Thomas G. Fuller
| Thomas George Fuller | |
|---|---|
Thomas G Fuller display case and trophy, Britannia Yacht Club, Commodore's Boardroom
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| Nickname(s) | Pirate of the Adriatic |
| Born | 1908 Ottawa, Ontario |
| Died | May 9, 1994 Ottawa, Ontario |
| Allegiance |
 Canada
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| Service/ |
 Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve
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| Years of service | 1939–1951 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Commands held | |
| Battles/wars | |
| Relations |
Thomas Fuller - grandfather Thomas W. Fuller - father William, Mark, Antony and Simon - sons |
Captain Thomas George Fuller (1909-1994) was a Canadian naval officer who earned renown in the Second World War for his actions as a member of the Coastal Forces of the Royal Navy.
Born in Ottawa, he was a 32-year-old contractor when he joined the Royal Canadian Navy in 1939. He was seconded to the British Navy where he commanded flotillas of motor torpedo boats in the Mediterranean Sea and the Adriatic Sea.
He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for an action off Dover on 12 May 1942 before being transferred to Alexandria and HMS Mosquito in 1943. While there he won a bar to his DSC for actions in the Aegean.
In 1944 he took command of the 61st MGB flotilla, eight torpedo gunboats, based on Vis island, Yugoslavia. It was here, while conducting raids on Axis shipping to provide supplies to Josip Broz Tito's partisans, that he earned a second bar to his DSC and a Mention in Despatches, as well as the nickname The Pirate of the Adriatic. He was known as the Pirate of the Adriatic because he carried commandos and captured dozens of ships intact carrying useful cargo such as tons of goulash and Danish Butter. For example, he sank or captured 25 ships in ten days. He had 105 firefights at sea as well as 30 actions in which he didn't fire a shot. Nevertheless, he decommissioned 13 boats during his war service; the ships were no longer serviceable and were stripped for parts.
After being imprisoned in Greece, he escaped in the German admiral’s barge.
After the war he commanded HMCS Naden and HMCS Carleton before retiring in 1952.
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