Difference between revisions of "Reginald Neville Custance"

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==Early Life & Career==
 
==Early Life & Career==
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Custance was born in Belfast on 20 September, 1847, the eldest son of General William Neville Custance, by his second wife, Mary, eldest daughter of Thomas Meggison, of Walton, Northumberland. He was educated in the ''Britannia'', and in 1863 was present, as a midshipman in the ''Euryalus'', at the naval action off Kagoshima and next year at that off Shimonoseki. After the ordinary promotions he was appointed in 1886 to the post of assistant-director of Naval Intelligence, which he held until he was appointed to command the cruiser ''Phaeton'' in 1890. He held this post for three years and in 1895 he was appointed captain of the battleship ''Barfleur'', having in the interval served as naval attaché in Washington and Paris. From 1899 to 1902 he was director of Naval Intelligence, in which position [[Maurice Pascal Alers Hankey, First Baron Hankey|a Marine officer]] considered that he was not "a very inspiring leader" because of "his somewhat suspicious nature."<ref>Roskill.  ''Hankey: Man of Secrets''.  '''I'''.  p. 61.</ref>  For his services in Crete, on 1 January, 1900 Custance was appointed a Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George (C.M.G.).<ref>''London Gazette'': [http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/27154/pages/285 no. 27154.  p. 285.]  16 January, 1900.</ref>  In 1902 he was appointed rear-admiral, Mediterranean Fleet (flag in the ''Venerable''), where he remained for two years. He was promoted vice-admiral in 1906 and from 1907 to 1908 he was second in command of the Channel Fleet (flag in the ''Hibernia''), being promoted admiral in 1908. Although Custance's rare mastery of professional topics and wide attainments were expected to lead to his preferment to the highest appointments in the navy, he proved to be totally out of sympathy with Admiralty policy in the early years of the twentieth century, and as he did not hesitate to express his views, he was retired in 1912, and his career ended after his service in the Channel Fleet.
+
Custance was born in Belfast on 20 September, 1847, the eldest son of General William Neville Custance, by his second wife, Mary, eldest daughter of Thomas Meggison, of Walton, Northumberland. He entered the [[Royal Navy]] in 1860, being appointed to {{UK-1Britannia}} at Portsmouth.
  
−
During the early part of Custance's career the navy was in the transition period between sail and steam, and naval designers were still seeking for a battleworthy type of ship in which speed, armament, armour protection, and seaworthiness were balanced to the greatest advantage. It was also a period when there was little prospect of war with another maritime power. So whilst much attention was given to harbour drills and equal-speed manœuvres few naval officers made any serious study of war. Custance was one of the few exceptions. A lifelong student of the theory and practice of sea-warfare, he called attention to the importance of studying war in Naval Policy; a Plea for the Study of War which was published in 1907 under the nom de plume "Barfleur". His main thesis, to which he returned in several subsequent publications, was that the naval mind had become divided into two schools—the historical and the matériel, and that a consequence of the matériel school being in power was that the principles governing warship design were entirely wrong.
+
In February, 1868, his service record indicates that Custance leapt overboard to save a man's life.  The Board recommended him for a [[Royal Humane Society]] medal and the First Lord promoted him outright for "high character & gallantry in saving life."<ref>Custance Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/86.}}  f. 102.</ref>  Custance's promotion to the rank of {{LieutRN}} was dated 6 February, 1868.{{Gaz|23350|599|7 February, 1868}}  A R.H.S. Silver Medal was sent to him in September.<ref>Custance Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/38.}}  f. 275.</ref>
  
