| Sir Ragnar Colvin | |
|---|---|
 Sir Robert Menzies (Prime Minister of Australia) and Admiral Ragnar Colvin, Sydney, Australia, HMAS Perth (D29) march, in March 1940 | |
| Born | 1882 |
| Died | 1954 (aged 72) |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom |
| Service/branch |
 Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1896 - 1944 |
| Rank |
 Admiral |
| Commands held |
HMS Caradoc HMS Revenge Royal Naval College, Greenwich |
| Battles/wars |
World War I World War II |
| Awards |
Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companion of the Order of the Bath |
Admiral Sir Ragnar Musgrave Colvin KBE, CB (1882–1954) was a long-serving British naval officer who commanded the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) at the outbreak of the Second World War.
Early life and background[]
Colvin was the son of Clement Sneyd Colvin and his wife Alice Jane, née Lethbridge.[1] This connected him with a long and illustrious line of British Empire soldiers and administrators, the Colvin family; his grandfather was John Russell Colvin, lieutenant-governor of the North-West Provinces of British India during the mutiny of 1857.[2] His uncles included Walter Mytton and Auckland, also lieutenant-governor of the North-West Provinces and Oudh. A first cousin, Brenda Colvin (1897–1981),[3] was an important landscape architect, author of standard works in the field and a force behind its professionalization. A more distant cousin was Sidney Colvin, who grew up to be a critic, curator, and great friend of Robert Louis Stevenson.
Career[]
Colvin joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in HMS Britannia in 1896,[1] was commissioned lieutenant six years later and, after qualifying as a gunnery specialist in 1904, was promoted Commander in 1913.[1] In World War I he served as Executive Officer in the cruiser Hibernia, and in the battleship Revenge in which he served in the Battle of Jutland in 1916.[1] Promoted Captain on 31 December 1917, he served in the Admiralty as Assistant Director of Plans and was appointed CBE.[1]
After the war Colvin commanded the cruiser HMS Caradoc in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean and in 1922 to 1924 he was Naval Attaché in Tokyo.[1] He re-joined HMS Revenge as Flag Captain to the Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet, and in 1927 became Director of the Naval Tactical School, Portsmouth.[1] Colvin was promoted Rear Admiral in 1929 and soon was appointed Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet.[1] In 1932 he was appointed CB and posted to the 2nd Battle Squadron.[1] Promoted Vice Admiral in 1934, he became president of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, and commander of the Royal Naval War College.[1] He was appointed KBE in 1937.[1]
Colvin was appointed Chief of Naval Staff to the Royal Australian Navy in 1937.[1] Under his leadership, the Royal Australian Navy expanded its naval fleet and maintained a high profile in Australia’s military affairs.
At the outbreak of World War II, Colvin was an active participant in international planning; however, by 1940 his health was failing and he resigned the following year.[1] Colvin returned to London where he served as Naval Advisor to the Australian High Commission from 1942 to 1944.[1]
Family[]
In 1918 he married Sibyl Kays.[1] They had two children:
- John Horace Ragnar Colvin (18 June 1922 – 4 October 2003) HM Ambassador to Mongolia, 1971–1974, and spy with the Secret Intelligence Service (one child is Mark Colvin, an Australian journalist); and,
- Mrs. Prudence (Prue) Balfour (married in 1949 to Colin James Balfour,[4] Commander, Royal Navy (1924 - 13 August 2009 aged 85),[5] children James John Melville Balfour, b 1951, and Belinda.)
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 Colvin, Sir Ragnar Musgrave (1882 - 1954), Australian Dictionary of Biography, accessed 28 August 2009
- ↑ John Russell Colvin at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- ↑ Brenda Colvin at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- ↑ Family of Donaldson, accessed 28 August 2009
- ↑ Colin James Balfour, The Times, 2009-08-17, accessed 28 August 2009
- Admiral Sir Ragnar Colvin - colour photograph of oil painting by Stella Bowen (expatriat Australian artist), painted in London, 1944 - collection of the Australian War Memorial
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