View source for Samuel Maryon Gorton Gravener

{{CommRN}} (retired) '''Samuel Maryon Gorton Gravener''' (3 December, 1886 &ndash; ) was an officer in the [[Royal Navy]].

==Life & Career==
Gravener was born in a town called Jefford in the United States, the son of Captain [[John James Atkins Gravener]], R.N..  He gained two and a half months' time on passing out of {{UK-1Britannia}} and being appointed to {{UK-Jupiter}} of the [[Channel Fleet]] in mid-May, 1903.<ref>Gravener Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/50/334.|D7604746}} f. ?.</ref>

Gravener was noted when serving in {{UK-Caesar}} in 1905 for having a talent at mechanical drawing.

Gravener was appointed to {{UK-Mercury}} for instruction in submarines on 13 January, 1908.  Gravener was promoted to the rank of {{LieutRN}} on 30 August, 1908 and soon thereafter appointed to {{UK-Forth}} for duty in submarines.<ref>Gravener Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/50/334.|D7604746}} f. ?.</ref>

On 25 May, 1910, he was admitted to Plymouth Hospital for observation of an enteric condition.  On 6 June, he was found fit and discharged to {{UK-Forth}}.  On 8 August, 1910, he was appointed in command of the coastal {{UK-A6|f=t}}.  On 16 January, 1911 he was appointed in command of {{UK-B10}}.  In August, 1911, he took his submarine to Malta.<ref>Gravener Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/50/334.|D7604746}} f. ?.</ref>

Gravener was superseded in command of {{UK-B10}} on the eve of war on 26 July, 1914.  Gravener was found by the Vice-Admiral, Eastern Mediterranean to be indirectly to blame for an accident in {{UK-B10}} before he received a temporary appointment in command of {{UK-E7}}. This lasted just a few days before Gravener was appointed in command by the Commander-in-Chief, Eastern Mediterranean of {{UK-B11}}, possibly operating out of Port Said.<ref>Gravener Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/50/334.|D7604746}} f. ?.</ref>

{{UK-B11}} was attacked by an Austrian flying boat on 11 December, 1915 when Gravener saw the attacher plane set down upon the waves with an engine problem.  {{UK-B11}}'s machine gun jammed at the very wrong moment, however, and the enemy plane was able to take off again before a ramming attempt could be made!{{MediterraneanSubs|p. 98}}  On 15 January, 1916, Gravener's appointment in {{UK-B11}} ended and he was sent to {{UK-Dolphin}} for a vague appointment with submarines.  On 1 April, he was appointed to the {{UK-G7|f=t}}, to assume command upon her commissioning.<ref>Gravener Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/50/334.|D7604746}} f. ?.</ref>

On 1 June 1916, Gravener was appointed in command of {{UK-E2}}.  Gravener was promoted to the rank of {{LCommRN}} on 30 August, 1916 but remained in command of {{UK-E2}} until September, 1917.<ref>Gravener Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/50/334.|D7604746}} f. ?.</ref>

On 14 November, 1917, Gravener was appointed in command of {{UK-K7}}.  Upon her paying off, he was appointed in command of her sister, {{UK-K16}}.  This appointment would be his last of the war.  At the end of 1918, Gravener was treated for tonsilitis.<ref>Gravener Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/50/334.|D7604746}} f. ?.</ref>

==Post-War==
Gravener was appointed from {{UK-K16}} in October 1919 to {{UK-Dolphin}} for submarines, but within the month this was replaced by an appointment to be first officer in the {{UK-1Inconstant|f=t}}.  Here, his long service in submarines seemed to work against his interests in the competitive post-war navy, as Captain [[George Bridges Lewis|Lewis]] noted that Gravener had "never served in a larger ship than a submarine since he was a Sub Lt. & consequently has very little idea of the duties & responsibilities of an executive officer in a ship."  Moreover, Lewis noted that Gravener suffered from chronic sea-sickness, which may have been a consequence of the roll-period of the larger ship.<ref>Gravener Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/50/334.|D7604746}} f. ?.</ref>

After a brief spell of unpaid time, Gravener was appointed in command of the {{UK-Diligence|f=t}} on 24 May, 1920.{{NLJan21|p. 760}}  

In mid August, 1921 he commenced a series of short appointments in various ships including {{UK-Blenheim}}, {{UK-Blake}} and the {{UK-Eagle|f=t}}, the last appointment ending on 29 March, 1923.  His career then fell into the ordinary pattern of the era, wherein he assumed command of a group of destroyers in reserve from 6 November 1923 to 7 October, 1924.  At the end of this, he found himself on the Staff of the Senior Officer Technical Course in Portsmouth.  Gravener was finally placed on the Retired List at his own request with the rank of {{CommRN}} on 1 May, 1927.<ref>Gravener Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/50/334.|D7604746}} f. ?.</ref>

==World War II==
In 1938, Gravener was working with the Air Ministry in an Observer Group Officer for Group 5 (or 6?).  Later that year, his station was Deputy Air Commandant of the Midland Area.  It was decided that he was not to be called up for naval service as long as this employment continued.<ref>Gravener Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/50/334.|D7604746}} f. ?.</ref>

