Douglas Reid Kinnier
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Captain Douglas Reid Kinnier, D.S.C., R.N.R., (1858-1916) was a distinguished British seaman who rose to prominence in the early months of the First World War for a daring escape from the German cruiser Dresden in unchartered seas in the vicinity of the Magellan Straits.
[edit] Background
Captain Kinnier was born on 20 October 1858, the second son of Dr Robert Kinnier, a surgeon, and Agnes Stirling [1]. He grew up in Saltcoats, Ayrshire until, against his father's wishes, he went to sea in 1874. On 20 May 1889 he married Minnie Agnes Martin and had five children: Major Douglas Reid Kinnier, Hugh Stirling Kinnier, Anna Josephine Kinnier, Gertrude Kinnier and Captain Keith Robert Martin Kinnier, O.B.E.
[edit] The Ortega and the escape from the Dresden
In September 1914 Captain Kinnier was the commander of the Ortega which was traveling from the Pacific to Montevideo carrying confidential mail from the Admiralty as well as some 300 French officers and men. On 19 September 1914 the Ortega sighted two suspicious vessels, one of which was the cruiser Dresden which soon gave chase at full speed. Captain Kinnier ordered a change of course for Cape George and, chancing all risks in the shallow and unchartered channels of Nelson's Strait, he succeeded in reaching waters where it was impossible for the Dresden to follow. Subsequently Captain Kinnier navigated his command into Smyth's Channel and thereafter Rio de Janeiro, "without even having a scratch on his plates" [2].
In honour of his actions, Captain Kinnier was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by King George V who also conferred upon him an honorary lieutenancy in the Royal Naval Reserve. Captain Kinnier was later honoured by the French Government which presented him with a gold chronometer and by the Admiralty which gave him a silver plate in commemoration of his services during the First World War. Using the funds of a public subscription, the Lord Mayor of Liverpool presented Captain Kinnier with a silk Union flag which was later presented by the family to Saltcoats Burgh Council in May 1931 [3]; [4]; [5].
Captain Kinnier died on Christmas Eve 1916 following surgery to repair an ulcer. He was buried in Bebington Cemetery on 30 December 1916.
