Henry Jackson

Sir Henry Jackson

Place of birth: Barnsley, Yorkshire
Place of death: Hayling Island, Hampshire
Allegiance: United Kingdom
Service/branch: Royal Navy
Years of service: 1868 - 1924
Rank: Admiral of the Fleet
Commands held: First Sea Lord
Battles/wars: First World War
Awards: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry Bradwardine Jackson GCB, KCVO, FRS (21 January 1855 - 14 December 1929) was British First Sea Lord during much of the First World War. He won the 1926 Hughes Medal of the Royal Society "for his pioneer work in the scientific investigations of radiotelegraphy and its application to navigation".

Early life

Henry Jackson entered the navy in 1868 and gained an early reputation as a pioneer of ship-to-ship radio technology whilst in command of the Torpedo School Training Ship HMS Defiance at Wearde Quay, Saltash. In 1896 he became the first person to achieve ship-to-ship radio communications, and demonstrated continuous communication with another vessel up to three miles away. He worked with Marconi and earned himself appointment as a Fellow to the Royal Society in 1901. From 1905 to 1908 Jackson served as Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy. After that he served as head of the Naval War College at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich from 1911 to 1913 and afterwards on the Admiralty War Staff as an advisor on overseas expeditions. The arrival of the First World War in August 1914 enabled Jackson to work on the co-ordination of British attacks on Germany's colonial possessions.

First Sea Lord

He was selected as the surprise successor to Admiral Fisher upon the latter's spectacular resignation in May 1915. He had a cordial working relationship with First Lord of the Admiralty (and former Prime Minister) Arthur Balfour. Jackson largey concerned himself with administrative matters and his prestige suffered when German destroyers appeared in the Channel. Consequently Sir John Jellicoe was appointed to replace Jackson in November 1916.

Later life

Jackson saw out the rest of the war as King George V's aide-de-camp and as president of the Royal Naval College at Greenwich. In this period, he was awarded the Japanese Grand Cordon, Order of the Rising Sun, which was duly published in the London Gazette. In 1919 Jackson was appointed Admiral of the Fleet; he retired five years later and died in 1929. Recognizing his work on wireless telegraphy, in 1926 Henry Bradwardine Jackson was appointed Secretary, and later, Chairman, of the British National Committee on Radio Telegraphy.

Heathcote, T. A. (2002). The British Admirals of the Fleet 1734 - 1995. Pen & Sword Ltd. ISBN 0 85052 835 6
Murfett, Malcolm H.(1995). The First Sea Lords from Fisher to Mountbatten. Westport. ISBN 0-275-94231-7

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Source: WikiPedia