Harold Courtenay Woolcombe-Boyce

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Lieutenant Harold Courtenay Woollcombe-Boyce, R.N. (30 March, 1887 – 8 February, 1917) was an officer in the Royal Navy. His name is recorded as "Woollcombe-Boyce" in one Service Record, but is apparently corrected.

Life & Career

Born in St. Paul, Hammersmith, Woolcombe-Boyce listed his mother, Miss Wollcobe-Boyce as his guardian upon joining the Navy in May of 1902.[1]

Woolcombe-Boyce was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 30 June, 1909.[2] He was sent to hospital in Batavia that year, seriously ill with pneumonia.[3]

He was admitted to Haslar Hospital on 1 June 1910 with neuritis. He was declared fit on 5 August.[4]

On 28 January, 1911 he was admitted to Chatham Hospital with gonorrhea and rheumatism. He was not declared fit until 27 January, 1912.[5]

He was appointed in command of the destroyer Fawn on 29 July, 1914.[6]

Blamed for a collision between Fawn and a steamship on 7 December 1914, Woolcombe-Boyce would redeem himself when the Admiralty noted with approval his efficient command in the action that culminated in the destruction of U 8 on 4 May, 1915.[7]

Woolcombe-Boyce died when Ghurka was mined and sunk in the Channel on 8 February, 1917.[8]

See Also

Naval Appointments
Preceded by
Gerald C. Harrison
Captain of H.M.S. Fawn
29 Jul, 1914[9][10] – 9 Apr, 1915[11]
Succeeded by
George N. Gilbertson
Preceded by
George N. Gilbertson
Captain of H.M.S. Fawn
20 Apr, 1915[12] – 6 Mar, 1916[13]
Succeeded by
Frederick R. M. Johnson
Preceded by
Edward M. C. Rutherfoord
Captain of H.M.S. Falcon
23 Jul, 1915[14] – 9 Aug, 1915[15]
Succeeded by
Alastair C. N. Farquhar
Preceded by
Harold T. Baillie-Grohman
Captain of H.M.S. Ghurka
6 Mar, 1916[16][17] – 8 Feb, 1917[18][19]
Succeeded by
Vessel Lost

Footnotes

  1. Woolcombe-Boyce Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51/85. f. 87.
  2. The Navy List. (January, 1915). p. 77c.
  3. Woolcombe-Boyce Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51/85. f. 87.
  4. Woolcombe-Boyce Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51/85. f. 87.
  5. Woolcombe-Boyce Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51/85. f. 87.
  6. The Navy List. (January, 1915). p. 316.
  7. Woolcombe-Boyce Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51/85. f. 87.
  8. Kindell. Royal Navy Roll of Honour Part 2. pp. 318-9.
  9. Woolcombe-Boyce Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51/85. f. 87.
  10. The Navy List. (October, 1915). p. 394d.
  11. Woolcombe-Boyce Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51/85. f. 87.
  12. Woolcombe-Boyce Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51/85. f. 87.
  13. Woolcombe-Boyce Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51/85. f. 87.
  14. Woolcombe-Boyce Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51/85. f. 87.
  15. Woolcombe-Boyce Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51/85. f. 87.
  16. Woolcombe-Boyce Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51/85. f. 87.
  17. The Navy List. (December, 1916). p. 394q.
  18. Woolcombe-Boyce Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51/85. f. 87.
  19. Kindell. Royal Navy Roll of Honour Part 2. p. 319.