Mark Singleton
Lieutenant-Commander Mark Singleton, D.S.O., R.N. (24 June, 1887 – 21 December, 1952) was an officer in the Royal Navy.
Life & Career
Born in Somerset, the son of Reverend J. Singleton.
Singleton was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 31 December, 1909.
On June 3, 1915, Singleton commanded gunboat Shaitan and effected the retreat of 2,000 Turks from Amara and the capture of a further 250 by expending a mere three shells and "a display of cool audacity which even the Royal Navy would find hard to equal." This performance would earn Singleton his D.S.O..{{#if:p. 21|<ref>Naval Operations. Volume III. p. 21.</ref>|Corbett, Sir Julian S. (1923). Naval Operations. Volume III. London: The Imperial War Museum..}}
Singleton was appointed in command of the gunboat Shaitan on 9 December, 1914 and would operate her near Kut.{{#if:pp. 190, 194|<ref>Naval Operations. Volume III. pp. 190, 194.</ref>|Corbett, Sir Julian S. (1923). Naval Operations. Volume III. London: The Imperial War Museum..}} On 29 December, 1915, he left Shaitan for a command appointment in the {{safesubst:{{safesubst:#ifeq:|eq|p1|p2}}|{{safesubst:{{safesubst:#ifeq:{{#pos:t|c}}|Fly Class gunboat |p1|p2}}||}}|{{safesubst:{{safesubst:#switch:{{safesubst:#if:{{#pos:t|c}}|p1|p2}}|p1=p1|p2={{safesubst:#ifeq:|error|{{safesubst:#ifeq:||p2|p3}}|p2}}|if/errmsg}}|Fly Class gunboat ||{{#pos:t|c}}|}}}}{{safesubst:{{safesubst:#ifeq:|eq|p1|p2}}|{{safesubst:{{safesubst:#ifeq:{{#pos:t|t}}|gunboat |p1|p2}}||}}|{{safesubst:{{safesubst:#switch:{{safesubst:#if:{{#pos:t|t}}|p1|p2}}|p1=p1|p2={{safesubst:#ifeq:|error|{{safesubst:#ifeq:||p2|p3}}|p2}}|if/errmsg}}|gunboat ||{{#pos:t|t}}|}}}}[[{{#if:H.M.S.|H.M.S. Greenfly (1915)|Greenfly (1915)}}|{{safesubst:{{safesubst:#ifeq:|eq|p1|p2}}|{{safesubst:{{safesubst:#ifeq:{{#pos:t|p}}|H.M.S. |p1|p2}}||}}|{{safesubst:{{safesubst:#switch:{{safesubst:#if:{{#pos:t|p}}|p1|p2}}|p1=p1|p2={{safesubst:#ifeq:|error|{{safesubst:#ifeq:||p2|p3}}|p2}}|if/errmsg}}|H.M.S. ||{{#pos:t|p}}|}}}}Greenfly]].
Singleton was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Commander on 31 December, 1917.
Singleton was appointed in command of the {{safesubst:{{safesubst:#ifeq:|eq|p1|p2}}|{{safesubst:{{safesubst:#ifeq:{{#pos:t|c}}|"M" Class destroyer |p1|p2}}||}}|{{safesubst:{{safesubst:#switch:{{safesubst:#if:{{#pos:t|c}}|p1|p2}}|p1=p1|p2={{safesubst:#ifeq:|error|{{safesubst:#ifeq:||p2|p3}}|p2}}|if/errmsg}}|"M" Class destroyer ||{{#pos:t|c}}|}}}}{{safesubst:{{safesubst:#ifeq:|eq|p1|p2}}|{{safesubst:{{safesubst:#ifeq:{{#pos:t|t}}|destroyer |p1|p2}}||}}|{{safesubst:{{safesubst:#switch:{{safesubst:#if:{{#pos:t|t}}|p1|p2}}|p1=p1|p2={{safesubst:#ifeq:|error|{{safesubst:#ifeq:||p2|p3}}|p2}}|if/errmsg}}|destroyer ||{{#pos:t|t}}|}}}}[[{{#if:H.M.S.|H.M.S. Patrician (1916)|Patrician (1916)}}|{{safesubst:{{safesubst:#ifeq:|eq|p1|p2}}|{{safesubst:{{safesubst:#ifeq:{{#pos:t|p}}|H.M.S. |p1|p2}}||}}|{{safesubst:{{safesubst:#switch:{{safesubst:#if:{{#pos:t|p}}|p1|p2}}|p1=p1|p2={{safesubst:#ifeq:|error|{{safesubst:#ifeq:||p2|p3}}|p2}}|if/errmsg}}|H.M.S. ||{{#pos:t|p}}|}}}}Patrician]] on 29 March, 1918.{{#if:p. 862|<ref>The Navy List. (February, 1919). p. 862.</ref>|Admiralty. The Navy List. (February, 1919). Copy on Archive.org.}}