−
Believing that "offence is the best defence", Custance deprecated sacrificing gun-armament for speed or armour protection, and advocated fleets of many ships of moderate tonnage, powerful armament, and slow speed in preference to a few very large, fast ships with relatively weak armament. With his wide knowledge of war and battle-tactics, he was a powerful advocate, and his first book and two subsequent pamphlets, The Fighting Power of the Capital Ship (1909) and Military Growth of the Capital Ship (1910), aroused much interest. But his was a voice crying in the wilderness. Once the Dreadnought was launched, there could be no turning back. All maritime powers followed the lead given by British designers and the process of increasing speed and armour in each new class, which filled Custance with misgiving in the pre-Dreadnought era, began again.
+
In September, 1868, Custance was appointed to the screw sloop [[H.M.S. Eclipse (1860)|''Eclipse'']].  In February, 1873, he was appointed to {{UK-Excellent}}. A Court of Enquiry was convened to probe the Lieutenant's objectionable conduct while in this appointment.  Whatever his activities, the Court's findings precipitated Their Lordships' displeasure upon Custance.<ref>Custance Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/86.}}  f. 102. The date of the Court is likely mis-stated here as November, 1872.</ref>
  
−
To later generations of naval officers Custance's trenchant criticism of the large armoured cruiser, which he aptly described as an excessively costly inferior class of battleship, seems to be better founded, and few will disagree that he was on solid ground when he emphasized the dangers of design being entirely in the hands of a matériel school and unrelated to battle tactics and the lessons of history. After retirement he wrote under his own name three books of value to the student of naval warfare; ''The Ship of the Line in Battle'' (1912), a study of tactics from Trafalgar to Tsushima; ''War at Sea, Modern Theory and Ancient Practice'' (1919), a study of the campaign of Salamis and the Peloponnesian war; and ''A Study of War'' (1924).
+
Custance left ''Excellent'' when he was promoted to the rank of {{CommRN}} with seniority of 31 March, 1878.{{Gaz|24569|2394|5 April, 1878}}  He proceeded to the Royal Naval College.
  
−
Although his courageous effort to influence the design of warships failed, Custance aroused the navy to the importance of studying war and to him the Naval Staff College and various war courses of to-day owe not a little. He was very reserved and social activities made little appeal to him. He demanded, and received, a high standard of service from officers and men who served under him. Although not a man who could gather round him a band of brothers, his high sense of duty and tireless energy maintained the ships and squadrons under his command at a high standard of efficiency.
+
On 23 November 1880, Custance re-commissioned and took command of the composite gun vessel [[H.M.S. Flamingo (1876)|H.M.S. ''Flamingo'']] at Bermuda.{{NLJul84|p. 212}}  On 21 October 1884, the ship received a "very unsatisfactory" report from Captain Carter, "particularly as to Marines &mdash; My Lords express regret at the state of ship."  ''Flamingo'' paid off on 8 November, but a second report followed to amplify that the Admiralty considered her state "not creditable to him as Comm<small><sup><u>r</u></sup></small> of ship."  On 12 December, Custance was appointed to a committee to revise the Gunnery Manual of 1880.<ref>Custance Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/38.}}  f. 275.</ref>
  
−
Custance was appointed C.M.G. in 1900, C.V.O. in 1903, K.C.M.G. in 1904, K.C.B. in 1908, and G.C.B. in 1913. The honorary degree of D.C.L. was conferred upon him by Oxford University in 1913. In 1868 he was awarded the silver medal of the Royal Humane Society.  He died at Broadclyst, Devon on 30 August, 1935 and was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium on 4 September.<ref>"Deaths" (Deaths).  ''The Times''.  Tuesday, 3 September, 1935. Issue '''47159''', col A, pg. 1.</ref>
+
He was promoted to the rank of {{CaptRN}} with seniority of 31 December, 1885.{{Gaz|25547|115|8 January, 1886}}
  
−
==Footnotes==
+
He served as the Naval Attaché at Washington in 1894, when he helped evaluate the [[Howell Torpedo]] at the Hotchkiss Company's works at Tiverton, Rhode Island.{{ARTS1894|p. 229}}
−
{{reflist}}
+
 
 +
Custance was appointed in command of the {{UK-Barfleur|f=t}} on 26 February, 1895.  On 20 June, the Admiralty thanked him for his "highly instructive & valuable report on naval defences of Canadian frontier."<ref>Custance Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/38.}}  f. 275.</ref>
 +
 
