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46-638: Admiral Sir Reginald Hugh Spencer Bacon , KCB , KCVO , DSO (6 September 1863 – 9 June 1947) was an officer in the Royal Navy noted for his technical abilities. According to Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher , twice First Sea Lord , he was at one time "acknowledged as the cleverest officer in the Navy". Reginald was born at Wiggonholt in West Sussex , the son of

92-714: A Greek Christian, known as George of Antioch , who previously had served as a naval commander for several North African Muslim rulers. Roger styled George in Abbasid fashion as Amir of Amirs , or Amīr al-Umarāʾ, with the title becoming Latinized in the 13th century as ammiratus ammiratorum . The Sicilians and later the Genoese took the first two parts of the term from their Aragon opponents and used them as one word, amiral . . The French gave their sea commanders similar titles while in Portuguese and Spanish

138-589: A flotilla of torpedo boats in the British naval manoeuvres of 1896. In 1897 he served as a member of the British punitive expedition to Benin , and on his return from active service wrote the book Benin, the City of Blood (1897), describing the campaign. Promoted to captain in 1900, he left the Mediterranean Station and, was appointed to the new position of Inspecting Captain of Submarines and given

184-654: A friend to all men. To Maurice Hankey , during the war, Bacon was "the one officer with offensive spirit"; to the notoriously offensive-minded Reginald Tyrwhitt , commander of the Harwich Force , he was a worse enemy than the Germans, unwilling to take risks and "our bugbear... the Streaky One has obsessed everyone at the Admiralty and does exactly what he pleases with them... You will understand me when I say he

230-473: A more potent attacking threat. "While RN submarines retained Holland's ideas in outline... the specifics of the design from the A class onwards were essentially British", Dash writes. Bacon also played an important role in the design of the remainder of Britain's A-class submarines and worked out the first tactics for British boats. Bacon was the first captain of the battleship HMS  Dreadnought . In June 1906 he commissioned her for her trials and took her on

276-469: A news article published by an Arabic news outlet: On 24 May 2012, in a change of command ceremony aboard aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65) , while docked at Khalifa Bin Salman Port, Bahrain , U.S. Marine Corps Gen . James Mattis , Commander, U.S. Central Command , introduced Vice Admiral Mark I. Fox as "Admiral Fox, the prince of the sea, emir of the sea – to translate 'admiral' from

322-639: A single 15-inch howitzer to Gallipoli . He arranged for the howitzer (no. 3) to be transported, and a few days later was in Paris ready to start for the Dardanelles, when he was recalled to London by Churchill and made Commander-in-Chief, Dover , replacing Rear-Admiral Horace Hood . Bacon became commander of the Dover Patrol in April 1915. He was promoted vice-admiral late in 1916. Seeking to recapture

368-669: A special cruise to the West Indies. In August 1907 he was appointed to the position of Director of Naval Ordnance succeeding Jellicoe . In July 1909 he was promoted Rear-Admiral. In November 1909 he retired from the Active List as director of Naval Ordnance. He had been offered the appointment of managing director of the Coventry Ordnance Works (COW). During his time there, the Coventry works manufactured

414-453: Is evident not only in its decision to appoint so junior a captain to a comparatively senior position, but also in the laudatory minutes that attached themselves to Bacon's official reports. In early 1901 he was appointed by King Edward to take part in a special diplomatic mission to announce the King's accession to the governments of Austria-Hungary , Romania , Serbia , and Turkey . Bacon

460-662: Is expressly defined as "of the sea, Lat. marinus, epith. of sea-gods , nymphs , etc." Though there are multiple meanings for the Arabic Amīr (أمير), the literal meaning of the phrase Amīr al-Baḥr (أمير البحر) is "Prince of the Sea." This position, versus "commander of the sea," is demonstrated by legal practices prevailing in the Ottoman Empire , whereas it was only possible for Phanariots to qualify for attaining four princely positions, those being grand dragoman , dragoman of

506-422: Is not a white man." According to biographer Michael Dash, "None of these controversies... should be allowed to obscure Bacon's early achievements as ICS, which were very considerable. To Bacon goes the credit of developing the semi-autonomous submarine branch that consistently performed well in peace and war. Equally important, his determined caution ensured that the branch was developed along sensible lines". Bacon

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552-531: Is pronounced "naúarkhēs," existed from very ancient times in Greece. While ναύαρχος may be defined as "admiral" as used by Plutarch in his Parallel Lives , the very pronunciation of ναύαρχος demonstrates that it is not a part of the etymology for the English word "admiral." The word "admiral" has come to be almost exclusively associated with the highest naval rank in most of the world's navies , equivalent to

