Rear Admiral John Saumarez Dumaresq

Birth Date 1873-10-26
Birth Place Australia: New South Wales, Sydney, Rose Bay
Death Date 1922-07-22
Death Place Philippines
Places
Gazettes Biographical information The Oxford companion to Australian military history in 1995
Description

John Dumaresq was the first Australian-born officer to command the Australian fleet. He was born on 26 October 1873 at Rose Bay in Sydney but his family moved to England when Dumaresq was just two.

Dumaresq joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in 1886, aged 13. He was commissioned as a lieutenant in 1894 and served with the Channel Fleet. In 1904 he was promoted to commander and, having taken an interest in torpedo work earlier in his career, was attached to the Admiralty to supervise the equipment of torpedo vessels. Dumaresq was keenly interested in the science of naval warfare and he invented a rangefinder that greatly improved the accuracy of naval gunnery.

In 1907 Dumaresq married Christian Dalrymple and the following year he commanded the torpedo flotilla when it escorted King Edward VII on a visit to Russia. After his return, Dumaresq commanded two of the Home Fleet's torpedo destroyers. Promoted to captain in 1910, he invented several fire-control devices that were used in the First World War.

Dumaresq commanded the Shannon, a light cruiser, in the battle of Jutland in 1916. During this action he conceived the idea of launching aircraft from a ship's deck. In February 1917 he was transferred to the RAN as captain of HMAS Sydney and later in the year he took command of the British vessel Repulse, which he captained in a successful battle against the German flagship, Königsberg. Dumaresq returned to Sydney in December 1917. To his great pleasure the admiralty had agreed to the installation of an aircraft-launching platform on Sydney, the first to be fitted to a ship. The first flight was a success and the device offered ships some protection against zeppelins and land-based aircraft.

Dumaresq remained in command of Sydney until the end of February 1919. The following month he was given command of the Australian fleet with the rank of commodore. In June 1921 he was promoted to rear admiral, becoming the first Australian-born officer to attain that rank and to command the Navy.

By the early 1920s, cutbacks in defence spending led Dumaresq into conflict with senior political figures as he sought to ensure that the Navy was properly resourced. He returned to the Royal Navy on 29 April 1922, thus ending his service with the RAN. Dumaresq's final gesture, criticising Australia's apathy towards defence spending, suggests something of his willingness to publicly state his views on matters of national importance. Some regarded him as a strict disciplinarian but he was widely respected, shy of publicity, and has been credited with introducing an esprit de corps into the Navy that the young service had been lacking.

Dumaresq never reached England to take up his new appointment. He fell ill on the voyage and died of pneumonia in the Philippines on 22 July 1922.

Timeline

Date of birth 26 October 1873 Rose Bay, NSW.
Date and unit at enlistment (ORs) 1886 Joined the Royal Navy as a cadet.
Other 1894 Served with the Channel Fleet.
Date promoted 28 August 1894 Appointed lieutenant.
Date promoted 30 June 1904 Appointed commander.
Other units 07 February 1908 Commanding Officer HMS Nith.
Date promoted 30 June 1910 Appointed captain.
Other units 30 June 1910 Royal Naval College.
Other units 18 November 1912 HMS Prince of Wales.
Other units 19 December 1913 Commanded HMS Shannon.
Date of honour or award 15 September 1916 Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB).
Other units 05 February 1917 Commanding Officer HMAS Sydney.
Other 1917-11-06 - 1919-02-28 Commanding Officer of HMAS Sydney.
Other units 28 February 1919 Returned to Royal Navy.
Date promoted 22 March 1919 Commodore 1st Class.
Other units 22 March 1919 Captain of HMAS Australia.
Other units 22 March 1919 Commanding Officer HM Australian Fleet.
Date of honour or award 15 October 1920 Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO).
Date promoted 15 June 1921 Rear Admiral.
Date of death 22 July 1922 Died of pneumonia.