 +
He was appointed a [[Naval Aide-de-Camp]] to Queen Victoria on 16 September, 1897, vice [[Charles William de la Poer Beresford, First Baron Beresford|Beresford]].{{Gaz|26892|5162|17 September, 1897}}
 +
 
 +
As Director of Naval Intelligence, [[Maurice Pascal Alers Hankey, First Baron Hankey|a Marine officer]] considered that he was not "a very inspiring leader" because of "his somewhat suspicious nature."<ref>Roskill.  ''Hankey: Man of Secrets''.  '''I'''.  p. 61.</ref>
 +
 
 +
==Flag Rank==
 +
He was promoted to the rank of {{RearRN}} with seniority of 1 August, 1899.{{Gaz|27119|5814|22 September, 1899}}
 +
 
 +
For his services in Crete, on 1 January, 1900 Custance was appointed an Ordinary Member of the Third Class, or Companion, of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (C.M.G.).{{Gaz|27154|286|16 January, 1900}}
 +
 
 +
On the occasion of the King's visit to Malta Custance was appointed a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (C.V.O.) on 21 April, 1903.{{Gaz|27560|3525|2 June, 1903}}
 +
 
 +
Custance was promoted to the rank of {{ViceRN}} on 20 October, 1904, vice [[Hugo Lewis Pearson|Pearson]].{{Gaz|27726|6724|21 October, 1904}}  On the occasion of the King's birthday he was appointed an Ordinary Member of the Second Class, or Knight Commander, in the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (K.C.M.G.) on 9 November, 1904.{{GazSup|27732|7256|9 November, 1904}}
 +
 
 +
In late 1907 the [[First Lord of the Admiralty]], [[Edward Marjoribanks, Second Baron Tweedmouth|Lord Tweedmouth]], offered Custance the command of either the [[Plymouth Station|Plymouth]] (Devonport) or [[China Station|China Stations]].  He refused the former as being "of such little importance that I should not consider it my duty to accept it," and stated that:
 +
 
 +
<blockquote>Unless there is something exceptional in the condition of affairs in the Far East I should prefer not to go to China but to remain in my present post for the two years mentioned when I received the appointment.<ref>Letter of 29 October, 1907. Tweedmouth Papers. National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth. MSS 254/638.</ref></blockquote>
 +
 
 +
Upon Tweedmouth's departure from the Admiralty in 1908 Custance wrote to him, and rather than just sympathise launched into a tract on naval affairs which is reproduced below:
 +
 
 +
<blockquote>My opposition to the Admiralty has been professional and not political and I have always recognised and sympathised with the difficulties against what both your Lordship and Mr. Robertson had to contend.<br><br>Several of the points for which I have been contending have been already accepted, but I fear the evil effects of the policy initiated by the administration preceeding will not be eradicated for many years.<br><br>The ruinous financial effect of the shipbuilding policy initiated by the Dreadnought and Invincible will remain as also will the pernicious influence on the minds of the rising generation of, as I believe, wrong strategical and tactical conceptions.<br><br>You will be glad to view these questions from a distance in future I venture to think.<ref>Letter of 17 April, 1908.  MSS 254/876.</ref></blockquote>
 +
 
 +
On 18 May, 1908, he was promoted to the rank of {{AdmRN}}, vice [[Edmund Frederick Jeffreys|Jeffreys]].{{Gaz|28140|3883|26 May, 1908}}  On the occasion of the King's birthday he was appointed an Ordinary Member of the Second Class, or Knight Commander, of the Military Division of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (K.C.B.) on 26 June.{{GazSup|28151|4641|26 June, 1908}}
 +
 
 +
Despite his longstanding emnity towards Custance, [[John Arbuthnot Fisher, First Baron Fisher|Lord Fisher]] suggested offering him the Devonport command again in a letter to newly-appointed First Lord Winston Churchill in 1911, calling it a "d&mdash;ed good thing" for him.<ref>Letter of 10 November, 1911.  Churchill. Companion Volume II Part 2.  p. 1328.</ref>
 +
 
