Vice Admiral Reginald Maxwell Servaes (25 July 1893 – 18 November 1978) was Flag Officer commanding the

Reserve Fleet A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed; they are partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; a ...

Early life

Servaes was son of Julius Max(imus) Servaes (1863-1947) and Constance Violet, daughter of Joseph Coltart, a Liverpool shipowner. Julius Servaes, like his father, also Julius (died 1902), was a cotton merchant; the senior Julius had been a partner in the firm of J. H. Schroder & Co., involved in the Liverpool cotton trade, before establishing his own general agency and commission business and becoming prominent in the local community.

Life and career

Servaes joined the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

in 1906 and saw service in

World War I 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 ...

. He became commanding officer of the repair ship in 1937 and Director of Local Defence at the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

in 1938. He served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

as commanding officer of the

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

from 1940 and saw action with the

arctic convoys The Arctic convoys of World War II were oceangoing convoys which sailed from the United Kingdom, Iceland, and North America to northern ports in the Soviet Union – primarily Arkhangelsk (Archangel) and Murmansk in Russia. There were 78 convoys ...

before becoming

Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff The Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (A.C.N.S.) is a senior appointment in the Royal Navy usually a two-star rank and has a NATO ranking code of OF-7. History The Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff was originally directly responsible to the Fir ...

in 1943. After the War he became Rear Admiral commanding 2nd Cruiser Squadron in the

British Pacific Fleet The British Pacific Fleet (BPF) was a Royal Navy formation that saw action against Japan during the Second World War. The fleet was composed of empire naval vessels. The BPF formally came into being on 22 November 1944 from the remaining ships ...

in 1945 and Flag Officer commanding the

in 1947 before retiring in 1948.

Personal life

Servaes was married firstly, in 1919, to Hilda Edith Anna Johnson, and secondly, in 1959, to Marian Frances Mansel Glasbrook, widow of stockbroker Humphrey Vivian Bond. A notable descendant is the actor

Tom Hiddleston Thomas William Hiddleston (born 9 February 1981) is an English actor. He gained international fame portraying Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), starting with ''Thor'' in 2011 and most recently in the Disney+ series ''Loki'' in 2021 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Servaes, Reginald 1893 births 1978 deaths Companions of the Order of the Bath Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Royal Navy admirals of World War II