William Francis Benwell

Captain (retired) William Francis Benwell, D.S.O. (10 October, 1871 – 9 August, 1951) served in the Royal Navy.

Life & Career

Benwell gained eight months' time on passing out of Britannia in mid-January, 1887. He was first appointed to the armoured cruiser Bacchante which was operating in the East Indies.

Benwell was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 30 June, 1893.

Appointed to Fox on the Cape of Good Hope Station on 14 April, 1896, Benwell was invalided with malaria on 23 July 1898. Found fit on 17 August, on 27 August Benwell was appointed to Australia, temporary, during the absence of Lieutenant Henderson.

Benwell left Esquimalt for England on 3 May 1901 and arrived in Liverpool in charge of three men on 20 May. On 12 February, 1902, Benwell grounded Speedwell at Lerwick and incurred the severe displeasure of the Admiralty, which felt that bettter judgment and handling would have avoided such an accident. Benwell was superseded in command of Speedwell on 30 June, 1904. On 29 July, he was appointed to Colossus, which was then a guardship at Cowes. In August, he was discharged from this duty and undertook a short course in gunnery at Excellent, followed by a course in torpedoes at Vernon, commencing on 22 October, 1904.

Benwell was promoted to the rank of Commander on 31 December, 1904 and appointed to the second class protected cruiser Arrogant on 3 January, 1905.

In mid 1906, Benwell had to cede command of Spitfire, having come down with neuritis. He was not fully fit for service until late in the year, when he was given command of Cherwell on 20 November. Benwell commanded Cherwell until he received an adverse report from Commodore (T), indicating that he was not fit for destroyer command, on 10 September, 1907. On 22 October, he was appointed to Pembroke to learn the duties of the Drafting Commander. By December, he was skilled enough to commence just over two years' drafting duties at Pembroke.

On 7 January, 1910, Benwell was appointed in command of the screw sloop Alert. He was invalided from the ship in late November, however and sent home from Bombay in a P. & O. steamer, arriving home on 24 December. He was found fit on 4 March, 1911.

Benwell was placed on the Retired List at his own request with the rank of Captain on 5 January, 1912.

Benwell was appointed to President for Transport Service, Humber in August, 1914. On 5 September, his posting was altered to Southampton. In December, 1914, he was moved to Dieppe.

In May 1915, Benwell was appointed District Naval Transport Officer, Dunkirk. On 28 July, 1917 he was moved to District Naval Transport Officer & Senior Naval Officer, Boulogne.

See Also

• Service Records
• Wikipedia

Naval Appointments
Preceded by ?	Captain of H.M. T.B. 97 9 Jan, 1895 – 5 Aug, 1895	Succeeded by Thomas N. James
Preceded by Archibald B. Purvis	Captain of H.M.S. Speedwell 5 Jul, 1901 – 30 Jun, 1904	Succeeded by Edward A. Thomas
Preceded by George J. Todd	Captain of H.M.S. Cygnet 1 Apr, 1905 – Apr, 1905	Succeeded by Vernon F. Tuson
Preceded by Charles M. Forbes	Captain of H.M.S. Quail Apr, 1905 – late Apr, 1905	Succeeded by Cyril P. Ryan
Preceded by Cyril P. Ryan	Captain of H.M.S. Locust late Apr, 1905 – 6 Oct, 1905	Succeeded by Claude L. Cumberlege
Preceded by Claude L. Cumberlege	Captain of H.M.S. Banshee 6 Oct, 1905 – 9 Jan, 1906	Succeeded by Cyril P. Ryan
Preceded by Cyril P. Ryan	Captain of H.M.S. Quail 10 Jan, 1906 – 28 May, 1906	Succeeded by Archibald T. Stewart
Preceded by Osmond J. Prentis	Captain of H.M.S. Spitfire 28 May, 1906 – 22 Jun, 1906	Succeeded by Vaughan A. E. Hanning-Lee
Preceded by Harold G. Grenfell	Captain of H.M.S. Cherwell 20 Nov, 1906 – 10 Sep, 1907	Succeeded by William D. Paton
Preceded by Laurence E. Power	Captain of H.M.S. Alert 7 Jan, 1910 – 25 Nov, 1910	Succeeded by Hugh G.-C. Somerville
Preceded by Oswald W. Ormsby	Captain of H.M.S. Commonwealth 16 May, 1911 – 6 Jun, 1911	Succeeded by Price V. Lewes
Preceded by Robert K. Arbuthnot	Captain of H.M.S. Boadicea 6 Jun, 1911 – 17 Oct, 1911	Succeeded by Vernon H. S. Haggard
Preceded by ?	Senior Naval Officer, Boulogne May, 1915 – after Dec, 1918	Succeeded by David M. Hamilton
Preceded by ?	Divisional Naval Transport Officer, Boulogne May, 1915 – after Dec, 1918	Succeeded by David M. Hamilton
Preceded by Alfred E. H. Marescaux	Divisional Naval Transport Officer, Dunkirk May, 1915 – 27 Aug, 1917	Succeeded by David M. Hamilton