William Milbourne James
Admiral SIR William Milbourne James, G.C.B., Royal Navy (22 December, 1881 – 17 August, 1973) was an officer of the Royal Navy.
Contents
Early Life & Career
When a Template:LieutGRN, James created the James Calculator, a slide rule and plotting board intended to assist in applying the experimental torpedo control method of deflection plotting.[1]
Great War
James's father-in-law noted in his diary:
It appears that James is getting himself disliked, or rather has a bad name for being constantly onshore. This failing is of long standing. He apparently has the young Lieutenant's view that days off are days when one must go onshore, a very unfortunate view in the case of a Commander.[2]
In March, 1916, James was appointed Flag Commander to Vice-Admiral Sir F. C. Doveton Sturdee, Bart., Vice-Admiral Commanding the Fourth Battle Squadron. On 1 January, 1917, he was also appointed for War Staff duties.[3]
On 2 June, 1917, he was appointed to President for service in the Intelligence Division of the Naval Staff. From 7 July he was appointed a II Grade Staff Officer and was to receive a consolidated salary of £600 a year. He was promoted to the rank of Captain on 18 October.[4] In the Intelligence Division he took responsibility of I.D. 25 (Room 40), but did not impress one of the codebreakers there, W. F. Clarke:
He was a very different type to Hope [Herbert W. W. Hope], very pushing, very self confident. He had been a remarkable success as a Commander at sea but he came to a job which required other qualifications which, in my opinion, he did not possess. But luckily by then everything was so organised that we required little but a figurehead and for that he was admirably suited. For the changes in procedure which took place he was not responsible. When he came only about three of us were in uniform, within two months we all were. He vastly increased our numbers, impelled by the so prevalent idea that the larger one's staff the more important one was, a mistake from the efficiency point of view [which] was too often the rule in the last war. He got his promotion very soon. He has written the story of his work in Room 40 in a volume of his own reminiscences about which I can only say that I have never seen to many misstatements of fact, not of opinion, on so few pages.[5]
Inter-War Years
James was appointed Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence on 15 January, 1919.[6] On 12 February he was appointed a Companion in the Civil Division of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (C.B.) for his services during the war.[7]
He was superseded as D.D.N.I. on 20 March, 1920, and briefly served on a committee to consider the position and status of Petty Officers until 26 March. In April he was appointed in command of the light cruiser Curlew on recommissioning.[8]
In June 1921, he assumed command of the cruiser Hawkins.[9]
James was appointed a Naval Aide-de-Camp to King George V on 9 April, 1928, vice Hallett.[10]
James was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral on 1 March, 1929, vice Strutt.[11]
See Also
Bibliography
- Beesly, Patrick (1982). Room 40: British Naval Intelligence 1914–1918. London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0192814680.
- James, Admiral Sir W. M. James (1946). The Portsmouth Letters. London: Macmillan & Co..
- James, Admiral Sir William (1956). The Eyes of the Navy: A Biographical Study of Admiral Sir Reginald Hall. London: Methuen & Co..
- James, Admiral Sir William (1951). The Sky was Always Blue. London: Methuen & Co..
Service Records
- The National Archives. ADM 196/142.
- The National Archives. ADM 196/125.
- The National Archives. ADM 196/90.
- The National Archives. ADM 196/46.
| Naval Appointments | ||
| Preceded by ? |
Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence 1917 – ? |
Succeeded by Geoffrey Hopwood |
| Preceded by Beauchamp A. Francis |
Captain of H.M.S. Curlew Apr, 1920[12] – ? |
Succeeded by Harold E. Sulivan |
| Preceded by Reginald G. H. Henderson |
Captain of H.M.S. Hawkins Jun, 1921[13] – ? |
Succeeded by Argentine H. Alington |
| Preceded by Wilfred Tomkinson |
Vice-Admiral Commanding Battle Cruiser Squadron 15 Aug, 1932[14] – ? |
Succeeded by Sidney R. Bailey |
| Preceded by Charles J. C. Little |
Deputy Chief of Naval Staff 29 Oct, 1935[15] – ? |
Succeeded by Andrew B. Cunningham |
| Preceded by William H. D. Boyle |
Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth Station 30 Jun, 1939[16] – ? |
Succeeded by Charles J. C. Little |
Footnotes
- ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1912. p. 27. (G. Branch No. 518, G. 4009/12). That "W. M. James" is this James is inferred.
- ↑ Duff diary entry for 11 July, 1915. National Maritime Museum. DFF/15.
- ↑ ADM 196/46. f. 146.
- ↑ ADM 196/46. f. 146.
- ↑ "Room 40 O.B. Chapter 3. The Overlords." f. 6. The National Archives. HW 3/3.
- ↑ ADM 196/46. f. 146.
- ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 31176. p. 2741. 17 April, 1928.
- ↑ ADM 196/46. f. 146.
- ↑ Mackie, Colin. ROYAL NAVY WARSHIPS.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 33376. p. 2741. 17 April, 1928.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 33474. p. 1575. 5 March, 1929.
- ↑ The Navy List. (January, 1921). p. 756.
- ↑ Mackie, Colin. ROYAL NAVY WARSHIPS.
- ↑ "The Services" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Saturday, 13 August, 1932. Issue 46211, col E, p. 13.
- ↑ "Flag Changes" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Monday, 12 August, 1935. Issue 47140, col F, p. 10.
- ↑ "Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Friday, 17 February, 1939. Issue 48232, col F, p. 4.
