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Adm. Sir Reginald Bacon
Admiral Sir Reginald Hugh Spencer Bacon, KCB, KCVO, DSO (1863-1947) was an officer in the Royal Navy noted for his technical abilities.
Born at Wiggonholt in West Sussex, he entered the Navy in 18...view moreAdmiral Sir Reginald Hugh Spencer Bacon, KCB, KCVO, DSO (1863-1947) was an officer in the Royal Navy noted for his technical abilities.
Born at Wiggonholt in West Sussex, he entered the Navy in 1877, qualified as a torpedo lieutenant, and became commander of a flotilla of torpedo boats in the British naval manoeuvres of 1896. In 1897 he served as a member of the British punitive expedition to Benin. Promoted to captain in 1900, in early 1901 King Edward appointed him to take part in a special diplomatic mission to announce the King´s accession to the governments of Austria-Hungary, Romania, Serbia, and Turkey. He was also appointed as captain of HMS Hazard, which had recently been converted into the world’s first submarine depot ship. He became the first captain of the battleship HMS Dreadnought and in 1907 he was appointed Director of Naval Ordnance succeeding Jellicoe. In 1909 he was promoted Rear-Admiral and became managing director of the Coventry Ordnance Works (COW).
In 1914 he developed siege guns for the British Expeditionary Force and in 1915 was given a temporary commission in the Royal Marine Artillery as an extra Colonel 2nd Commandant. The same year he became commander of the Dover Patrol and was involved in the development of the North Sea Mine Barrage.
After his retirement, he turned to writing books, including biographies of John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe and Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher. Adm. Bacon died in Romsey, Hampshire in 1947, aged 83.
Reginald McKenna (1863-1943) was a British banker and Liberal politician. His first Cabinet post under Henry Campbell-Bannerman was as President of the Board of Education, after which he served as First Lord of the Admiralty, the first such in history without an aristocratic title. His most important roles were as Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer during the premiership of H. H. Asquith. The Right Hon. McKenna died in London in 1943, aged 80.view less