 +
In accordance with the provisions of the [[Order in Council of 22 February, 1870]], he was placed on the Retired List on 20 September, 1912.{{Gaz|28647|7022|24 September, 1912}}
 +
 
 +
On the occasion of the King's birthday he was appointed an Ordinary Member of the First Class, or Knight Grand Cross, in the Military Division of the Order of the Bath (G.C.B.) on 3 June, 1913.{{GazSup|28724|3903|3 June, 1913}}
 +
 
 +
He died at Broadclyst, Devon on 30 August, 1935 and was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium on 4 September.<ref>"Deaths" (Deaths).  ''The Times''.  Tuesday, 3 September, 1935.  Issue '''47159''', col A, p. 1.</ref>
 +
 
 +
His obituarist in ''The Times'' wrote of him:
 +
 
 +
<blockquote>Though modest and retiring in demeanour, he impressed all who knew him with a sense of power, capacity, and leadership, and he never failed to secure the affectionate regard and admiration of all who served with or under him.  He had always good reasons to give for the opinions he held so stoutly, which were obviously based on a rare mastery of the professional and other topics he discussed.</blockquote>
  
 
==Bibliography==
 
==Bibliography==
 
{{refbegin}}
 
{{refbegin}}
−
*"Admiral Sir R. Custance" (Obituaries).  ''The Times''.  Monday, 2 September, 1935.  Issue '''47158''', col B, pg. 12.
+
*"Admiral Sir R. Custance" (Obituaries).  ''The Times''.  Monday, 2 September, 1935.  Issue '''47158''', col B, p. 12.
 
*Allen, Matthew (February 1992).  "Rear Admiral Reginald Custance: Director of Naval Intelligence 1899-1902".  ''The Mariner's Mirror'' '''78''' (1): pp. 61-75.
 
*Allen, Matthew (February 1992).  "Rear Admiral Reginald Custance: Director of Naval Intelligence 1899-1902".  ''The Mariner's Mirror'' '''78''' (1): pp. 61-75.
 
*[[Stephen Wentworth Roskill|Roskill, Stephen]] (1970).  ''Hankey: Man of Secrets''.  '''Volume I 1877-1918'''.  London: Collins.  ISBN 0-00-211327-9.
 
*[[Stephen Wentworth Roskill|Roskill, Stephen]] (1970).  ''Hankey: Man of Secrets''.  '''Volume I 1877-1918'''.  London: Collins.  ISBN 0-00-211327-9.
Line 26: Line 62:
 
==Service Records==
 
==Service Records==
 
{{refbegin}}
 
{{refbegin}}
−
*The National Archives.  [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/details-result.asp?Edoc_Id=7894279&queryType=1&resultcount=3 ADM 196/38.]
+
*{{TNA|ADM 196/86.|D8115127}}
−
*The National Archives.  [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/details-result.asp?Edoc_Id=7913580&queryType=1&resultcount=3 ADM 196/36.]
+
*{{TNA|ADM 196/38.|D7578813}}
−
*The National Archives.  [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/details-result.asp?Edoc_Id=7904307&queryType=1&resultcount=3 ADM 196/17.]
+
*{{TNA|ADM 196/36.|D7598102}}
 +
*{{TNA|ADM 196/17.|D7588835}}
 
