Walter Hugh Charles Samuel Thring

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Captain Walter Hugh Charles Samuel Thring, C.B.E., R.A.N. (30 May, 1873 – 17 January, 1949) served in the Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy.

Life & Career

Walter Hugh Charles Samuel Thring (known as Hugh) was born on 30 May 1873, the son of the Reverend J. C. Thring.[1] He joined the Royal Navy as a Naval Cadet on 15 July 1886, being appointed to the training ship Britannia at Dartmouth, Devon. After the normal two years training he passed out with 12 months' time and was automatically rated Midshipman on 15 July 1888. He was appointed to the ironclad Northumberland in the Channel Squadron on 1 September where he remained until January 1890, apart from a spell lent to Galatea for the 1889 manœuvres 19 July to 7 September 1889. On 14 February 1890 he was appointed to the Warspite on the Pacific Station. He served in her until being appointed to the Champion on 15 March 1892, and rejoined the Warspite on 1 June. On 14 July he took his first examination for the rank of Lieutenant, the seamanship examination, took a first class, and was immediately promoted Acting Sub-Lieutenant from that date. He then travelled back to Britain to take the other courses, beginning with part I of the College course at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich (December 1892, 2nd Class), the torpedo course at Vernon (January 1893, 1st Class), the gunnery course at Excellent (May 1893, 1st Class), and the pilotage course (studied in Portsmouth, examined in London, July 1893, 1st Class), and Part II of the College course (1st class). For taking firsts in all his subjects he was specially promoted to Lieutenant was backdated to 14 January 1893, awarded a prize of books worth £10, and was commended by the Admiralty for the "high number of marks obtained in examinations". He was lent to the Tribune for the 1893 manœuvres and Captain Robert L. Groome noted "Never kept a watch but did remarkably well."

On 14 February 1894 Lieutenant Thring was appointed to the battleship Centurion. In May 1896 he was selected to qualify for gunnery duties and in September was appointed to the Excellent. During the 1897 manœuvres he was given command of the new destroyer Desperate. He qualified with a first class on 6 July 1898, and on 9 July was appointed to Sheerness Gunnery School, where he remained before joining the Sans Pareil as First and Gunnery Lieutenant on 28 February 1899. On 14 November he was appointed Lieutenant (G) of the battleship Revenge in the Mediterranean. From May 1899 to July 1903 he served as First and Gunnery Lieutenant of the Victorious in the Mediterranean. During this time he had a rate of change of range indicator constructed at Malta Dockyard.[2] It was noted in his service record that in November 1902 Victorious's "Gunnery report is not good." In February 1903, however, Captain Charles H. Cross strongly recommended him for advancement. In September he was appointed as gunnery officer on the staff of the Admiral Commanding Coastguard and Reserves (A.C.R.), Rear-Admiral Ernest Rice, who recommended him for promotion in December.

Commander

Thring was promoted to the rank of Commander on 31 December 1903 aged 30. He remained on the staff of the A.C.R. until 21 February 1905, when he was appointed to the battleship Barfleur. In February 1904 their Lordships expressed their appreciation "at zeal & ingenuity in designing a new Change of Range Indicator".

It has been claimed in Japanese literature that Thring was specially sent to Japan to impart his gunnery knowledge, which was used just in time for the Battle of Tsushima on 27 May 1905. It is also claimed that he was given command of a transport ship and became the youngest captain in the Royal Navy.[3] According to the ship's log Captain Charles H. Adair was emphatically in command. Barfleur arrived at Colombo on 30 March, and the crew turned over to the Vengeance on 4 April.[4] Vengeance left Colombo for Singapore on 7 April, and arrived there on 14 April. She didn't leave again until 27 May, the date of Tsushima, bound for Hong Kong.[5] For Thring to leave a new ship under any circumstances at the beginning of a new commission defies credence. Neither ship's log mentions him leaving the ship.

