Veteran of two naval wars and seventeen years' naval service in various classes of ships from submarine to battle cruiser, including H.M.A.S. Australia, T. M. Jones has written books based on his experiences. He served in the Royal Navy on J Class submarines in World War I, and when these were donated to the Royal Australian Navy by the British government after the war, Jones transferred to Australia with them. The submarines were eventually scrapped, and Jones transferred to the destroyer H.M.A.S. Tasmania. He was discharged from the RAN in 1926 and resumed his civilian occupation as a painter, later serving in World War II until being retired from active service in 1944.