Reginald Bacon
Royal Navy admiral (1863–1947)
Admiral Sir Reginald Hugh Spencer Bacon, (6 September 1863 – 9 June 1947) was an officer in the Royal Navy noted for his technical abilities. According to Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher, twice First Sea Lord, he was at one time "acknowledged as the cleverest officer in the Navy".
Family
Reginald was born at Wiggonholt in West Sussex, the son of the parish rector, Thomas Bacon, and his wife, Lavinia Emma, the daughter of George Shaw of Teignmouth in Devon. His father was the nephew of the industrialist, Anthony Bushby Bacon of Elcot Park in Berkshire and the great-uncle of the historian, Emma Elizabeth Thoyts, of Sulhamstead House, also in Berkshire.
Early career
Reginald entered the Navy in 1877, qualified as a torpedo lieutenant, and first came to wider notice as 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, and on his return from active service wrote the book Benin, the City of Blood (1897), describing the campaign.
Promoted to captain in 1900, he left the Mediterranean Station and was appointed to the new position of Inspecting Captain of Submarines with the task of leading development of the Royal Navy's earliest submarine boats. In August 1901 came the accompanying appointment as captain of HMS Hazard, which had recently been converted into the world's first submarine depot ship. He was recognized for his fine technical mind. Fisher's enthusiasm for Bacon's intelligence helped his career.
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