598-741: Is ranked differently depending on the country. Harwich Force The Harwich Force originally called Harwich Striking Force was a squadron of the Royal Navy , formed during the First World War and based in Harwich . It played a significant role in the war. After the outbreak of the First World War, it was important for the Royal Navy was to secure the approaches to the English Channel , to prevent elements of

644-515: The Arabic amīral ( أمير الـ ) – amīr ( أمير ) [ʔmjr] ( listen ), " king , prince , chief, leader, nobleman , lord , a governor , commander , or person who rules over a number of people" and al ( الـ ), the Arabic definite article meaning "the." In Arabic, admiral is also represented as Amīr al-Baḥr ( أمير البحر ), where al-Baḥr (البحر) means the sea . The 1818 edition of Samuel Johnson 's A Dictionary of

690-514: The British Expeditionary Force in 1914 and mastered the technical complexities required to implement his proposal for a North Sea Mine Barrage . After his retirement, he settled down to write books with titles such as A Simple Guide to Wireless for All Whose Knowledge of Electricity is Childlike . Historian Mike Dash observes that while "there is no doubt that [his] mastery of the technology with which he dealt reinforced

736-636: The Cuxhaven Raid on Christmas Day, 1914. The force was also active in a number of clashes with the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial German Navy). Their ships were present at the Battles of Heligoland Bight , Texel , and Dogger Bank , and were mobilised after the German raids on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby in 1914, and on Yarmouth and Lowestoft in 1916. They were called out during

782-645: The Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) from breaking out into the Atlantic or from interfering with British maritime trade and troop convoys to the continent. Most of the big ships of the Grand Fleet had dispersed to the navy's anchorage at Scapa Flow or to other north-eastern ports to watch the northern route from the North Sea into the Atlantic. Patrol flotillas were organised along

828-630: The QF 4.5-inch howitzer , the BL 5.5-inch Mark I naval gun and the Army's biggest gun to date, the BL 9.2-inch howitzer . On the outbreak of war, prompted by the German army's bombardment of the Liège forts , the Coventry factory privately designed the BL 15-inch howitzer , designed to be road transportable by three 105 hp Daimler-Foster Artillery tractors. The Army was unimpressed by its lack of range and didn't adopt

874-743: The Thames and the Netherlands . Tyrwhitt's objectives were often complicated by the need to provide reinforcements for the Dover Patrol. The force fired the first shots of the war when a flotilla led by HMS  Amphion sank the minelayer Königin Luise on 5 August 1914. During the war, the Force captured or sank 24 enemy merchants, and it escorted 520 eastbound and 511 westbound ships between Dutch and British ports. Their ships also took part in

920-509: The Arabic to English;" On 04 Feb 2021, in an announcement of his coronavirus -related death, the Arabic news website Saudi 24 News referred to Admiral Edmond Chagoury by the title "Prince of the Sea." One alternate etymology proposes that the term admiral evolved, instead, from the title of Amīr al-Umarā ʾ (أمير الأمراء). Under the reign of the Buyid dynasty (934 to 1062) of Iraq and Iran ,

966-774: The Channel. Post holders included: It was intended that the Harwich Force would operate when possible in conjunction with the Dover Patrol, and the Admiralty intended that the Harwich force would also be able to support the Grand Fleet if it moved into the area. Tyrwhitt was also expected to carry out reconnaissance of German naval activities in the southern parts of the North Sea, and to escort ships sailing between

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1012-674: The English Language , edited and revised by the Rev. Henry John Todd , states that the term "has been traced to the Arab. emir or amir, lord or commander, and the Gr . ἄλιος , the sea, q. d. prince of the sea . The word is written both with and without the d, in other languages, as well as our own. Barb. Lat. admirallus and amiralius. V. Ducange. Barb. Græc. ἄμηρχλιος. V. Meursii Gloss. Græco-Barbarum, edit. 1610. p. 29. Fr. admiral and amiral. Dan.

