Thomas Ian Scott Bell

Captain (retired) Thomas Ian Scott Bell, D.S.C. (11 March, 1896 – c. 1956) served in the Royal Navy.

His two most complete Service Records disagree on a lot of command information. In 1948, he indicated that his last name was "Scott Bell", without a hyphen.

Life & Career

Bell's father was a lawyer. He passed out of the training establishment on 15 September, 1910 and was appointed to the battleship Africa the same day. He would remain in her until 1 December, 1915.

Bell volunteered for Submarine Service on 13 August, 1915 but continued to serve in Africa until 1 December, 1915 when he was appointed to the sweeping sloop Poppy. On 15 October, 1916 Bell was appointed to Dolphin for a submarine course and on 11 December, 1916 was appointed to the C 23.

On 19 June, 1917 he transferred to the E 46 and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 15 July, 1917.

On 8 May 1919, Bell was sent to the Periscope School. On 1 August, he emerged and was appointed in command of the "R" Class submarine R 3.

In summer 1920, he travelled to Cologne, Germany. At the same time, he was in charge of nine "E" class submarineds in Group "J" submarines in Reserve at Portsmouth. This oversight ended on 30 September.

Bell was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Commander on 15 July, 1925.

Bell reverted to General Service from submarines on 21 January, 1932. Despite this, Bell was appointed in command of H.M.S. Hornet, the former C.M.B. 102, on 9 January, 1933, and for duty with submarines. He left when he was appointed to Effingham for the duration of a cruise on 14 June, 1934.

World War II

On 24 August, 1940 Bell was appointed in command of the Q-ship H.M.S. Beauly, vice Ashton. On 18 October, 1940 he was gazetted a D.S.C. for good service under attack by enemy aircraft.

Bell was placed on the Retired List on account of age with the rank of Commander on 11 March, 1941.

Bell was appointed in command of the leased infantry landing ship H.M.S. Rocksand on 6 November, 1944 and he was mentioned in despatches on 14 November for his work in the Normandy landings.

Bell was promoted to the rank of Captain on 15 July, 1946.

On 24 August, 1956, he was admitted to Haslar Hospital with cerebral thrombosis. He was discharged to his own home on the 28th of August.

See Also

• Service Records

Bibliography

Naval Appointments
Preceded by ?	Captain of H.M.S. R 3 1 Aug, 1919 – 12 Nov, 1919	Succeeded by Vivian R. S. Bowlby
Preceded by Henry B. Crane	Captain of H.M.S. E 51 May, 1920 – 30 Sep, 1920	Succeeded by Charles E. A. W. Cox
Preceded by Christopher McC. Merewether	Captain of H.M.S. E 55 May, 1920 – 30 Sep, 1920	Succeeded by Charles E. A. W. Cox
Preceded by Lawrence H. Bayley	Captain of H.M.S. E 53 May, 1920 – 30 Sep, 1920	Succeeded by Charles E. A. W. Cox
Preceded by Charles H. Allen	Captain of H.M.S. E 42 May, 1920 – 30 Sep, 1920	Succeeded by Charles E. A. W. Cox
Preceded by George A. C. Sharp	Captain of H.M.S. E 54 May, 1920 – 30 Sep, 1920	Succeeded by ?
Preceded by Oliver North	Captain of H.M.S. E 44 May, 1920 – 30 Sep, 1920	Succeeded by Charles E. A. W. Cox
Preceded by Kenneth M. Fardell	Captain of H.M.S. E 48 May, 1920 – 30 Sep, 1920	Succeeded by Charles E. A. W. Cox
Preceded by Ronald W. Blacklock	Captain of H.M.S. E 45 May, 1920 – 30 Sep, 1920	Succeeded by Charles E. A. W. Cox
Preceded by Leslie H. Ashmore	Captain of H.M.S. E 46 May, 1920 – 30 Sep, 1920	Succeeded by Charles E. A. W. Cox
Preceded by Arthur S. Lindsell	Captain of H.M.S. H 27 1 Oct, 1920 – 29 Oct, 1920	Succeeded by Patrick S. J. Ponsonby
Preceded by Christopher P. Satow	Captain of H.M.S. L 2 1 Jun, 1921 – 1 Apr, 1922	Succeeded by Edward M. C. Barraclough
Preceded by Edward M. Loly	Captain of H.M.S. L 25 21 May, 1928 – 15 Nov, 1929	Succeeded by Lionel H. Phillips
Preceded by Lionel H. Phillips	Captain of H.M.S. L 53 23 Feb, 1930 – 31 Mar, 1930	Succeeded by Lionel H. Phillips
Preceded by George C. P. Menzies	Captain of H.M.S. L 69 1 Apr, 1930 – 9 Jun, 1931	Succeeded by John H. Thomas
Preceded by John B. Mitford	Captain of H.M.S. L 21 9 Jun, 1931 – 31 Dec, 1931	Succeeded by Cowley Thomas
Preceded by Noel A. Beal	Captain of H.M.S. Durban 1 Feb, 1937 – mid 1937	Succeeded by Wilfrid R. Patterson
Preceded by Bernard A. W. Warburton-Lee	Captain of H.M.S. Hawkins 24 Jun, 1938 – 29 Sep, 1938	Succeeded by Wilfred A. Whitaker
Preceded by The Hon. John B. Bruce	Captain of H.M.S. Foxglove 31 Jul, 1939 – 22 Aug, 1940	Succeeded by ?