Douglas Hyde Hyde-Thomson

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Wing Commander Douglas Hyde Hyde-Thomson (18 January, 1891 – 21 May, 1918) was an officer in the Royal Navy.

Life & Career

The son of R. D. Thomson, Esq., a colliery proprietor.[1]

Hyde-Thomson entered the Navy as it was transitioning to the new training scheme for cadets and was sent directly to the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth as part of the September 1905 intake term.

Hyde-Thomson was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 30 July, 1911. He would invent a recorder to capture data on rough weather firing in 1912, and a type of gyro safety gear, as well. He qualified for torpedo duties in July 1913.[2]

Hyde-Thomson became a Flight Lieutenant on 1 July 1914 and a Flight Commander on 31 October 1914.[3]

Hyde-Thomson was a pioneer in Britain's effort to develop the airplane as a platform for delivering torpedo attack.[4]

He was promoted to the rank of Wing Commander on 31 December, 1917.[5]

There is a fair history of early torpedo-carrying aircraft and their methods in the Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1918. It credits Hyde-Thomson with a September 1915 paper about the possibilities seen in such a pairing.[6]

He died in an airplane accident in May 1918.

See Also

Footnotes

  1. Hyde-Thomson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/52/321. f. 678.
  2. Hyde-Thomson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/52/321. f. 678.
  3. Hyde-Thomson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/52/321. f. 678.
  4. Hyde-Thomson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/52/321. f. 678.
  5. Hyde-Thomson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/52/321. f. 678.
  6. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1918. pp. 89-96.