Ships
- HMS Danae (D44) Acting Captain from 27 November 1940 · Relieved on 2 May 1942
- HMNZS Achilles (70) Captain from 15 March 1944 · Relieved on 9 March 1946
Francis John Butler had HMS Danae as acting captain from 27 November 1940 until 2 May 1942. He was in command on the China Station when Japan entered the war, and through the convoy work in the Dutch East Indies.
Uboat.net gives his birth as 21 September 1899 and his death as 20 January 1953. It gives no place for either.
The ship list styles him acting captain for this command. He had already been a commander in Danae from 15 December 1939 to 7 February 1940, before this appointment. That earlier command is outside the period told with the ship.
Danae's naval-history.net chronology is the account of what the ship did while he had her: Hong Kong in November 1941, Singapore and Batavia in December and January, the air attacks of early February, the tow of Kedah into Colombo, and the Persian Gulf. He was relieved on 2 May 1942 as she was withdrawn to refit in the United Kingdom.
He died on 20 January 1953. No appointment after Danae was on the fetched page.