Harry Howitt Dring
Commander (retired) Harry Howitt Dring, R.N., Retired (4 February, 1884 – 21 April, 1942) served in the Royal Navy.
Life & Career
A Petty Officer and Mate, he served in Thunderer until the outbreak of war when he was appointed to T.B. 4.[1]
Dring served in T.B. 4 until 19 February, 1916, being promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 28 December, 1915.
He served in Nymphe, on paper from 1 March 1917. However, in February 1917 he was subjected to a Court Martial for having hazarded the ship. The charge proved, he was reprimanded and continued to servethrough the year in the ship, including commendable work with Paravanes.[2]
Dring was next appointed in command of the first-class torpedo boat T.B. 22 on 31 December, 1917. He served in this role through the end of the war, suffering an unfortunate incident in which he was blamed for three stoker petty officers refusing to follow an order which had been delivered without tact.[3]
In January 1919 he requested command of torpedo craft in the Royal Australian Navy, but post-war service saw him spend nearly two years in command of patrol craft which might have, at his period, been involved in mine clearance.[4]
Placed on the Retired List on 20 February, 1923, Dring was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Commander on 28 December, 1923.[5]
In January 1923, Cdr. Darke wrote a very supportive evaluation of Dring which emphasised his personal qualities, in which Captain Sommerville fully concurred. However, something was about to snap. Just after Dring was promoted to the rank of Commander (retired) on 4 February, 1924, he was admitted to Haslar Hospital on 10 June for observation of a "nervous disease". On 27 June, he went to Yarmouth, where he was presently characterised as a "dangerous lunatic."[6]
See Also
| Naval Appointments | ||
| Preceded by Valentine G. C. Shortridge |
Captain of H.M. T.B. 22 31 Dec, 1917[7] – 25 Feb, 1919 |
Succeeded by George F. Elson |
| Preceded by Humphry C. Woolrych |
Captain of H.M.S. P23 26 Feb, 1919[8] – mid Nov, 1919 |
Succeeded by ? |
| Preceded by Philip S. R. Conron |
Captain of H.M.S. PC 71 13 Nov, 1919 – 10 Nov, 1920 |
Succeeded by ? |
Footnotes
- ↑ Dring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/154/34. f. 34.
- ↑ Dring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/154/34. f. 34.
- ↑ Dring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/154/34. f. 34.
- ↑ Dring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/154/34. f. 34.
- ↑ Dring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/154/34. f. 34.
- ↑ Dring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/154/34. f. 34.
- ↑ The Navy List. (December, 1918). p. 955.
- ↑ The Navy List. (July, 1919). p. 857.
