Harold Edmund Denison

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Harold Edmund Denison (3 June, 1878 – 24 December, 1953) served in the Royal Navy.

Life & Career

Born in Toronto, Denison gained two months' time on passing out of Britannia in July, 1894.

On 2 December 1898 he joined College to study for Part I.

Denison was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 1 April, 1901.[1] On 15 August 1901, he was appointed to Indefatigable on the North American Station. He completed a ten day navigation course while in her with satisfactory results and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Commander on 1 April, 1904. He was not superseded in her until 30 September, 1904 and then he proceeded home, arriving 4 November, 1904.[2]

On 5 June, 1906, Their Lordships' expressed their dismay at the dirty condition of the crew of Brazen.

On 5 March 1914, Denison was appointed in command of the torpedo gunboat Jason. Upon the outbreak of war, he was superseded in her and on 5 August appointed to Amphitrite.

Superseded in Amphitrite on 11 July 1915, on 9 August he was appointed to the battleship Jupiter, which re-commissioned three days later.

Jupiter paid off on 22 December, 1916 and Denison was soon appointed in command of the River Class destroyer Ouse. He spent three and a half months in Ouse and then was placed in command of her sister, H.M.S. Kale. Denison was to lose Kale, along with forty men, to a mine in the North Sea on 27 March, 1918.[3][4] A Court Martial determined that Denison "had steered a course which was six miles east of the swept channel and straight into a prohibited area which contained a defensive British minefield; details of the restricted zone had been promulgated several weeks earlier, but he had failed to read them or to see that the information provided was marked on the charts."[5] He was severely reprimanded and dismissed the ship, two of three charges having been proved.

On 15 April, 1918, Denison was appointed to the depot ship Woolwich.

Denison was promoted to the rank of Commander on 30 June, 1914.[6]

Post-War

On 6 March 1919, Denison left Woolwich for an illegible appointment. Five months of unpaid time commenced on 18 May, 1922 and Denison was appointed in command of the light cruiser Cleopatra. On 23 January 1923 Denison was admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital, Chatham with bursitis. He was again fit on 5 March, 1923 and continued to command Cleopatra until mid October, 1923.[7]

Denison was placed on the Retired List at his own request with the rank of Captain on 4 June, 1924.[8]

He returned to Canada to live, being recorded as a resident in 1937 and having a war appointment with an Auxiliary Flotilla.[9]

See Also

Naval Appointments
Preceded by
Harry C. S. Rawson
Captain of H.M.S. Brazen
18 Sep, 1905[10][11] – 5 Jun, 1906[12]
Succeeded by
Fitzroy H. Hall
Preceded by
Marcus F. B. Whyte
Captain of H.M.S. Seagull
18 Jun, 1912[13][14] – 5 Mar, 1914[15]
Succeeded by
Oswald T. Hodgson
Preceded by
Lionel G. Preston
Captain of H.M.S. Jason
5 Mar, 1914[16][17] – 1 Aug, 1914[18]
Succeeded by
William H. Darwall
Preceded by
Arthur E. Durham
Captain of H.M.S. Ouse
6 Jan, 1917[19] – 14 Apr, 1917[20]
Succeeded by
Raymond G. F. H. de Caen
Preceded by
Henry Haire-Forster
Captain of H.M.S. Kale
14 Apr, 1917[21][22] – 27 Mar, 1918[23]
Succeeded by
Vessel Lost
Preceded by
Hugh D. Colville
Captain of H.M.S. Cleopatra
29 Aug, 1922[24][25] – 16 Oct, 1923[26]
Succeeded by
Charles D. Burke

Footnotes

  1. The Navy List. (March, 1913). p. 21.
  2. Denison Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44/456. f. 526.
  3. Denison Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44/456. f. 526.
  4. Kindell. Royal Navy Roll of Honour Part 2. p. 479.
  5. Hepper. British Warship Losses in the Ironclad Era: 1860-1919. pp. 125-6.
  6. Denison Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44/456. f. 526.
  7. Denison Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44/456. f. 526.
  8. Denison Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44/456. f. 526.
  9. Denison Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44/456. f. 526.
  10. Denison Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44/456. f. 526.
  11. The Navy List. (June, 1906). p. 287.
  12. Denison Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44/456. f. 526.
  13. Denison Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44/456. f. 526.
  14. The Navy List. (February, 1914). p. 372.
  15. Denison Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44/456. f. 526.
  16. Denison Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44/456. f. 526.
  17. The Navy List. (April, 1914). p. 333.
  18. Denison Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44/456. f. 526.
  19. Denison Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44/456. f. 526.
  20. Denison Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44/456. f. 526.
  21. Denison Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44/456. f. 526.
  22. The Navy List. (November, 1917). p. 394v.
  23. Denison Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44/456. f. 526.
  24. Denison Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44/456. f. 526.
  25. The Navy List. (January, 1923). p. 737.
  26. Denison Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44/456. f. 526.