James Chaigneau Colvill

Commander (retired) James Chaigneau Colvill, R.N. (20 October, 1892 – ) was an officer in the Royal Navy.

Life & Career

The son of a bank director and J.P., Colvill gained four months' time on passing out of the Training Establishment in mid-May, 1910.

Colvill was appointed to his third ship, the armoured cruiser Warrior of the Home Fleet on 17 July, 1911. Colvill was promoted to Acting Sub-Lieutenant on 15 September, 1912. When he left the ship in November, Captain James Andrew Fergusson noted that Colvill was a good officer, but "rather slow." His evaluations would prove rather tepid, but improvement took hold by the late 1920s.

When the war broke out, Colvill was serving in the Lancaster of the Fourth Cruiser Squadron as Acting Lieutenant. Colvill was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 15 August, 1914.

Colvill was appointed to join the monitor M.28 on 9 August, 1915. On 30 June, 1916 he was superseded. On 1 September, he was appointed in command of P17.

On 11 January, 1918, Colvill was appointed from P17 for command of Crusader. He commanded her until the end of June when he was appointed in command of Amazon.

Colvill was appointed in command of the destroyer Rocket on 13 November, 1918.

Post-War

Colvill was appointed to Valorous on 1 November, 1919, serving under the command of Commander Cecil Rupert Hemans.

On 12 Apil, 1920, Colvill married Margaret Beryl Dundas at Paddington, London.

Colvill was appointed in command of the destroyer Rapid on 17 September, 1920.

Colvill was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Commander on 15 August, 1922.

Colvill was placed on the Retired list at his own request with the rank of Commander on 20 November, 1935.

World War II

Colvill served in command of Velox until being moved to Londonderry to serve on the staff of Naval Officer in Charge in November, 1940. On 3 May 1944, he was appointed to serve as Deputy Superintendent of Ship Construction and Repair, Naples Area. On 12 June, 1944 he was appointed Naval Officer in Charge, Naples Area, etc.

See Also

• Service Records
• Wikipedia

Naval Appointments
Preceded by Philip A. Heyder	Captain of H.M.S. P17 1 Sep, 1916 – 11 Jan, 1918	Succeeded by William A. Willock
Preceded by John R. Johnston	Captain of H.M.S. Crusader 11 Jan, 1918 – 29 Jun, 1918	Succeeded by Mark P. C. Kerr
Preceded by Adam Ferguson	Captain of H.M.S. Amazon 29 Jun, 1918 – 12 Nov, 1918	Succeeded by Reginald W. Lawrence
Preceded by Frederic C. Bradley	Captain of H.M.S. Rocket 13 Nov, 1918 – 1 Oct, 1919	Succeeded by Gerald C. Harrison
Preceded by Orrell Bake	Captain of H.M.S. Rapid 17 Sep, 1920 – Apr, 1922	Succeeded by Orrell Bake
Preceded by Hugh B. Wrey	Captain of H.M.S. Walpole 23 Jun, 1922 – 14 Aug, 1925	Succeeded by William S. Moor
Preceded by Gordon F. Hannay	Captain of H.M.S. Vancouver Nov, 1925 – 3 Apr, 1928	Succeeded by James C. Colvill
Preceded by James C. Colvill	Captain of H.M.S. Vancouver Feb, 1926	Succeeded by Alan MacG. Sheffield as Captain of H.M.S. Vimy
Preceded by Alastair G. Davidson	Captain of H.M.S. Wakeful Apr, 1928 – 1 Oct, 1928	Succeeded by Alan MacG. Sheffield
Preceded by John S. Prescott-Roberts	Captain of H.M.S. Sesame 1 Oct, 1928 – 22 Apr, 1929	Succeeded by Philip G. Wodehouse
Preceded by Terence A. F. Longford	Captain of H.M.S. Vanoc 21 May, 1929 – 5 Aug, 1931	Succeeded by Alexander M. Donovan
Preceded by Hugh Gartside-Tippinge	Captain of H.M.S. Velox 15 Jun, 1939 – 29 Oct, 1940	Succeeded by Edward G. Roper