He served in Vengeance until 21 January 1908, was appointed to Excellent until 7 February, then appointed to King Edward as Flag Commander to the Commander-in-Chief, Channel Fleet, Admiral Lord Charles Beresford. He held the position until Beresford hauled down his flag on 24 March 1909. In April he did a Senior Officers' navigation course, and in June he was appointed to Exmouth as intelligence officer of Blue Fleet for the manœuvres. At the end of the year he went through the Signal and Fleet Tactics Course and the Royal Naval War College course, taking a first class in the latter. The same year he was thanked for his zeal and ability in creating rate-of-change-of-bearing lines for use in Dumaresqs which were adopted by the Service. In April 1910 was given six months' paid time to study Danish, passing provisionally as an interpreter in October.

On 7 February 1911 Thring was supposed to have taken command of the Terrible, but this appointment was cancelled and he was placed on the Retired List at his own request with the rank of Captain on 3 February 1911.

Royal Australian Navy

In 1913 he was appointed Commander in the Royal Australian Navy, with seniority dated 31 December 1903, and appointed Naval Assistant to the First Naval Member of the Naval Board.[6] From October 1914 he temporarily served as Second Naval Member of the Board in the absence of Captain A. Gordon Smith.[7] On 1 January 1915 he was promoted Captain and appointed Director of Naval Ordnance later in the year whilst continuing to serve as Naval Assistant to the First Naval Member.[8] In 1918 he became Director of War Staff as well as Assistant to the First Naval Member.[9] Ross Lamont makes the somewhat extravagant assertion that, "As director of war staff he became the genius of whatever wartime autonomy the Naval Board preserved."[10] On 23 November he was appointed in command of the light cruiser Encounter.[11] In April 1919 he took command of the Brisbane.[12] On 5 March 1920 he left Australia for the United Kingdom in the liner Bremen.[13]

See Also

Bibliography

  • Lamont, Ross. "Thring, Walter Hugh (1873–1949)." Australian Dictionary of Biography.
  • Thring, Meredith (2005). "Captain Thring's 'Rate of Change of Range' Calculator". Hampshire Industrial Archaeology Society. Journal No. 13. pp. 34-36. Copy courtesy of John Brooks.

External Links


Naval Appointments
Preceded by
? 		Captain of H.M.S. Desperate
15 Jun, 1897[14] – c. Oct, 1897[15] 		Succeeded by
William F. De Salis
Preceded by
John B. Stevenson 		Captain of H.M.S. Encounter
Nov, 1918 – Jan, 1919 		Succeeded by
John F. Robins
Preceded by
Claude L. Cumberlege 		Captain of H.M.A.S. Brisbane
8 Apr, 1919[16] – Aug, 1919[Inference] 		Succeeded by
George F. Hyde

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Unless specified elsewhere all details are taken from Thring's two Royal Navy service records.
  2. ↑ Thring. "Captain Thring's 'Rate of Change of Range' Calculator." p. 34.
  3. ↑ "Royal Navy Captain Thring Visits Japan". Sakura and Anchor.
  4. ↑ The National Archives. ADM 53/17614.
  5. ↑ The National Archives. ADM 53/31534.
  6. ↑ "Navy Order 73." Navy Orders. 1913.
  7. ↑ "New Defence Board." The Evening Star. 27 October, 1914. p. 1.
  8. ↑ The Navy List. 1st July, 1915. pp. 8, 35. "Commander Thring Promoted." The Express and Telegraph. 20 May, 1915. p. 1. For some bizarre reason Ross Lamont states Thring was "appointed director of (naval) ordnance", as if "Naval" was not a part of the title! Lamont. "Thring, Walter Hugh (1873–1949)."
  9. ↑ The Navy List. 1st October, 1918. p. 31.
  10. ↑ Lamont. "Thring, Walter Hugh (1873–1949)."
  11. ↑ The Navy List. 1st January, 1919. p. 27.
  12. ↑ The Navy List. 1st April, 1919. p. 25.
  13. ↑ "The Bremen's Passengers." Port Adelaide News. 5 March, 1920. p. 5.
  14. ↑ Thring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43/331. f. 333.
  15. ↑ Thring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43/331. f. 333.
  16. ↑ Thring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43/331. f. 333.

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