{{refend}}
 
{{refend}}
  
 +
<div name=fredbot:appts>{{TabApptsBegin}}
 +
{{TabNaval}}
 +
{{TabApptsRow|Preceded by<br>'''?'''|'''[[Naval Intelligence Department (Royal Navy)|Assistant Director of Naval Intelligence, Mobilisation Division]]'''<br>1 Feb, 1887<ref>Custance Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/38.}}  f. 275.</ref> &ndash; 9 Jan, 1890<ref>Custance Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/38.}}  f. 275.</ref>|Succeeded by<br>'''[[Tynte Ford Hammill|Tynte F. Hammill]]'''}}
 +
{{TabApptsRow|Preceded by<br>'''[[William Home Chisholme St. Clair|William H. C. St. Clair]]'''|'''[[H.M.S. Phaeton (1883)|Captain of H.M.S. ''Phaeton'']]'''<br>10 Jan, 1890{{NLMar91|p. 243}}<ref>Custance Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/17.|}} f. 51.</ref> &ndash; 25 Aug, 1893<ref>Custance Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/17.|}} f. 51.</ref>|Succeeded by<br>'''[[Charles James Norcock|Charles J. Norcock]]'''}}
 +
{{TabApptsRow|Preceded by<br>'''[[William Arthur|William Arthur]]'''|'''[[Naval Attaché (Royal Navy)|Royal Navy Naval Attaché at Washington, D.C.]]'''<br>1 Sep, 1893<ref>Custance Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/38.}}  f. 275.</ref> &ndash; 26 Feb, 1895<ref>Custance Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/38.}}  f. 275.</ref>|Succeeded by<br>'''[[Lewis Bayly|Lewis Bayly]]'''}}
 +
{{TabApptsRow|Preceded by<br>'''[[Hugo Lewis Pearson|Hugo L. Pearson]]'''|'''[[H.M.S. Barfleur (1892)|Captain of H.M.S. ''Barfleur'']]'''<br>26 Feb, 1895<ref>Custance Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/38.}}  f. 275.</ref> &ndash; 30 Sep, 1898<ref>Custance Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/17.}}  f. 51.</ref>|Succeeded by<br>'''[[Stanley Cecil James Colville|The Hon. Stanley C. J. Colville]]'''}}
 +
{{TabApptsRow|Preceded by<br>'''[[Frederic William Fisher|Frederic W. Fisher]]'''|'''[[H.M.S. Blenheim (1890)|Captain of H.M.S. ''Blenheim'']]'''<br>1 Oct, 1898<ref>Custance Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/17.}}  f. 51.</ref> &ndash; 25 Nov, 1898<ref>Custance Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/17.}}  f. 51.</ref>|Succeeded by<br>'''[[Peyton Hoskyns|Peyton Hoskyns]]'''}}
 +
{{TabApptsRow|Preceded by<br>'''[[Lewis Anthony Beaumont|Lewis A. Beaumont]]'''|'''[[Naval Intelligence Department (Royal Navy)|Director of Naval Intelligence]]'''<br>20 Mar, 1899<ref>Custance Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/38.}}  f. 275.</ref> &ndash; 14 Nov, 1902<ref>Custance Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/17.}}  f. 535.</ref>|Succeeded by<br>'''[[Louis Alexander Mountbatten, First Marquess of Milford Haven|H.S.H. Prince Louis of Battenberg]]'''}}
 +
{{TabApptsRow|Preceded by<br>'''[[Burges Watson|Burges Watson]]'''|'''[[Mediterranean Station|Second-in-Command, Mediterranean Station]]'''<br>15 Nov, 1902{{NLFeb03|p. 216}} &ndash; 15 Nov, 1904<ref>Custance Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/17.}}  f. 535.</ref>|Succeeded by<br>'''[[Harry Tremenheere Grenfell|Sir Harry T. Grenfell]]'''}}
 +
{{TabApptsRow|Preceded by<br>'''[[Assheton Gore Curzon-Howe|The Hon. Sir Assheton G. Curzon-Howe]]'''|'''[[Channel Fleet (Royal Navy)|Second-in-Command, Channel Fleet]]'''<br>23 Feb, 1907<ref>Custance Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/38.}}  f. 275.</ref> &ndash; 12 Jun, 1908<ref>Custance Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/17.}}  f. 535.</ref>|Succeeded by<br>'''[[Archibald Berkeley Milne, Second Baronet|Sir A. Berkeley Milne, Bart.]]'''}}
 +
{{TabEnd}}
 +
</div name=fredbot:appts>
 +
 +
==Footnotes==
 +
{{reflist}}
  
−
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" align="center"
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Custance, Reginald}}
−
|-
 
−
| colspan="3" align="center" style="background:#CEDFF2" | '''Naval Offices'''
 
−
|-
 
−
| width="220" style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;"  align="center"| Preceded by<br>'''[[Lewis Anthony Beaumont|Lewis A. Beaumont]]'''
 
