Irish Examiner, was made by the Irish Maritime Forum, an independent and non-political collegiate of professionals who have a wide range of experience across the maritime domain.

It was sent to the government as part of the public consultation on a new National Security Strategy which will lead how the State protects its national security and vital interests from current and emerging threats over the period 2020-2025.

The maritime forum members said the balance between the elements of the Defence Forces should reflect the fact that we are an island nation, with a sea area of control eight times our landmass.

To this end, the forum says the Naval Service should be upgraded to reflect international norms and its strengths and capabilities be enhanced.

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Published in Navy

About Commander Bill King, Solo Circumnavigator

William Donald Aelian King was the last surviving submarine commander in the Second World War - in charge of the British Navy's T-class Telemachus that sank a Japanese sub in the Strait of Malacca, between Malaysia and Sumatra, in 1944.

Decorated many times for his service by the end of the war, King became a trailblazing solo sailor.

At the age of 58, he was the oldest participant in The Sunday Times Golden Globe Race sailing Galway Blazer II, a junk-rigged schooner he designed himself.

After a number of abortive attempts, including an incident with "a large sea creature", he finally completed his solo circumnavigation of the globe in 1973.

Beyond his aquatic escapades, King settled with his wife Anita (who died in 1984, aged 70) at Oranmore Castle outside Galway after the war, where he later developed a pioneering organic farm and garden to help tackle his wife's asthma.

The round-the-world sailor and Galway native Bill King died on Friday, 21 September, 2012, aged 102.