Admiral Sir Hugh Dudley Richards Watson KCB, CVO, CBE (20 April 1872 – 22 May 1954) was a Royal Navy officer who became Naval Secretary.

Sir Hugh Watson
Portrait by Walter Stoneman, 1928
Born20 April 1872
Saltfleetby, Lincolnshire
Died22 May 1954 (1954-05-23) (aged 82)
Windsor, Berkshire
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service / branch Royal Navy
Years of service1885–1928
RankAdmiral
CommandsHMS Essex
HMS Bellerophon
HMS Canada
Battles / warsWorld War I
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
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Watson joined the Royal Navy in 1885. From 6 May 1902 he served as 1st Lieutenant on the armoured cruiser HMS Sutlej,[1] soon to be commissioned for service on the China station. He was promoted to the rank of commander on 1 January 1903,[2] and later appointed Commander of the School of Physical Training[3] before becoming Naval Attaché in Berlin in 1910[4] and then serving in World War I as Captain of the cruiser HMS Essex from 1914, the battleship HMS Bellerophon from 1915, and the battleship HMS Canada from 1918.[5]

He played one first-class cricket match for the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1908.[6]

After the War, he served with the Allied Post War Control Commission and then became Naval Secretary in 1921 before becoming Commander of the 4th Battle Squadron (renumbered the 3rd Battle Squadron in November 1924) and Second-in-Command of the Mediterranean Fleet in August 1923.[4] His last appointment was as Admiral commanding the Reserve Fleet in 1926 before he retired in 1928.[4]

References

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  1. ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36746. London. 19 April 1902. p. 9.
  2. ^ "No. 27512". The London Gazette. 2 January 1903. p. 4.
  3. ^ Navy List 1908. Worldnavalships.com. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
  4. ^ a b c Senior Royal Navy Appointments Archived 15 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine. (PDF). gulabin.com. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
  5. ^ Hugh Dudley Richards WATSON. Wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
  6. ^ "Player profile: Hugh Watson". CricketArchive. Archived from the original on 24 October 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
Military offices
Preceded by Naval Secretary
1921–1923
Succeeded by
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief, Reserve Fleet
1926–1928
Succeeded by