1058-683: The Fleet Lord Fisher. He married Cicely Surtees of Darlington , County Durham in 1897. They had a daughter and two sons, both of whom died young, one as a soldier during the First World War and the other from pneumonia as a naval cadet in 1919. Bacon died on 9 June 1947 at home in Romsey , Hampshire . Admiral The word admiral in Middle English comes from Anglo-French amiral , "commander", from Medieval Latin admiralis , admirallus . These evolved from

1104-632: The German occupied ports of Ostend and Zeebrugge, Bacon assisted in the planning of naval landings on the Belgian coastline. Bacon's plan for an amphibious assault eventually came to form the third phase of Field Marshal Douglas Haig's 1917 Flanders Offensive . The plan was for the British 1st Division to land just behind the German lines at Middelkerke while the XV Corps under Henry Rawlinson assaulted from Allied lines at Nieuport. Although specialized landing craft and amphibious tanks were constructed,

1150-476: The German torpedo boat S.20 off Zeebrugge . After the end of the war, Harwich was designated the port at which the remaining German U-boats would be surrendered and Harwich Force oversaw the operation. At the end of May 1916, at the time of the Battle of Jutland, the Harwich force consisted of: The Harwich Force sortied to join the Grand Fleet on the initiative of Commodore Tyrwhitt early on 1 June 1916 in

1196-416: The army rank of general . However, this was not always the case; for example, in some European countries prior to the end of World War II , admiral was the third highest naval rank after general admiral and grand admiral . The rank of admiral has also been subdivided into various grades, several of which are historically extinct while others remain in use in most present-day navies. The Royal Navy used

1242-645: The barrage at night, Bacon was instructed to do so by Rosslyn Wemyss following his replacement of Sir John Jellicoe as First Sea Lord . The discovery and destruction of a U-boat transiting the barrage took place the next night, and Bacon was sacked by Eric Campbell Geddes from command of the Dover Patrol, replaced by Roger Keyes , shortly thereafter. After leaving the Dover Patrol, he was promoted to admiral in September 1918 and he retired on 31 March 1919. He wrote numerous books, including biographies of John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe and his old mentor Admiral of

1288-476: The colours red, white, and blue, in descending order to indicate seniority of its admirals until 1864; for example, Horatio Nelson 's highest rank was vice-admiral of the white. The generic term for these naval equivalents of army generals is flag officer . Some navies have also used army-type titles for them, such as the Cromwellian "general at sea". While the rank is used in most of NATO countries, it

1334-555: The definition of Amīr (أمير), as given in Edward William Lane 's Arabic-English Lexicon , concurs, in part, with Minsheu's definition, stating that the term means "One having, holding, or possessing, command; a commander; a governor; a lord; a prince, or king." While other Greek words of the period existed to indicate "belonging to the sea," or "of the sea," the now obsolete Gr. ἄλιος mentioned in Johnson's Dictionary

1380-468: The eastern part of the Channel and another net barrage which was laid parallel to the Belgian coast. Forays along the coast of Germany sometimes resulted in the sinking or capture of German fishing vessels; on one sweep in 1915, twenty captured trawlers were brought to Harwich as prizes . Another duty was coastal bombardment of German positions in occupied Belgium; on one mission to bombard Ostend on 5 June 1917 , Tyrwhitt's flagship, HMS  Centaur , sank

1426-703: The failure of Haig's offensive to break out of the Ypres Salient led to the postponement and eventual cancellation of the landing. For further information, see Operation Hush . Bacon was later involved in the development of the North Sea Mine Barrage . Bacon spent some time considering and planning the Zeebrugge and Ostend raids , but he felt that crucial details of his plan were altered or omitted due to inexperience. In his book 'Room 40: British Naval Intelligence, 1914–1918,' Patrick Beesly

Reginald Bacon - Misplaced Pages Continue

1472-599: The fleet , and the voivodees of Moldavia and Wallachia . Those Phanariots who attained the princely position of dragoman of the fleet served under the Ottoman admiral having administration of the Aegean islands and the Anatolian coast. Modern acknowledgement of the phrase Amīr -al-Baḥr (أمير البحر) meaning "Prince of the Sea" includes a speech made in an official U.S. military ceremony conducted in an Arabic port, and

1518-467: The independence of the submarine branch, he was a remote and stubborn centraliser who rarely admitted he needed help from anybody". Another trait which became increasingly significant in Bacon's naval career was "the unfortunate knack which [he] developed of polarising the opinions others held of him." He was not, like his nemesis Roger Keyes , who succeeded him as both ICS and commander of the Dover Patrol,

1564-464: The number varying. Also stationed at Harwich was a submarine force under Commodore Roger Keyes . In early 1917, the Harwich Force consisted of eight light cruisers, two flotilla leaders and 45 destroyers. By the end of the year, there were nine light cruisers, four flotilla leaders and 24 destroyers. The combination of light, fast ships was intended for scouting, reconnaissance, engaging German light forces and frustrating German attempts at minelaying in

