Sir Reginald William Skelton (3 June 1872 – 5 September 1956) was a British vice-admiral and engineer who served as chief engineer and official photographer of the 1901-1904
Discovery Expedition
The ''Discovery'' Expedition of 1901–1904, known officially as the British National Antarctic Expedition, was the first official British exploration of the Antarctic regions since the voyage of James Clark Ross sixty years earlier (1839–184 ...
to Antarctica.
Early life
Skelton was born at
Long Sutton, Lincolnshire
Long Sutton is a market town in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies in The Fens, close to the Wash, east of Spalding.
History
Long Sutton belonged historically to the wapentake of Elloe in the Parts of Holland.
A fl ...
, and educated at
Bromsgrove School
Bromsgrove School is a co-educational independent day and boarding school in the Worcestershire town of Bromsgrove, England. Founded in 1553, it is one of the oldest public schools in Britain, and one of the 14 founding members of the Headmaste ...
,
Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...
. He 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 1887 and until 1892 studied at the
Royal Naval Engineering College
The Royal Naval Engineering College was a specialist establishment for the training of Royal Navy engineers. It was founded as Keyham College in 1880, new buildings were opened in Manadon, Devon in 1940 and the old college site at Keyham close ...
at
Keyham, Devon.
Once commissioned he served on
HMS ''Centurion'' in China from 1894 to 1897 and
HMS ''Majestic'' of the Channel Squadron from 1899 to 1900 before being appointed to supervise the building of the ''
Discovery
Discovery may refer to:
* Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown
* Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown
* Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence
Discovery, The Discovery ...
'' for the 1901 National Antarctic Expedition.
Polar exploration
Scott, the expedition leader, had been impressed with Skelton's engineering abilities aboard the Majestic and so he was appointed Chief Engineer of the expedition. He also acted as expedition photographer. Nicknamed 'Skelly', there were no serious difficulties with any of the machinery under Skelton's care throughout the three-year expedition. Once established on the
continent
A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in area to smallest, these seven ...
he became a well-respected member of the team (Huxley 1978), eventually having four features named after him: an inlet, a glacier, an icefall and a lévé.
On his return he married his fiancée, the New Zealander Sybil Devenish-Meares of Christchurch: they had two daughters and a son.
Later life
From 1906 to 1912 and again between 1916 and 1918, Skelton served in the submarine service. He hoped to be Scott's second-in-command for the
Terra Nova Expedition
The ''Terra Nova'' Expedition, officially the British Antarctic Expedition, was an expedition to Antarctica which took place between 1910 and 1913. Led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott, the expedition had various scientific and geographical objec ...
of 1910-1913 but was overlooked in favour of
Edward Evans who had been planning his own expedition to Antarctica but agreed to join Scott's expedition provided he was offered the position of second-in-command. During the First World War Skelton was awarded the
DSO for his actions at the
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland (german: Skagerrakschlacht, the Battle of the Skagerrak) was a naval battle fought between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy ...
, 31 May 1916. Appointed
CB in 1919 for his work in North Russia, he continued to rise through the
service after the War, being posted to Archangel, Constantinople, to the Mediterranean Station and to the Atlantic Station. He became Engineer Rear-Admiral in 1923, Engineer Vice-Admiral in 1928 and Engineer-in-Chief of the Fleet, Admiralty, 1928–32. He was knighted in the
1931 New Year Honours.
Who was Who
''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It is a book, and also a CD-ROM and a website, giving information on influential people from around the world. Published annually as a book since 1849, it lists people who influence British life, according to i ...
Vol V p1726 and retired in 1932.
He died in 1956, aged 84, at his home in
Aldingbourne.
References
Bibliography
* Obituary by
Michael Barne
Michael Barne (15 October 1877 – 31 May 1961) was an officer of the 1901-04 Discovery Expedition and was the last survivor of the expedition.
Early life
Barne was born at Sotterley Park, Suffolk, the son of Frederick Barne and his wife, La ...
''The Geographical Journal'', Vol. 122, No. 4 (Dec., 1956), pp. 533–534
*Scott Fiennes, R. (2003 London Coronet)
*Scott of the Antarctic Huxley, E.J.G (1978 London, Atheneum)
* Discovery Illustrated J V Skelton, J.V. & Wilson, D.W. (2001). Reardon Publishing.
* ''The Antarctic Journals of Reginald Skelton:'' Skelton, J.V. (Ed) (2004, Reardon Publishing).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skelton, Reginald William
1872 births
People educated at Bromsgrove School
Recipients of the Polar Medal
Royal Navy vice admirals
Presidents of the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers
1956 deaths
Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
People from Long Sutton, Lincolnshire
People from Aldingbourne