In 1940, however, Gravener asked for and was granted a naval appointment, effected 15 December, 1940.  Hoever, before the month ended, he was admitted to a nursing home with pneumonia.  He was found fit on 17 February, 1941.  On 10 March, he was appointed to ''Collingwood II'' for command of "G.T.C." Redbridge, Southampton.  On 9 June, 1942, he was sent to the shore establishment H.M.S. ''Shrapnel'', additional.  He worked there until he reverted to the Retired List on 4 September, 1945.<ref>Gravener Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/50/334.|D7604746}} f. ?.  I do not know what the acronym means.</ref>  

==See Also==
{{refbegin}}
* [http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_rv=simple&_q=ADM+Samuel+Maryon+Gorton+Gravener Service Records]
{{WP|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Maryon_Gorton_Gravener}}
{{refend}}

<div name=fredbot:appts>{{TabApptsBegin}}
{{TabNaval}}
{{TabApptsRow|Preceded by<br>'''[[Julian Tenison Tenison|Julian T. Tenison]]'''|'''[[H.M.S. A 6 (1904)|Captain of H.M.S. ''A 6'']]'''<br>8 Aug, 1910 &ndash; 16 Jan, 1911|Succeeded by<br>'''[[Donald Irvine McGillewie|Donald I. McGillewie]]'''}}
{{TabApptsRow|Preceded by<br>'''[[Clement Gordon Wakefield Head|Clement G. W. Head]]'''|'''[[H.M.S. C 10 (1907)|Captain of H.M.S. ''C 10'']]'''<br>16 Jan, 1911{{NLMar11|p. 286}} &ndash; 25 Jul, 1911|Succeeded by<br>'''[[Gordon Evelyn Elliott Gray|Gordon E. E. Gray]]'''}}
{{TabApptsRow|Preceded by<br>'''[[Claude Congreve Dobson|Claude C. Dobson]]'''|'''[[H.M.S. B 10 (1906)|Captain of H.M.S. ''B 10'']]'''<br>25 Jul, 1911 &ndash; 20 Jul, 1914|Succeeded by<br>'''[[Ronald Adair Trevor|Ronald A. Trevor]]'''}}
{{TabApptsRow|Preceded by<br>'''[[Ferdinand Eric Bertram Feilmann|Ferdinand E. B. Feilmann]]'''|'''[[H.M.S. E 7 (1913)|Captain of H.M.S. ''E 7'']]'''<br>25 Aug, 1915 &ndash; 27 Aug, 1915|Succeeded by<br>'''[[Archibald Douglas Cochrane|Archibald D. Cochrane]]'''}}
{{TabApptsRow|Preceded by<br>'''[[Wilfred Tomkinson|Wilfred Tomkinson]]'''|'''[[H.M.S. B 11 (1906)|Captain of H.M.S. ''B 11'']]'''<br>27 Aug, 1915<ref>Gravener Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/50/334.|D7604746}} f. ?.</ref> &ndash; 15 Jan, 1916<ref>Gravener Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/50/334.|D7604746}} f. ?.</ref>|Succeeded by<br>'''[[Kenneth Michell|Kenneth Michell]]'''}}
{{TabApptsRow|Preceded by<br>'''?'''|'''[[H.M.S. G 7 (1916)|Captain of H.M.S. ''G 7'']]'''<br>1 Apr, 1916 &ndash; 1 Jun, 1916|Succeeded by<br>'''[[Geoffrey Warburton|Geoffrey Warburton]]'''}}
{{TabApptsRow|Preceded by<br>'''[[David de Beauvoir Stocks|David de B. Stocks]]'''|'''[[H.M.S. E 2 (1912)|Captain of H.M.S. ''E 2'']]'''<br>1 Jun, 1916 &ndash; Sep, 1917|Succeeded by<br>'''?'''}}
{{TabApptsRow|Preceded by<br>'''[[Gilbert Hilton Kellett|Gilbert H. Kellett]]'''|'''[[H.M.S. K 7 (1916)|Captain of H.M.S. ''K 7'']]'''<br>14 Nov, 1917|Succeeded by<br>'''?'''}}
{{TabApptsRow|Preceded by<br>'''[[George Pirie Thomson|George P. Thomson]]'''|'''[[H.M.S. K 16 (1917)|Captain of H.M.S. ''K 16'']]'''<br>? &ndash; Oct, 1919|Succeeded by<br>'''[[Harry Percy Kendall Oram|Harry P. K. Oram]]'''}}
{{TabApptsRow|Preceded by<br>'''[[James Denham Douglas Stewart|James D. D. Stewart]]'''|'''[[H.M.S. Diligence (1907)|Captain of H.M.S. ''Diligence'']]'''<br>24 May, 1920<ref>Gravener Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/50/334.|D7604746}} f. ?.</ref>{{NLJan21|p. 760}} &ndash; 17 Aug, 1921<ref>Gravener Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/50/334.|D7604746}} f. ?.</ref>|Succeeded by<br>'''[[Frank Powell|Frank Powell]]'''}}
{{TabEnd}}
</div name=fredbot:appts>

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gravener, Samuel}}

{{CatPerson|UK|1886|}}
{{CatSubmariner|UK}}
{{CatComm|UK}}
{{CatBritannia|January, 1902}}
{{CatRN}}