−
| width="220" style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;"  align="center"| '''[[Director of Naval Intelligence (Royal Navy)|Director of Naval Intelligence]]'''<br>1899 &ndash; 1902
 
−
| width="220" style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;"  align="center"| Succeeded by<br>'''[[Louis Alexander Mountbatten, First Marquess of Milford Haven|H.S.H. Prince Louis of Battenberg]]'''
 
−
|-
 
−
| width="220" style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;"  align="center"| Preceded by<br>'''[[Assheton Gore Curzon-Howe|The Hon. Sir Assheton G. Curzon-Howe]]'''
 
−
| width="220" style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;"  align="center"| '''[[Channel Fleet (Royal Navy)|Second-in-Command, Channel Fleet]]'''<br>1907 &ndash; 1908
 
−
| width="220" style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;"  align="center"| Succeeded by<br>'''[[Archibald Berkeley Milne, Second Baronet|Sir A. Berkeley Milne, Bart.]]'''
 
−
|-
 
−
|}
 
  
−
[[Category:1847 births|Custance]]
+
{{CatPerson|UK|1847|1935}}
−
[[Category:1935 deaths|Custance]]
+
{{CatBritannia|September, 1860}}
−
[[Category:Personalities|Custance]]
+
{{CatAdm|UK}}
−
[[Category:Royal Navy Naval Attachés|Custance]]
+
{{CatRN}}
−
[[Category:Directors of Naval Intelligence (Royal Navy)|Custance]]
 
−
[[Category:Seconds-in-Command, Mediterranean Station|Custance]]
 
−
[[Category:Seconds-in-Command, Channel Fleet (Royal Navy)|Custance]]
 
−
[[Category:Royal Navy Admirals|Custance]]
 
−
[[Category:Royal Navy Flag Officers|Royal Navy Flag Officers]]
 

Latest revision as of 22:38, 6 April 2022

Admiral SIR Reginald Neville Custance, G.C.B., K.C.M.G., C.V.O., D.C.L. (OXON), Royal Navy (20 September, 1847 – 30 August, 1935) was an officer of the Royal Navy.

Early Life & Career

Custance was born in Belfast on 20 September, 1847, the eldest son of General William Neville Custance, by his second wife, Mary, eldest daughter of Thomas Meggison, of Walton, Northumberland. He entered the Royal Navy in 1860, being appointed to Britannia at Portsmouth.

In February, 1868, his service record indicates that Custance leapt overboard to save a man's life. The Board recommended him for a Royal Humane Society medal and the First Lord promoted him outright for "high character & gallantry in saving life."[1] Custance's promotion to the rank of Lieutenant was dated 6 February, 1868.[2] A R.H.S. Silver Medal was sent to him in September.[3]

In September, 1868, Custance was appointed to the screw sloop Eclipse. In February, 1873, he was appointed to Excellent. A Court of Enquiry was convened to probe the Lieutenant's objectionable conduct while in this appointment. Whatever his activities, the Court's findings precipitated Their Lordships' displeasure upon Custance.[4]

Custance left Excellent when he was promoted to the rank of Commander with seniority of 31 March, 1878.[5] He proceeded to the Royal Naval College.

On 23 November 1880, Custance re-commissioned and took command of the composite gun vessel H.M.S. Flamingo at Bermuda.[6] On 21 October 1884, the ship received a "very unsatisfactory" report from Captain Carter, "particularly as to Marines — My Lords express regret at the state of ship." Flamingo paid off on 8 November, but a second report followed to amplify that the Admiralty considered her state "not creditable to him as Commr of ship." On 12 December, Custance was appointed to a committee to revise the Gunnery Manual of 1880.[7]

He was promoted to the rank of Captain with seniority of 31 December, 1885.[8]

He served as the Naval Attaché at Washington in 1894, when he helped evaluate the Howell Torpedo at the Hotchkiss Company's works at Tiverton, Rhode Island.[9]

Custance was appointed in command of the second class battleship Barfleur on 26 February, 1895. On 20 June, the Admiralty thanked him for his "highly instructive & valuable report on naval defences of Canadian frontier."[10]

