Francis Hutchinson Laprimaudaye Lewin

Captain (retired) Francis Hutchinson Laprimaudaye Lewin, (29 October, 1880 – 7 August, 1953) served in the Royal Navy.

Life & Career

Lewin was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 15 August, 1901.

Lewin was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Commander on 15 August, 1908.

On 1 January, 1914, Lewin was appointed to Attentive, additional, for gunnery duties with the Sixth Destroyer Flotilla. Lewin stayed in this appointment for quite some time, being promoted to the rank of Commander on 31 December, 1915. He distinguished himself with an act of gallantry in early 1917:

At 8.15 p.m. on February 8, 1917, one of H.M. ships struck a mine at sea about four miles off Dungeness and sank in a few minutes, there being a heavy sea running at the time. With the intention of picking up survivors a trawler steamed over the position, but in putting out her boat it was damaged and broke adrift, thereby losing the only means of rescuing those in the water. Shortly afterwards Commander Lewin drifted alongside with two men clinging to him, and though well knowing that he might drift away again at any moment, as others had already done, he called out to those on board the trawler to take the men, first supporting the second man while the first was being dragged on board, Eventually, all three were rescued in a state of great exhaustion after being thirty minutes in the water. The weather was very cold, the deck of the trawler being covered with ice.

On 1 June 1917 he was awarded the Royal Humane Society Silver Medal for this rescue, and in February 1918 he was additionally awarded the Stanhope Medal.

Lewin was placed on the Retired List at his own request on 13 July 1922, and promoted to the rank of Captain (retired) on 29 October, 1925.

See Also

• Service Records
• Wikipedia

Bibliography

Naval Appointments
Preceded by George St. J. Llewellyn	Captain of H.M.S. Veronica 27 Feb, 1920	Succeeded by Bernard Buxton