Difference between revisions of "Reginald Hugh Spencer Bacon"

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By the year of his resignation from the navy - 1909 - he had reached the rank of Rear-Admiral, and settled into an entirely appropriate civilian career as Managing Director of the [[Coventry Ordnance Works]], having served his last two years as [[Director of Naval Ordnance (Royal Navy)|Director of Naval Ordnance]].
 
By the year of his resignation from the navy - 1909 - he had reached the rank of Rear-Admiral, and settled into an entirely appropriate civilian career as Managing Director of the [[Coventry Ordnance Works]], having served his last two years as [[Director of Naval Ordnance (Royal Navy)|Director of Naval Ordnance]].
  
==World War==
+
==Great War==
 
The outbreak of [[First World War|war]] in August, 1914 brought Bacon's recall to active service and following a brief stint on the Western Front (using his own company's weaponry - a howitzer of his own design) as a [[Colonel, Second Commandant (Royal Marines)|Colonel, Second Commandant]] in the [[Royal Marine Artillery]] was handed command of the Dover Patrol the following April.  He relinquished his temporary commission as Colonel, Second Commandant on 13 April, 1915.<ref>''London Gazette'': [http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/29136/pages/3828 no. 29136.  p. 3828.]  20 April, 1915.</ref>  On 15 July, 1915, he was advanced to the rank of {{ViceRN}} on the Retired List.<ref>''London Gazette'': [http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/29236/pages/3381 no. 7073.  p. 7073.]  20 July, 1915.</ref>  He was subsequently to publish in 1919 his memoirs of the Dover Patrol as he experienced it during his tenure.
 
The outbreak of [[First World War|war]] in August, 1914 brought Bacon's recall to active service and following a brief stint on the Western Front (using his own company's weaponry - a howitzer of his own design) as a [[Colonel, Second Commandant (Royal Marines)|Colonel, Second Commandant]] in the [[Royal Marine Artillery]] was handed command of the Dover Patrol the following April.  He relinquished his temporary commission as Colonel, Second Commandant on 13 April, 1915.<ref>''London Gazette'': [http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/29136/pages/3828 no. 29136.  p. 3828.]  20 April, 1915.</ref>  On 15 July, 1915, he was advanced to the rank of {{ViceRN}} on the Retired List.<ref>''London Gazette'': [http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/29236/pages/3381 no. 7073.  p. 7073.]  20 July, 1915.</ref>  He was subsequently to publish in 1919 his memoirs of the Dover Patrol as he experienced it during his tenure.
  
 
Bacon's task was apparently simple: to prevent German U-boat access to the English Channel, and to facilitate the despatch of supplies, both men and materials, across to the Western Front in France.
 
Bacon's task was apparently simple: to prevent German U-boat access to the English Channel, and to facilitate the despatch of supplies, both men and materials, across to the Western Front in France.
  
On 1 January, 1916, he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (K.C.B.).<ref>''London Gazette'': [http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/29423/supplements/79 (Supplement) no. 29423.  p. 79.]  31 December, 1915.</ref>
+
On 1 January, 1916, he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (K.C.B.).<ref>''London Gazette'': [http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/29423/supplements/80 (Supplement) no. 29423.  p. 80.]  31 December, 1915.</ref>
  
 
Thus in December, 1917 Bacon was switched from the Dover Patrol to Controller of the Inventions Department (by Churchill, then Minster of Munitions), a command for which he was well suited given his driving interest in all matters innovative.  Bacon was promoted to the rank of {{AdmRN}} on the Retired List on 1 September, 1918.<ref>''London Gazette'': [http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/30887/pages/10549 no. 30887.  p. 10549.]  6 September, 1918.</ref>
 
Thus in December, 1917 Bacon was switched from the Dover Patrol to Controller of the Inventions Department (by Churchill, then Minster of Munitions), a command for which he was well suited given his driving interest in all matters innovative.  Bacon was promoted to the rank of {{AdmRN}} on the Retired List on 1 September, 1918.<ref>''London Gazette'': [http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/30887/pages/10549 no. 30887.  p. 10549.]  6 September, 1918.</ref>

Revision as of 12:06, 28 December 2010

Admiral Sir Reginald Bacon, portrayed as a Vice-Admiral.
Portrait: Francis Dodd, 1917.

Admiral SIR Reginald Hugh Spencer Bacon, K.C.B., K.C.V.O., D.S.O., Royal Navy, Retired (6 September, 1863 – 9 June, 1947) commanded the Dover Patrol from 1915-17 and embarked on a post-retirement career as a naval historian.

Early Life

Having entered the navy in 1878 Bacon chose to specialise in a variety of areas dealing with innovations: from ship design to electricity to submarines (he conducted the first Royal Navy trials) to mining.

Bacon was promoted to the rank of Captain on 30 June, 1900.[1]

On 12 July, 1909, he was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral, vice Dare.[2] He was placed on the Retired List at his own request on 25 November.[3]

By the year of his resignation from the navy - 1909 - he had reached the rank of Rear-Admiral, and settled into an entirely appropriate civilian career as Managing Director of the Coventry Ordnance Works, having served his last two years as Director of Naval Ordnance.

Great War

The outbreak of war in August, 1914 brought Bacon's recall to active service and following a brief stint on the Western Front (using his own company's weaponry - a howitzer of his own design) as a Colonel, Second Commandant in the Royal Marine Artillery was handed command of the Dover Patrol the following April. He relinquished his temporary commission as Colonel, Second Commandant on 13 April, 1915.[4] On 15 July, 1915, he was advanced to the rank of Vice-Admiral on the Retired List.[5] He was subsequently to publish in 1919 his memoirs of the Dover Patrol as he experienced it during his tenure.

Bacon's task was apparently simple: to prevent German U-boat access to the English Channel, and to facilitate the despatch of supplies, both men and materials, across to the Western Front in France.

On 1 January, 1916, he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (K.C.B.).[6]

Thus in December, 1917 Bacon was switched from the Dover Patrol to Controller of the Inventions Department (by Churchill, then Minster of Munitions), a command for which he was well suited given his driving interest in all matters innovative. Bacon was promoted to the rank of Admiral on the Retired List on 1 September, 1918.[7]

Aftermath

In September, 1918 Bacon was made full Admiral; he retired six months later in the wake of the armistice. It was at this stage that Bacon determined to try his hand as a naval historian. Aside from his Dover Patrol memoir he also published biographies of controversial Admirals Fisher and Jellicoe (whose conduct at the Battle of Jutland Bacon resolutely supported; the former also happened to be a close friend).

Bacon died in 1947.

Footnotes

  1. London Gazette: no. 27211. p. 4433. 17 July, 1900.
  2. London Gazette: no. 28271. p. 5463. 16 July, 1909.
  3. London Gazette: no. 28313. p. 9123. 30 November, 1909.
  4. London Gazette: no. 29136. p. 3828. 20 April, 1915.
  5. London Gazette: no. 7073. p. 7073. 20 July, 1915.
  6. London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 29423. p. 80. 31 December, 1915.
  7. London Gazette: no. 30887. p. 10549. 6 September, 1918.

Bibliography

  • Bacon, Admiral Sir Reginald Hugh Spencer (1925). A Naval Scrapbook: first part, 1877–1900. London: Hutchinson & Co..

Service Records


Naval Offices
Preceded by
Sir John R. Jellicoe
Director of Naval Ordnance and Torpedoes
1907 – 1909
Succeeded by
A. Gordon H. W. Moore
Preceded by
The Hon. Horace L. A. Hood
Vice-Admiral Commanding, Dover Patrol
1915 – 1918
Succeeded by
Roger J. B. Keyes