He was appointed a Naval Aide-de-Camp to Queen Victoria on 16 September, 1897, vice Beresford.[11]

As Director of Naval Intelligence, a Marine officer considered that he was not "a very inspiring leader" because of "his somewhat suspicious nature."[12]

Flag Rank

He was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral with seniority of 1 August, 1899.[13]

For his services in Crete, on 1 January, 1900 Custance was appointed an Ordinary Member of the Third Class, or Companion, of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (C.M.G.).[14]

On the occasion of the King's visit to Malta Custance was appointed a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (C.V.O.) on 21 April, 1903.[15]

Custance was promoted to the rank of Vice-Admiral on 20 October, 1904, vice Pearson.[16] On the occasion of the King's birthday he was appointed an Ordinary Member of the Second Class, or Knight Commander, in the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (K.C.M.G.) on 9 November, 1904.[17]

In late 1907 the First Lord of the Admiralty, Lord Tweedmouth, offered Custance the command of either the Plymouth (Devonport) or China Stations. He refused the former as being "of such little importance that I should not consider it my duty to accept it," and stated that:

Unless there is something exceptional in the condition of affairs in the Far East I should prefer not to go to China but to remain in my present post for the two years mentioned when I received the appointment.[18]

Upon Tweedmouth's departure from the Admiralty in 1908 Custance wrote to him, and rather than just sympathise launched into a tract on naval affairs which is reproduced below:

My opposition to the Admiralty has been professional and not political and I have always recognised and sympathised with the difficulties against what both your Lordship and Mr. Robertson had to contend.

Several of the points for which I have been contending have been already accepted, but I fear the evil effects of the policy initiated by the administration preceeding will not be eradicated for many years.

The ruinous financial effect of the shipbuilding policy initiated by the Dreadnought and Invincible will remain as also will the pernicious influence on the minds of the rising generation of, as I believe, wrong strategical and tactical conceptions.

You will be glad to view these questions from a distance in future I venture to think.[19]

On 18 May, 1908, he was promoted to the rank of Admiral, vice Jeffreys.[20] On the occasion of the King's birthday he was appointed an Ordinary Member of the Second Class, or Knight Commander, of the Military Division of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (K.C.B.) on 26 June.[21]

Despite his longstanding emnity towards Custance, Lord Fisher suggested offering him the Devonport command again in a letter to newly-appointed First Lord Winston Churchill in 1911, calling it a "d—ed good thing" for him.[22]

In accordance with the provisions of the Order in Council of 22 February, 1870, he was placed on the Retired List on 20 September, 1912.[23]

On the occasion of the King's birthday he was appointed an Ordinary Member of the First Class, or Knight Grand Cross, in the Military Division of the Order of the Bath (G.C.B.) on 3 June, 1913.[24]

He died at Broadclyst, Devon on 30 August, 1935 and was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium on 4 September.[25]

His obituarist in The Times wrote of him:

Though modest and retiring in demeanour, he impressed all who knew him with a sense of power, capacity, and leadership, and he never failed to secure the affectionate regard and admiration of all who served with or under him. He had always good reasons to give for the opinions he held so stoutly, which were obviously based on a rare mastery of the professional and other topics he discussed.

Bibliography

  • "Admiral Sir R. Custance" (Obituaries). The Times. Monday, 2 September, 1935. Issue 47158, col B, p. 12.
  • Allen, Matthew (February 1992). "Rear Admiral Reginald Custance: Director of Naval Intelligence 1899-1902". The Mariner's Mirror 78 (1): pp. 61-75.
  • Roskill, Stephen (1970). Hankey: Man of Secrets. Volume I 1877-1918. London: Collins. ISBN 0-00-211327-9.

