Prince Philip entered the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, as a special cadet, aged 18, in 1939. He served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War and saw action in the Mediterranean. He played a key role operating HMS Valiant’s searchlights during the Battle of Cape Matapan, off the coast of Greece, in March 1941, and was mentioned in dispatches. Prince Philip served in HMS Whelp, part of the British Pacific Fleet, and was present in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945, when the formal surrender of Japan was signed. After the war he became an instructor at the Petty Officers’ Training School in Corsham, Wiltshire. In 1950 Prince Philip was given command of HMS Magpie in Malta. This was his final active naval appointment.