William Pakenham (Royal Navy officer)

Admiral Sir William Christopher Pakenham, KCB, KCMG, KCVO (10 July 1861 – 28 July 1933) was a British observer with the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Russo-Japanese War; during World War I he commanded the 2nd Battle Cruiser Squadron at the Battle of Jutland, and from December 1916 was Commander-in-Chief of the Battle Cruiser Fleet.

Background
A member of the Pakenham family headed by the Earl of Longford, he was the second son of Rear-Admiral the Honourable Thomas Alexander Pakenham, third son of Thomas Pakenham, 2nd Earl of Longford. His mother was Sophia Frances Sykes, daughter of Sir Tatton Sykes, 4th Baronet.

Career
Pakenham entered the navy as a naval cadet in 1874 and served upon the training ship HMS Britannia.

As part of the Mediterranean Squadron, he served on HMS Monarch (1868) and he was promoted to midshipman in 1876. Noted for his swimming ability, he was highly commended for gallantry after jumping into the sea and rescuing a coxswain who had fallen overboard at Larnaca, Cyprus, in August 1878 and some years later endeavoured to save a man who fell from overboard from HMS Calypso (1883) at Kiel, Germany. Promoted to sub lieutenant in October 1880, he was transferred to HMS Canada (1881) in April 1883 and was promoted to lieutenant in October 1883. In June 1896, he was promoted to commander and took up a post with the Naval Intelligence Department from August 1899 to March 1901.

He was appointed to command HMS Daphne (1888) in March 1901, and served on the China Station when he was promoted to Captain on 30 June 1903 before he became a Naval Attaché at Tokyo from April 1904 to May 1906. During his stay in Japan, he was one of several military observers as part of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, who provided military intelligence and military advice to their Japanese counterparts. During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, he was an observer at the Battle of Tsushima aboard the battleship JAPANESE BATTLESHIP Asahi on 27 May 1905. He was awarded the Commander of the Order of the Bath on 24 July 1905, and on 18 April 1906 he was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun (Second Class) by the Emperor of Japan.

While commanding HMS Antrim (1903), escorting King Edward VII to Ireland in July 1907, he was awarded the Member of the Royal Victorian Order.

He acted as a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty between 9 December 1911 and December 1913. He was promoted to Rear Admiral, and in December was appointed to command the 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron. He served as Fourth Sea Lord of the Admiralty between 1911 and 1913. He served as Naval Aide-de-Camp to King George V between 1912 and 1913.

During the First World War, Pakenham was given command of the 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron on 7 March 1915, and raised his flag aboard the battlecruiser HMAS Australia (1911). After Australia was taken out of service following a collision, he transferred his flag to HMS New Zealand (1911): aboard this battlecruiser, he participated in the Battle of Jutland, and was awarded the Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 31 May 1916 for his actions. Pakenham was appointed Rear Admiral Commanding HM Australian Fleet in September 1916. After Admiral Sir David Beatty was given the command of the Grand Fleet in succession to Admiral Sir John Jellicoe in November 1916, he assumed command of the Battle Cruiser Force on 19 June 1917, and was promoted to Acting Vice Admiral. During the visit of King George V to the Fleet in July 1917, Pakenham was made a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO). He was also awarded the Order of St. Stanislaus (Second Class) and was given a gift from the Emperor Taisho of Japan.

After the end of the First World War, Pakenham briefly served as the President of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich from 1919 to 1920 and then as Commander-in-Chief on the North America and West Indies Station from October 1920 with HMS Raleigh (1919) as his flagship. His visit to the west coast of the United States in 1922 was a diplomatic success, and he was appointed admiral in that year; however, the Raleigh ran aground in fog off the coast of Labrador and was a loss. Pakenham was awarded the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in June 1925, and was awarded Bath King of Arms on 7 February 1930.

Pakenham retired from active duty in 1926. He died unmarried, at San Sebastian, Spain, on 28 July 1933.