Service Records

Naval Appointments
Preceded by
? 		Assistant Director of Naval Intelligence, Mobilisation Division
1 Feb, 1887[26] – 9 Jan, 1890[27] 		Succeeded by
Tynte F. Hammill
Preceded by
William H. C. St. Clair 		Captain of H.M.S. Phaeton
10 Jan, 1890[28][29] – 25 Aug, 1893[30] 		Succeeded by
Charles J. Norcock
Preceded by
William Arthur 		Royal Navy Naval Attaché at Washington, D.C.
1 Sep, 1893[31] – 26 Feb, 1895[32] 		Succeeded by
Lewis Bayly
Preceded by
Hugo L. Pearson 		Captain of H.M.S. Barfleur
26 Feb, 1895[33] – 30 Sep, 1898[34] 		Succeeded by
The Hon. Stanley C. J. Colville
Preceded by
Frederic W. Fisher 		Captain of H.M.S. Blenheim
1 Oct, 1898[35] – 25 Nov, 1898[36] 		Succeeded by
Peyton Hoskyns
Preceded by
Lewis A. Beaumont 		Director of Naval Intelligence
20 Mar, 1899[37] – 14 Nov, 1902[38] 		Succeeded by
H.S.H. Prince Louis of Battenberg
Preceded by
Burges Watson 		Second-in-Command, Mediterranean Station
15 Nov, 1902[39] – 15 Nov, 1904[40] 		Succeeded by
Sir Harry T. Grenfell
Preceded by
The Hon. Sir Assheton G. Curzon-Howe 		Second-in-Command, Channel Fleet
23 Feb, 1907[41] – 12 Jun, 1908[42] 		Succeeded by
Sir A. Berkeley Milne, Bart.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Custance Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/86. f. 102.
  2. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 23350. p. 599. 7 February, 1868.
  3. ↑ Custance Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/38. f. 275.
  4. ↑ Custance Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/86. f. 102. The date of the Court is likely mis-stated here as November, 1872.
  5. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 24569. p. 2394. 5 April, 1878.
  6. ↑ The Navy List. (July, 1884). p. 212.
  7. ↑ Custance Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/38. f. 275.
  8. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 25547. p. 115. 8 January, 1886.
  9. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1894. p. 229.
  10. ↑ Custance Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/38. f. 275.
  11. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 26892. p. 5162. 17 September, 1897.
  12. ↑ Roskill. Hankey: Man of Secrets. I. p. 61.
  13. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27119. p. 5814. 22 September, 1899.
  14. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27154. p. 286. 16 January, 1900.
  15. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27560. p. 3525. 2 June, 1903.
  16. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27726. p. 6724. 21 October, 1904.
  17. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 27732. p. 7256. 9 November, 1904.
  18. ↑ Letter of 29 October, 1907. Tweedmouth Papers. National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth. MSS 254/638.
  19. ↑ Letter of 17 April, 1908. MSS 254/876.
  20. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 28140. p. 3883. 26 May, 1908.
  21. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 28151. p. 4641. 26 June, 1908.
  22. ↑ Letter of 10 November, 1911. Churchill. Companion Volume II Part 2. p. 1328.
  23. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 28647. p. 7022. 24 September, 1912.
  24. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 28724. p. 3903. 3 June, 1913.
  25. ↑ "Deaths" (Deaths). The Times. Tuesday, 3 September, 1935. Issue 47159, col A, p. 1.
  26. ↑ Custance Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/38. f. 275.
  27. ↑ Custance Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/38. f. 275.
  28. ↑ The Navy List. (April, 1891). p. 243.
  29. ↑ Custance Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/17. f. 51.
  30. ↑ Custance Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/17. f. 51.
  31. ↑ Custance Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/38. f. 275.
  32. ↑ Custance Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/38. f. 275.
  33. ↑ Custance Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/38. f. 275.
  34. ↑ Custance Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/17. f. 51.
  35. ↑ Custance Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/17. f. 51.
  36. ↑ Custance Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/17. f. 51.
  37. ↑ Custance Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/38. f. 275.
  38. ↑ Custance Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/17. f. 535.
  39. ↑ The Navy List. (February, 1903). p. 216.
  40. ↑ Custance Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/17. f. 535.
  41. ↑ Custance Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/38. f. 275.
  42. ↑ Custance Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/17. f. 535.

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