He was appointed in command of the {{safesubst:{{safesubst:#ifeq:|eq|p1|p2}}|{{safesubst:{{safesubst:#ifeq:{{#pos:t|c}}|"S" Class destroyer |p1|p2}}||}}|{{safesubst:{{safesubst:#switch:{{safesubst:#if:{{#pos:t|c}}|p1|p2}}|p1=p1|p2={{safesubst:#ifeq:|error|{{safesubst:#ifeq:||p2|p3}}|p2}}|if/errmsg}}|"S" Class destroyer ||{{#pos:t|c}}|}}}}{{safesubst:{{safesubst:#ifeq:|eq|p1|p2}}|{{safesubst:{{safesubst:#ifeq:{{#pos:t|t}}|destroyer |p1|p2}}||}}|{{safesubst:{{safesubst:#switch:{{safesubst:#if:{{#pos:t|t}}|p1|p2}}|p1=p1|p2={{safesubst:#ifeq:|error|{{safesubst:#ifeq:||p2|p3}}|p2}}|if/errmsg}}|destroyer ||{{#pos:t|t}}|}}}}[[{{#if:H.M.S.|H.M.S. Splendid (1918)|Splendid (1918)}}|{{safesubst:{{safesubst:#ifeq:|eq|p1|p2}}|{{safesubst:{{safesubst:#ifeq:{{#pos:t|p}}|H.M.S. |p1|p2}}||}}|{{safesubst:{{safesubst:#switch:{{safesubst:#if:{{#pos:t|p}}|p1|p2}}|p1=p1|p2={{safesubst:#ifeq:|error|{{safesubst:#ifeq:||p2|p3}}|p2}}|if/errmsg}}|H.M.S. ||{{#pos:t|p}}|}}}}Splendid]] on 8 May, 1920.{{#if:p. 866|<ref>The Navy List. (December, 1920). p. 866.</ref>|Admiralty. The Navy List. (December, 1920). Copy on Archive.org.}} Though he'd been superseded in command on 18 March, 1922, on 7 April Singleton was Court Martialed for drinking intoxicating liquors to such excess as to produce illness and was sentenced to be dismissed his ship and be severely reprimanded.
Singleton was placed on the Retired List as medically unfit owing to defective vision on 21 December, 1923. In 1939, he reported that he was nearly blind since 1921.
See Also
| Naval Appointments | ||
| Preceded by ? |
Captain of H.M.S. Greenfly 29 Dec, 1915 – 4 Mar, 1916 |
Succeeded by Arthur G. Seymour |
| Preceded by ? |
Captain of H.M.S. Stonefly 26 Feb, 1916{{#if:p. 398a|<ref>The Navy List. (November, 1917). p. 398a.</ref>|Admiralty. The Navy List. (November, 1917). Corrected to 18 October, 1917.}} – 28 Jan, 1918 |
Succeeded by ? |
| Preceded by Francis G. Glossop |
Captain of H.M.S. Patrician 29 Mar, 1918{{#if:p. 862|<ref>The Navy List. (February, 1919). p. 862.</ref>|Admiralty. The Navy List. (February, 1919). Copy on Archive.org.}} – 1 Oct, 1919 |
Succeeded by George C. Jones as Captain of H.M.C.S. Patrician |
| Preceded by William G. A. Shuttleworth |
Captain of H.M.S. Skilful 1 Oct, 1919{{#if:p. 908|<ref>The Navy List. (March, 1920). p. 908.</ref>|Admiralty. The Navy List. (March, 1920). Corrected to 18 February, 1920. Copy on Archive.org.}} – 2 Mar, 1920 |
Succeeded by Cuthbert H. Heath-Caldwell |
| Preceded by Henry D. C. Stanistreet |
Captain of H.M.S. Splendid 8 May, 1920{{#if:p. 866|<ref>The Navy List. (December, 1920). p. 866.</ref>|Admiralty. The Navy List. (December, 1920). Copy on Archive.org.}} – 18 Mar, 1922 |
Succeeded by Eric P. Vivian |
Footnotes
<references/> {{safesubst:{{safesubst:#ifeq:|eq|p1|p2}}|{{safesubst:{{safesubst:#ifeq:1887||p1|p2}}||}}|{{safesubst:{{safesubst:#switch:{{safesubst:#if:1887|p1|p2}}|p1=p1|p2={{safesubst:#ifeq:|error|{{safesubst:#ifeq:+|-|p2|p3}}|p2}}|if/errmsg}}|||1887|}}}} {{safesubst:{{safesubst:#ifeq:|eq|p1|p2}}|{{safesubst:{{safesubst:#ifeq:1952||p1|p2}}||}}|{{safesubst:{{safesubst:#switch:{{safesubst:#if:1952|p1|p2}}|p1=p1|p2={{safesubst:#ifeq:|error|{{safesubst:#ifeq:+|-|p2|p3}}|p2}}|if/errmsg}}|||1952|}}}} {{safesubst:{{safesubst:#ifeq:|eq|p1|p2}}|{{safesubst:{{safesubst:#ifeq:|[[Category:H.M.S. Britannia (Training Ship) Entrants of {{{2}}}]]|p1|p2}}||}}|{{safesubst:{{safesubst:#switch:{{safesubst:#if:|p1|p2}}|p1=p1|p2={{safesubst:#ifeq:|error|{{safesubst:#ifeq:+|-|p2|p3}}|p2}}|if/errmsg}}|[[Category:H.M.S. Britannia (Training Ship) Entrants of {{{2}}}]]|||}}}}