1610-613: The parish rector, Rev. Thomas Bacon, and his wife, Lavinia Emma, the daughter of George Shaw of Teignmouth in Devon . Rev. Thomas was the nephew of the industrialist, Anthony Bushby Bacon of Elcot Park in Berkshire and the grand-uncle of the historian, Emma Elizabeth Thoyts , of Sulhamstead House , also in Berkshire. Reginald entered the Navy in 1877, qualified as a torpedo lieutenant, and first came to wider notice as commander of

1656-589: The prelude to the Battle of Jutland but did not take part in the battle. During the winter of 1916–1917, the force assisted the Dover Patrol in patrolling the Dover Barrage , an anti-submarine steel netting barrier which required on a large number of small vessels to operate and were vulnerable to attack by German destroyers and torpedo boats. Other regular patrols were mounted in The Downs , an anchorage in

1702-527: The same. Germ. ammiral. Dutch, admirael or ammirael. Ital. ammiraglio. Sp. almirante. Minsheu, in his Spanish Dictionary, says 'almiralle is a king in the Arabian language.' Amrayl is used by Robert of Gloucester, in the sense of a prince, or governour." The quote from John Minsheu 's Dictionarie in Spanish and English (1599), given in Johnson's Dictionary, has been confirmed as being accurate. Additionally,

1748-559: The south and east coasts of England, with commands established at several ports in the region. The Dover Patrol was based at Dover , consisting mostly of destroyers , while a number of pre-dreadnoughts and cruisers were based at Portland Harbour . A large number of destroyers, flotilla leaders and light cruisers were based at Harwich , under the command of Commodore Reginald Tyrwhitt . The Harwich Force consisted of between four and eight light cruisers, several flotilla leaders and usually between 30 and 40 destroyers in flotillas ,

1794-478: The submarine was the design for HMS A1 , the first British-designed boat and a significant advance over the earlier Holland Class boats. A1 , developed by Bacon in conjunction with the naval architects of Messrs Vickers, Sons & Maxim , added a conning tower and a periscope to the pioneering design of the Irish-born American inventor John P. Holland , making her significantly more seaworthy and

1840-441: The task of introducing and developing the Royal Navy's earliest submarine boats . In August 1901 came the accompanying appointment as captain of HMS  Hazard , which had recently been converted into the world's first submarine depot ship . He was the acknowledged possessor of a fine technical brain, and Fisher's enthusiasm for Bacon's intelligence hardly hindered his career. That the Admiralty shared Fisher's impression of Bacon

1886-631: The title of Amīr al-Umarāʾ, which means prince of princes, came to denote the heir-apparent , or crown prince . This alternate etymology states that the term was in use for the Greco-Arab naval leaders (e.g. Christodulus ) in the Norman-Arab-Byzantine culture of Norman Sicily , which had formerly been ruled by Arabs, at least by the early 11th century. During this time, the Norman Roger II of Sicily (1095–1154) employed

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1932-691: The weapon, but Winston Churchill , as First Lord of the Admiralty , formed the Howitzer Brigade of the Royal Marine Artillery with the twelve guns. The first howitzer was shipped to France in February 1915 and Bacon was given a temporary commission in the Royal Marine Artillery as an extra Colonel 2nd Commandant. In April 1915 he was called to the Admiralty, where Churchill and Jackie Fisher were keen to send

1978-510: The word changed to almirante . As the word was used by people speaking Latin or Latin-based languages it gained the "d" and endured a series of different endings and spellings leading to the English spelling admyrall in the 14th century and to admiral by the 16th century. It is important to note that the etymology of a word does not suggest the antiquity of the word as it may have appeared in other languages with entirely different pronunciations. The Greek ναύαρχος, for instance, which

2024-475: Was acutely aware of the early shortcomings of underwater craft and "particularly emphasised" that he did not "commend rashness, in fact my life is spent in preaching caution... The only fear regarding the safety of the Boats is that familiarity may breed over-confidence". His philosophy was that "success belongs to the man who pays attention to infinite details". Bacon's chief contribution to the early development of

2070-547: Was not complimentary of Bacon suggesting that his brilliance may have been marred by his fixation on a correct way of doing things, and of 'being convinced that he was the only man in the regiment who was marching in step.' Bacon insisted that the Dover Barrage was an effective block to German U-boats breaking out into the Atlantic despite reports from Naval Intelligence that U-boats were regularly passing through it under cover of darkness. After repeated refusals to illuminate

2116-447: Was well-qualified for his new work with submarines, having served in the torpedo branch of the navy throughout the 1890s. He had spent several years on the staff of HMS Vernon , Britain's main torpedo school, and his character was dominated by a pronounced flair for things mechanical. Later in his career Bacon made a significant contribution to the design of the revolutionary all-big-gun battleship Dreadnought , developed siege guns for

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