Difference between revisions of "John Saumarez Dumaresq"
Simon Harley (Talk | contribs) (→Early Life and Career) |
Simon Harley (Talk | contribs) (→Early Life and Career) |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{RearRN}} '''John Saumarez Dumaresq''', C.B., C.V.O., A.D.C. ([[26 October]], [[1873]] – [[22 July]], [[1922]]) was an officer of the [[Royal Navy]], who made an important contribution to the field of long-range naval gunnery with the invention of the [[Dumaresq]]. He was the first Australian-born officer to command the Australian fleet. | {{RearRN}} '''John Saumarez Dumaresq''', C.B., C.V.O., A.D.C. ([[26 October]], [[1873]] – [[22 July]], [[1922]]) was an officer of the [[Royal Navy]], who made an important contribution to the field of long-range naval gunnery with the invention of the [[Dumaresq]]. He was the first Australian-born officer to command the Australian fleet. | ||
| − | ==Early Life | + | ==Early Life & Career== |
Dumaresq was born on 26 October 1873 at Rose Bay in Sydney, the son of William Alexander Dumaresq whose father had come to Australia with his two brothers and his sister Elizabeth (b.1798-d.1868), who was married to General Ralph Darling, seventh Governor of New South Wales. His moth was Edith Helen Dumaresq. When John was two his family returned to England. | Dumaresq was born on 26 October 1873 at Rose Bay in Sydney, the son of William Alexander Dumaresq whose father had come to Australia with his two brothers and his sister Elizabeth (b.1798-d.1868), who was married to General Ralph Darling, seventh Governor of New South Wales. His moth was Edith Helen Dumaresq. When John was two his family returned to England. | ||
Revision as of 08:11, 6 January 2009
Rear-Admiral John Saumarez Dumaresq, C.B., C.V.O., A.D.C. (26 October, 1873 – 22 July, 1922) was an officer of the Royal Navy, who made an important contribution to the field of long-range naval gunnery with the invention of the Dumaresq. He was the first Australian-born officer to command the Australian fleet.
Early Life & Career
Dumaresq was born on 26 October 1873 at Rose Bay in Sydney, the son of William Alexander Dumaresq whose father had come to Australia with his two brothers and his sister Elizabeth (b.1798-d.1868), who was married to General Ralph Darling, seventh Governor of New South Wales. His moth was Edith Helen Dumaresq. When John was two his family returned to England.
Dumaresq joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in 1886, aged 13. He was commissioned as a Lieutenant in 1894 and served with the Channel Fleet. In 1904 he was promoted to commander and, having taken an interest in torpedo work earlier in his career, was attached to the Admiralty to supervise the equipment of torpedo vessels. Dumaresq was keenly interested in the science of naval warfare and in 1902 he invented a rate of change of range finder, the Dumaresq that greatly improved the accuracy of naval gunnery.
In 1907 Dumaresq married Christian Dalrymple and the following year he commanded the torpedo flotilla when it escorted King Edward VII on a visit to Russia. After his return, Dumaresq commanded two of the Home Fleet's torpedo destroyers. Promoted to Captain in 1910, he invented several fire-control devices that were used in the First World War.
Dumaresq commanded the Shannon, a light cruiser, in the Battle of Jutland in 1916. During this action he conceived the idea of launching aircraft from a ship's deck. In February, 1917 he was transferred to the Royal Australian Navy as captain of H.M.A.S. Sydney and later in the year he took command of the British battle cruiser Repulse, which he captained in a successful battle against the German flagship, Königsberg. Dumaresq returned to Sydney in December, 1917. To his great pleasure the Admiralty had agreed to the installation of an aircraft-launching platform on Sydney, the first to be fitted to a ship. The first flight was a success and the device offered ships some protection against zeppelins and land-based aircraft.
Dumaresq remained in command of Sydney until 22 February, 1919 when he became Commodore commanding the Royal Australian Navy and Australia Squadron, with the rank of Commodore, 1st Class. In June, 1921 he was promoted to Rear-Admiral, becoming the first Australian-born officer to attain that rank and to command the Navy.
By the early 1920s, cutbacks in defence spending led Dumaresq into conflict with senior political figures as he sought to ensure that the Navy was properly resourced. He returned to the Royal Navy on 29 April, 1922, thus ending his service with the R.A.N. Dumaresq's final gesture, criticising Australia's apathy towards defence spending, suggests something of his willingness to publicly state his views on matters of national importance. Some regarded him as a strict disciplinarian but he was widely respected, shy of publicity, and has been credited with introducing an esprit de corps into the Navy that the young service had been lacking.
Dumaresq never reached England to take up his new appointment. He fell ill on the voyage and died of pneumonia in the Philippines on 22 July, 1922.
