Reginald Foster Pitt Maton
Commander (retired) Reginald Foster Pitt Maton, O.B.E., R.N. (30 May, 1886 – ) served in the Royal Navy. He was an inventive gunnery officer, but health issues kept him from a very active wartime role.
Life & Career
Born in Wimbledon in 1886, the son of L. J. Maton, Esq. – a solicitor.[1]
After serving aboard the battleship Mars for six months, Maton was appointed to the second class protected cruiser Hyacinth from 21 July 1903 to 27 September 1905. He was appointed to H.M.S. Jupiter in November 1905, and was in her when she participated in the Annual Manoeuvres of 1906.
Maton was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 30 June, 1907. He served in the battleship H.M.S. Queen from 15 October, 1907 to 14 December, 1908. Appointed to the armoured cruiser H.M.S. Defence on 12 January, 1909, in June of that year he was Court Martialed for grounding and hazarding the ship, and was acquitted. On 6 August, 1910, he was appointed to H.M.S. Excellent to qualify for gunnery duties. While there, he invented a Range Calculator, for which he was thanked in January, 1911. He emerged with qualification for Lieutenant (G) on 13 September, 1911.[2]
He was noted to be somewhat deaf, and possessed good mechanical skill.
As the war started, Maton was in hospital with appendicitis. He was declared fit on 7 August and was appointed to Duncan as gunnery officer, but was soon invalided with a fractured left fibula on 25 January, 1915. On 12 March, he was deemed fit for office work ashore. Accordingly, he was assigned to Excellent to be part of her Experimental Works.[3]
Maton was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Commander on 30 June, 1915.[4]
Maton was appointed in command of Gleaner and for experimental duties from January 1916 to 12 February, 1919. His work in creating a pamphlett of the Analysis of High Angle Firing resulted in a letter of 25 May 1918 from the Admiralty to the Commander in Chief, Portsmouth, commending him for the zeal and ability displayed in the work. He was awarded an O.B.E. for his work proofing new guns. It was noted that his "experience [was] so valuable as to prevent his returning to service afloat." On 30 October, the President of the Ordnance Committee notified Robert N. Bax, Captain of Excellent, of the contributions Maton had made for the firing ranges at Shoeburyness. He also created a time-recording instrument and a "Window Position Finder", the latter for which he forwarded an application for an award of £250. The upshot of this initiative is illegible in his Service Record.[5]
On 12 February, 1919 Maton was appointed for Duty at Shoeburyness, where the navy conducted its test firings of new guns to create Range Tables. He would be there still when he was placed on the Retired List at his own request with the rank of Commander on 4 April, 1929, to continue his work at Shoeburyness in his retirement. His work may have proven continuous to World War II.[6]
World War II
Maton was retained as Naval Experimental Officer, Shoeburyness from 30 May 1941 to the end of the period of hostilities. He reverted to the Retired List on 1 November, 1945. In 1949, he was granted permission to proceed to Belgium.[7]
See Also
| Naval Appointments | ||
| Preceded by Francis T. B. Tower |
Captain of H.M.S. Kite 26 Mar, 1915[8] – Jan, 1916 |
Succeeded by Lancelot E. Holland |
Footnotes
- ↑ Maton Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/252. f. 301.
- ↑ Maton Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/252. f. 301.
- ↑ Maton Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/252. f. 301.
- ↑ Maton Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/252. f. 301.
- ↑ Maton Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/252. f. 301.
- ↑ Maton Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/252. f. 301.
- ↑ Maton Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/252. f. 301.
- ↑ The Navy List. (October, 1915). p. 394c.
