Reginald Henderson

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Not to be confused with Reginald Friend Hannam Henderson.

Sir

Reginald Henderson
Birth nameReginald Guy Hannam Henderson
Born1 September 1881
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy.[3]

Early life and education

Henderson was born into a naval family in

First World War.[3][4]

He entered HMS Britannia as a naval cadet in 1895.[3]

Naval career

Henderson was appointed an acting

lieutenant on 15 May 1902,[7] and in November that year was posted to the battleship HMS Venerable, on her first commission, to the Mediterranean Fleet.[8] He took part in the Naval Mission to Greece in 1913.[9] He served in World War I as Commander (executive officer) of the battleship HMS Erin in 1914[9] and took part in the Battle of Jutland in 1916.[10]

In 1917, as a commander involved in anti-submarine warfare, he quietly opposed the Admiralty's official position that the volume of merchant shipping was too great to be protected by warships. Henderson demonstrated that the vast majority of the 2,500 ships completing voyages each week were in fact coastal voyages, and only between 120 and 140 ocean-going. Hankey's biographer Stephen Roskill suggested that Henderson's contribution to the introduction of convoys (in particular to Hankey's memorandum of February 1917) was not acknowledged on paper at the time in order to avoid imperilling the younger officer's career.[11]

After the War he became Chief Staff Officer to the

Commander-in-Chief, China Station and then, in 1923, joined the staff of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich.[9]

Henderson later promoted the Fleet Air Arm and the construction of aircraft carriers.

Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy in 1934.[9] As such he played a significant role in all of the major warship procurements for the Royal Navy in the rearmament period running up to the Second World War, in particular the new aircraft carrier, escort and cruiser forces.[12] He was earmarked for higher command until his early death.[13]

He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) following the First World War and knighted in the order (KCB) in 1936. He was promoted to full admiral in January 1939, but fell ill and was forced to retire in March 1939. In April 1939, he was promoted to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB), which, owing to his illness, was accepted by his wife on his behalf at Buckingham Palace.[3]

Personal life

In 1911, he married Islay Edith Campbell Campbell. They had three sons, two surviving to adulthood.[14][3]

He died in May at the Royal Naval Hospital in Haslar, Portsmouth, aged 57.[3]

References

  1. The National Archives (UK)
    . Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  2. ^ accessed 18 Feb 2012 Who was Who
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Obituary: Admiral Sir Reginald Henderson". The Times. 3 May 1939. p. 20.
  4. ^ "Casualty Details: Henderson, Henry May", Commonwealth War Graves Commission, retrieved 15 May 2019
  5. ^ "No. 27432". The London Gazette. 9 May 1902. p. 3089.
  6. ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36750. London. 24 April 1902. p. 11.
  7. ^ "No. 27491". The London Gazette. 4 November 1902. p. 7013.
  8. ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36910. London. 28 October 1902. p. 9.
  9. ^ a b c d e Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
  10. ^ Battle of Jutland
  11. ^ a b Grigg 2002, p50-1
  12. ^ Brown, D. K. 'Nelson to Vanguard: Warship Development 1923-1945', 2000, p239.
  13. ^ Clarke, Alexander (12 May 2020). Aircraft Carriers the Debate.
  14. ^ The Chronicles of Mark Henderson

Further reading

  • Grigg, John. Lloyd George: War Leader, 1916–1918 Allen Lane, London 2002
    ISBN 0-713-99343-X
Military offices
Preceded by
Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy

1934–1939 		Succeeded by
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