William Bowden-Smith

Vice-Admiral (retired) William Bowden-Smith, C.B.E. (28 March, 1874 – 17 March, 1962) was an officer in the Royal Navy.

Life & Career

The son of W. Bowden-Smith of Brockenhurst.

Bowden-Smith was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 31 December, 1895.

Bowden-Smith ended a year in command of the destroyer Sylvia in March 1901 and was appointed to Resolution in the Channel. In September he joined the battleship Formidable. In June 1902 he was appointed to the third class protected cruiser Surprise as first officer, where he would spend a year and a half before being moved to the first class protected cruiser Crescent as first officer in February 1904, having been granted 30 days leave to England in January after his brother had been killed in Somaliland.

Bowden-Smith stayed in Crescent until he was promoted to the rank of Commander on 30 June, 1906. He was then sent to the pre-dreadnought battleship Bulwark, in which he would spend 28 months.

On 22 November 1910, he was admited to Haslar Hospital with a compound fracture of a finger on his right hand, which would require a partial amputation. He was in the midst of an appointment to the Royal Naval Barracks, Portsmouth at the time.

Bowden-Smith was promoted to the rank of Captain on 1 January, 1913. In mid-July, he was placed in command of the third class protected cruiser H.M.S. Topaze for the Annual Manoeuvres of 1913.

Bowden-Smith was appointed in command of the battleship Russell on 5 December, 1913. He remained in her until her loss in a minefield near Malta on 27 April, 1916. Following some time as flag captain to the Commander-in-Chief at The Nore, he was made captain of the armoured cruiser Carnarvon in August 1916. He grounded her on Lichfield Shoal in June 1917 and was subjected to a Court of Enquiry on 9 June which found he had committed an error in judgment by placing undue confidence in his navigating officer.

Carnarvon paid off in February, 1918 and Bowden-Smith was presently appointed in command of Satellite and as Senior Naval Officer, Tyne.

He was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral on 2 August, 1923 and placed on the Retired List the following day.

He was promoted to the rank of Vice-Admiral on 5 April, 1928.

Bowden-Smith died at age 87 in Horsham, Sussex. He was survived by his wife Ada Margaret (née Sandham), whom he'd married in 1913, and two sons and a daughter.

See Also

• Wikipedia

Naval Appointments
Preceded by Robert G. Corbett	Captain of H.M.S. Chamois 15 Mar, 1900 – 17 Mar, 1900	Succeeded by Cecil F. Lambert
Preceded by ?	Captain of H.M.S. Sylvia 17 Mar, 1900 – 5 Mar, 1901	Succeeded by John A. Ingles
Preceded by George P. Leith	Captain of H.M.S. Topaze 15 Jul, 1913	Succeeded by Herbert J. A. Throckmorton
Preceded by Herbert A. S. Fyler	Captain of H.M.S. Russell 5 Dec, 1913 – 27 Apr, 1916	Succeeded by Vessel Lost
Preceded by Ernest A. Taylor	Flag Captain at the Nore May, 1916	Succeeded by Alexander V. Campbell
Preceded by Hugh T. Hibbert	Captain of H.M.S. Carnarvon 1 Aug, 1916	Succeeded by Richard G. A. W. Stapleton-Cotton
Preceded by Edward G. Lowther-Crofton	Captain of H.M.S. Satellite Mar, 1918 – 1 Jun, 1919	Succeeded by George M. Skinner
Preceded by Edward G. Lowther-Crofton	Senior Naval Officer, Tyne Mar, 1918 – 1 Jun, 1919	Succeeded by George M. Skinner
Preceded by Victor G. Gurner	Commodore in Charge at Hong Kong 1 Apr, 1920 – 20 Apr, 1922	Succeeded by Henry E. Grace