Commander Ernest Claude Shankland

RNR The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Ro ...

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(c.1880 – 1951) was a 19th-century Scottish naval officer and harbour expert.

Life

He was born in Montrose on the north-east Scottish coast. His early life is unclear but it is presumed his father was "Ernest M. Shankland" running the Granton Hotel next to

Granton Harbour Granton is a district in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland. Granton forms part of Edinburgh's waterfront along the Firth of Forth and is, historically, an industrial area having a large harbour. Granton is part of Edinburgh's large scale waterf ...

in Edinburgh from 1890 and the father died around 1895, the hotel thereafter run by "Mrs Shankland". He was educated at

George Watson's College George Watson's College is a co-educational Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a Scottish education in the eight ...

then studied Navigation at

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

Nautical College. He obtained a post with the

Clan Line The Clan Line was a passenger and cargo shipping company that operated in one incarnation or another from the late nineteenth century and into the twentieth century. History Foundation and early years The company that would become the Clan Lin ...

. In 1910 he joined the

Royal Navy Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Ro ...

and stayed in their service until the end of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. From 1922 to 1943 he held the critical post of River Superintendent and Chief Harbour Master of the

Port of London Authority The Port of London Authority (PLA) is a self-funding public trust established on 31 March 1909 in accordance with the Port of London Act 1908 to govern the Port of London. Its responsibility extends over the Tideway of the River Thames and its ...

. In 1930 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposers were

Arthur Crichton Mitchell Alexander Crichton Mitchell FRSE (1 July 1864 – 15 April 1952), named in some sources as Arthur Crichton Mitchell, was a Scottish physicist with a special interest in geomagnetics who worked for many years in India as a professor and head of a ...

Brysson Cunningham Dr Brysson Cunningham FRSE DSc MICE (1868-1950) was a Scottish civil engineer and author specialising in harbour and dock design and operation. In the early 20th century he was generally viewed as the authority in this field. Life Brysson Cun ...

, Sir

James Alfred Ewing Sir James Alfred Ewing MInstitCE (27 March 1855 − 7 January 1935) was a Scottish physicist and engineer, best known for his work on the magnetic properties of metals and, in particular, for his discovery of, and coinage of the word, '' h ...

and

David Alan Stevenson David Alan Stevenson (21 July 1854 in Edinburgh – 11 April 1938) was a lighthouse engineer who built 26 lighthouses in and around Scotland. Life He was born on 21 July 1854 the son of David Stevenson and his wife, Elizabeth Mackay. His ...

. He resigned in 1940. He died on 16 December 1951 in

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

on the southern English coast.

Publications

*''Notes in the Fluctuation of Mean Sea Levels'' (1923) *''Modern Harbours'' (1926) *''Modern Harbour Conservancy and Operations'' (1926) *''Navigation from the Viking Period to the Present Day'' (1931) *''Dredging of Harbours and Rivers'' (1931) *''Marconi's Wireless Pilot'' (1934) *''How Ships Find Their Way'': chapter 8 of ''Britain's Merchant Navy'' (1943)

References

1951 deaths People from Montrose, Angus Royal Navy officers Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh {{UK-navy-bio-stub