Hackforth-Jones was born at the end of the Victorian era in 1900, entering Osborne Naval College as a cadet in 1914.

He saw active service in World War I in as a midshipman in the battleship Emperor of India before transferring to submarines in 1920.

During World War II Hackforth-Jones was recalled to the Admiralty, serving in the Technical Branch.

In Yellow Peril (1972), Hackforth-Jones re-worked a short story that first appeared in Sixteen Bells (1946) into a full-length novel.

One-One-One, (short stories), Rough Passage, No Less Renowned, (1939 short stories), Submarine Flotilla (1940), Submarine Alone (1943), The Price was High (1946), Sixteen Bells, (1946: short stories) The Questing Hound (1947), The Greatest Fool (1948), The Worst Enemy (1950), Dangerous Trade (1952), The Sole Survivor (1953), Fish Out of Water (1954), Death of an Admiral (1956), Hurricane Harbour (1958), Life on the Ocean Wave (1960), Crack of Doom (1961), Danger Below (1963), Storm in Harbour(1965), I am the Captain (1963), One Man's Wars (1964), The Stern Chase (1966), Warriors' Playtime (1967), Fight to a Finish (1968), Security Risk (1970), Yellow Peril (1972), Rough Passage (1971), 1.

(co-written with his wife Margaret Hackforth-Jones) Sweethearts and Wives (1952), The Policeman and the Lady (1955), Eight Points for the Admiral (1963).