View source for Reginald William Skelton

Engineer Vice-Admiral Sir '''Reginald William Skelton''', K.C.B., C.B.E., D.S.O., R.N. (3 June, 1872 &ndash;  5 September, 1956) served in the engineering branch of the [[Royal Navy]], including work with the 1901 National Antarctic Expedition led by [[Robert Falcon Scott|Robert Scott]].

==Life & Career==
Skelton was appointed an Engineer Student "After Open Competition" on 10 June, 1887.<ref>''The London Gazette'': [https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/25709/page/3221 no. 25709. p. 3221.] 14 June, 1887.</ref>

Skelton was promoted to the rank of Engineer on 1 January, 1898.{{NLMar00|p. 134}}

Skelton was appointed additional to the {{UK-President|f=t}} temporarily on 14 September, 1900.{{NLMar01|p. 294}}  From the ''President'' he went to supervise construction of the exploration ship ''Discovery'' for [[Robert Falcon Scott]]'s forthcoming Antarctic expedition, and Skelton was ultimately chosen as Chief Engineer of the ''Discovery'' on the basis of previous service alongside Scott in the battleship ''Majestic''.<ref>Fiennes, page needed.</ref>

Skelton was appointed to the {{UK-Roebuck|f=t}} as Engineering Officer on 14 September, 1905.{{NLDec05|p. 368}}  On 22 February, 1906, Skelton transferred to the protected cruiser-turned-depôt ship {{UK-Forth}}, with additional duties in the submarines of the Devonport Flotilla under ''Forth''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> aegis.{{NLJan07|p. 317}}

Skelton was promoted to the rank of Engineer {{CommRN}} on 1 July, 1907.{{NLApr10|p. 153}}

He was appointed additional to the {{UK-Mercury|f=t}} for service at [[Fort Blockhouse]] and "for duty with Submarines, etc." on 24 February, 1909.{{NLMar11|p. 344}}  When duties at Fort Blockhouse were transferred from the ''Mercury'' to the {{UK-Arrogant}} in 1911-12, Skelton was relisted as being borne additional in the latter.{{NLJan12|p. 280}}

Skelton's next assignment after Fort Blockhouse was as Chief Engineer of the {{UK-Superb}}, to which he was assigned on 3 February, 1912.{{NLMar13|p. 379}}  He served in ''Superb'' until 26 May, 1914, when he was appointed to the Admiralty as a member of the Department of the Engineer in Chief.{{NLJul14|p. 533''a''}}  While serving at the Admiralty, Skelton's son was born on July 4, 1914.  He was named William Falcon Skelton in honor of the late explorer.  William Skelton went on to a distinguished naval career of his own, being Mentioned in Dispatches for service aboard the light cruiser ''Charybdis'' during the Pedestal convoy to Malta of August 1942.<ref>http://www.unithistories.com/officers/RN_officersS2.html Royal Navy (RN) Officers
1939-1945 - S.</ref>

==Great War==
When the {{UK-Agincourt|f=t}} was taken over by the Royal Navy in August 1914, Skelton went to her as Chief Engineer.{{NLOct15|p. 391''d''}}  His job would have been made more difficult by ''Agincourt''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> origins as a foreign-ordered man o' war—many of her fittings still had instructions written in Portuguese.{{ParkesBritishBattleships|p. 604}}  He was still in ''Agincourt'' at Jutland, and for his services he was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (D.S.O.) on 15 September, 1916.<ref>''The Edinburgh Gazette'': [https://www.thegazette.co.uk/Edinburgh/issue/12988/page/1674 no. 12988. p. 1674.] 19 September, 1916.</ref>

Skelton was appointed additional to the {{UK-Dolphin|f=t}} on 22 July, 1916.  His first assignment was a familiar one—service at Fort Blockhouse.{{NLDec16|p. 393''q''}}  By late 1917, still borne in ''Dolphin'', Skelton had left Fort Blockhouse for service on Commodore (S) [[Sydney Stewart Hall|Sydney S. Hall]]'s staff at the Admiralty.{{NLNov17|p. 393''b''}}

Skelton was appointed additional to the {{UK-Glory|f=t}} on the staff of Rear-Admiral [[John Frederick Ernest Green|Sir John F. E. Green]] with the acting rank of Engineer Captain on 22 October, 1919, taking part in operations against the Bolsheviks in the White Sea.{{NLDec18|p. 802}}  For part of the time spent in Russia, Skelton was lent to the {{UK-Cyclops|f=t}}.{{NLAug19|p. 771}}  He was officially promoted to the rank of Engineer {{CaptRN}} in the late summer of 1919, with seniority backdated to 26 December, 1918.{{NLFeb19|p. 432}}{{NLOct19|p. 430}}

For his "valuable services in the Archangel Area of the White Sea", Engineer Captain Skelton was promoted to Commander of the Military Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (C.B.E.), on 17 October, 1919.<ref>''The London Gazette'': [https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/31604/supplement/12778 (Supplement) no. 31604. p. 12778.] 14 October, 1919.</ref>  Two months later he was appointed an Additional Member of the Third Class, or Companion, in the Military Division of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (K.C.B.) on 12 December, 1919.<ref>''The London Gazette'': [https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/31683/supplement/15429 (Supplement) no. 31683. p. 15429.] 9 December, 1919.</ref>

After ''Glory'' paid off at Portsmouth on 1 November, 1919, Skelton remained without assignment until he was appointed to the {{UK-IronDuke|f=t}} on 11 March, 1920.{{NLDec19|p. 779}}{{NLFeb20|p. 172}}{{NLJan21|p. 793}}

Skelton was appointed [[Engineer-in-Chief of the Fleet (Royal Navy)|Engineer-in-Chief of the Fleet]] on 1 May, 1928.{{NLOct30|p. 408}}  A month later he was promoted to the rank of Engineer Vice-Admiral on 1 June, 1928.{{NLAug39|p. 779}}

Skelton was appointed an Ordinary Member of the Second Class, or Knight Commander, in the Military Division of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (K.C.B.) on 1 January, 1931.<ref>''The Edinburgh Gazette'': [https://www.thegazette.co.uk/Edinburgh/issue/14719/page/13 (Supplement) no. 14719. p. 13.] 6 January, 1931.</ref>

==See Also==
{{refbegin}}
* [http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_rv=simple&_q=ADM+Reginald+William+Skelton Service Records]
{{WP|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald_Skelton}}
{{refend}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
* [[Michael Barne]] (December 1956).  "Obituary: Engineer Vice-Admiral Sir Reginald Skelton, K. C. B., C. B. E., D. S. O., R. N." ''The Geographical Journal'' '''122''', (4): pp. 533–534.
* Fiennes, [Sir] Ranulph (2003).  ''Captain Scott''.  London: Hodder & Stoughton.  ISBN 0340826975.
* {{Parkes}}
{{refend}}

<div name=fredbot:appts>{{TabApptsBegin}}
{{TabNaval}}
{{TabApptsRow|Preceded by<br>'''[[Robert Bland Dixon|Sir Robert B. Dixon]]'''|'''[[Engineer-in-Chief of the Fleet (Royal Navy)|Engineer-in-Chief of the Fleet]]'''<br>1 May, 1928{{NLOct30|p. 408}} &ndash; 1 Dec, 1932|Succeeded by<br>'''[[Harold Arthur Brown|Sir Harold A. Brown]]'''}}
{{TabEnd}}
</div name=fredbot:appts>

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skelton, Reginald}}

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