Guy Montagu Marston
Captain (retired) Guy Montagu Marston, R.N. (17 December, 1871 – 3 May, 1928) served in the Royal Navy.
Life & Career
Marston gained five months' time on passing out of Britannia in December, 1886.
Marston failed his torpedo examination in January, 1892. On 3 February, the Admiral expressed its serious displeasure at Marston's conduct in refusing to give himself to the Dockyard Police and failing to obey the order of Lieutenant Phillips to attend on the middle deck of Marlborough on the night of 10 January after creating a disturbance in the Dockyard. Marston was to be deprived of five months' seniority upon completing his examinations. Before he even got there, on 27 March he was blamed for a want of discretion in grounding the gunboat Firm in the Humber. Things did pick up for him, however, as he earned second-class certificates in Gunnery, Pilotage and Torpedoes later in the year.
Marston was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 31 December, 1893.
He passed in pilotage for first-class ships in while appointed to Magicienne in March, 1897 and was re-appointed to the ship as navigator. In June, he moved to Phaeton as navigator, spending three and a half years with her.
Marston was appointed to Russell as first and navigating officer on 7 April, 1904. Promoted to the rank of Commander on 30 June, 1905, he was re-appointed in Russell as navigator. He left the ship some time shortly before being appointed to the Hydrographic Department, where he would eventually become Naval Assistant to the Hydrographer of the Navy in early 1908.
In 1909, Marston served on a Committee on Injuries to Submarine Cables by Trawlers, for which he was thanked by the Postmaster General.
Marston was credited with providing great assistance following a collision between Topaze and S.S. Strathewick, but the precise date of this event is not clear.
Marston's first ship command was of the new Boadicea Class scout cruiser H.M.S. Blanche, appointed 10 November, 1910. Despite his undoubted skills at navigation, he was subjected to a Court Martial on 24 November 1911 for hazarding her. It was determined that he had done so through an error in judgment not amounting to an offence under the Naval Discipline act, and so he was acquitted. The Admiralty disagreed with the finding on a technical level, and would have preferred it if the hazarding had been determined to have been partly due to an error in judgment.
Marston worked with the Director of Navigation, from September 1913 to August, 1916. He spent the majority of the rest of the war in command of A.M.Cs Mantua and Arlanza before being appointed to the Operations Division.
Work at O.D. ended in February, 1921 and Marston was placed on the Retired List at his own request with the rank of Captain on 1 August, 1921 after six months of unpaid time.
See Also
| Naval Appointments | ||
| Preceded by New Command |
Captain of H.M.S. Blanche 10 Nov, 1910[1] – 1 May, 1912 |
Succeeded by Wilfred Henderson |
| Preceded by Colin Mackenzie |
Captain of H.M.S. Juno 21 Aug, 1912 – 19 Sep, 1912 |
Succeeded by Arthur H. C. C. Home |
| Preceded by Charles Tibbits |
Captain of H.M.S. Mantua 12 Aug, 1916 – 10 Oct, 1916 |
Succeeded by Thomas W. Bennett |
| Preceded by David T. Norris |
Captain of H.M.S. Arlanza 10 Oct, 1916[2] – Apr, 1918 |
Succeeded by Christopher P. Metcalfe |
Footnotes
