William Christopher Pakenham

Sir William Christopher Pakenham
Born 10 July 1861
Died 28 July 1933(1933-07-28) (aged 72)
San Sebastian, Spain
Allegiance  United Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Navy
Royal Australian Navy
Years of service 1874-1926
Rank Admiral
Commands held HM Australian Fleet
Battle Cruiser Force
North America and West Indies Station
Battles/wars World War I
Awards Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order

Admiral Sir William Christopher Pakenham, KCB, KCMG, KCVO (10 July 1861 – 28 July 1933) was a British observer with the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Russo-Japanese War, during World War I he commanded the 2nd Battle Cruiser Squadron during the Battle of Jutland, and from December 1916 was Commander-in-Chief of the Battle Cruiser Fleet.[1]

Biography

Born on 10 July 1861, the second son of Thomas Pakenham, he entered the navy as a naval cadet in 1874 and served upon the training ship HMS Britannia.[2]

As part of the Mediterranean Squadron, he served on HMS Monarch and he was promoted to midshipman in 1876. Noted for his swimming ability, he was highly commended for gallantry after jumping into the sea and rescuing a coxswain who had fallen overboard at Larnaca, Cyprus in August 1878 and some years later endeavoured to save a man who fell from overboard from HMS Calypso at Kiel, Germany.[2] Promoted to sub lieutenant in October 1880, he was transferred to HMS Canada in April 1883 and was promoted to lieutenant in October 1883. In June 1896, he was promoted to commander and took up a post with the Naval Intelligence Department from August 1899 to March 1901.[2]

He went on to command HMS Daphne on the China Station before he was promoted to Captain on 30 June 1903 and became a Naval Attaché at Tokyo from April 1904 to May 1906.[3] During his stay in Japan, he was one of several military observers as part of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, who provided military intelligence and military advice to their Japanese counterparts. During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, he was an observer at the Battle of Tsushima aboard the battleship Japanese battleship Asahi on 27 May 1905. He was awarded the Commander of the Order of the Bath on 24 July 1905,[4] he was later awarded the Order of the Rising Sun (Second Class) from the Emperor of Japan on 18 April 1906.[2][5]

While commanding HMS Antrim, escorting King Edward VII to Ireland, he was awarded the Member of the Royal Victorian Order in July 1907.[2]

He acted as a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty between 9 December 1911 until to December 1913.[6][7] He was promoted to Rear Admiral, and in December was appointed to command the 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron. He served as Fourth Sea Lord of the Admiralty between 1911 and 1913. He was appointed Naval Aide-de-Camp to King George V between 1912 and 1913.[8]

During World War I, Pakenham was given command of the 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron on 7 March 1915, and raised his flag aboard the battlecruiser HMAS Australia.[9] After Australia was taken out of service following a collision, transferred his flag to HMS New Zealand: aboard this battlecruiser, he participated in the Battle of Jutland, and was awarded the Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 31 May 1916, for his actions.[2][9] Pakenham was appointed Rear Admiral Commanding HM Australian Fleet in September 1916.[10] After Admiral Sir David Beatty was given the command of the Grand Fleet in succession to Admiral Sir John Jellicoe in November 1916, he assumed command of the Battle Cruiser Force on 19 June 1917, and was promoted to Acting Vice Admiral. During the visit of King George V to the Fleet in July 1917, Pakenham was made a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order. He was also awarded the Order of St. Stanislaus (Second Class) and was given a gift from the Emperor Taisho of Japan.[2]

After the end of World War I, Pakenham briefly served as the President of the Royal Naval College in Greenwich from 1919–20 and then as Commander-in-Chief on the North America and West Indies Station from October 1920[11] with HMS Raleigh as his flagship. His visit to the west coast of the United States in 1922 was a diplomatic success, and he was appointed admiral in that year; however the Raleigh was grounded in fog off the coast of Labrador and was a loss. Pakenham was awarded the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in June 1925,[12] and was awarded Bath King of Arms on 7 February 1930.[13]

Pakenham retired from active duty in 1926. He died unmarried, at San Sebastian Spain on 28 July 1933.[2]

Notes

  1. ^ First World War.com Pakenham biography
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Dodd, Chapt. X. (Part 1)
  3. ^ London Gazette: no. 27572. p. 4187. 3 July 1903. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
  4. ^ London Gazette: no. 27823. p. 5295. 1 August 1905. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
  5. ^ London Gazette: no. 27906. p. 2743. 20 April 1906. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
  6. ^ London Gazette: no. 28614. p. 4035. 4 June 1912. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
  7. ^ London Gazette: no. 28614. p. 9395. 10 December 1912. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
  8. ^ London Gazette: no. 28633. p. 5854. 6 August 1912. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
  9. ^ a b Stevens, David (2001). "World War I". In Stevens, David. The Royal Australian Navy. The Australian Centenary History of Defence (vol III). South Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press. p. 37. ISBN 0195555422. OCLC 50418095. 
  10. ^ Stevens, in Stevens, The Royal Australian Navy, p. 38
  11. ^ Sir William Pakenham at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  12. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 33053. p. 3769. 2 June 1925. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
  13. ^ London Gazette: no. 28557. p. 795. 7 February 1930. Retrieved 28 August 2009.

References

Military offices
Preceded by
Sir Charles Madden		 Fourth Sea Lord
1911 – 1913		 Succeeded by
Sir Cecil Lambert
Preceded by
George Patey		 Rear Admiral Commanding HM Australian Fleet
1916 – 1917		 Succeeded by
Arthur Leveson
Preceded by
Sir Trevylyan Napier		 Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies Station
1920–1923		 Succeeded by
Sir Michael Culme-Seymour
Heraldic offices
Preceded by
Sir Charles Monro		 King of Arms of the Order of the Bath
1930 – 1933		 Succeeded by
Sir Walter Braithwaite