Dudley Pound - Naval Career

Naval Career

Pound joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in the training ship HMS Britannia in January 1891 and was posted as a midshipman to the battleship HMS Royal Sovereign in the Channel Squadron in January 1893. He transferred to the cruiser HMS Undaunted in May 1894 on the China Station and then joined HMS Calypso in the Training Squadron. Promoted to sub-lieutenant on 29 August 1896, he joined the destroyer HMS Opossum in October 1897 and the battleship HMS Magnificent in January 1898. Promoted to lieutenant on 29 August 1898, he joined the torpedo school HMS Vernon in September 1899 and qualified as a torpedo specialist in December 1901. He served as a torpedo officer in the cruiser HMS Grafton on the Pacific Station before transferring to the battleship HMS King Edward VII in the Atlantic Fleet in January 1905 and then to the battleship HMS Queen in the Mediterranean Fleet in March 1907.

Pound joined the staff at the Ordnance Department of the Admiralty in January 1909 and then, having been promoted to commander on 30 June 1909, he transferred to the battleship HMS Superb in the Home Fleet in May 1911. He joined the staff of the Royal Naval War College in early 1913 and then transferred to the battleship HMS St Vincent in the Home Fleet in April 1914.

Pound served in World War I and, having been promoted to captain on 31 December 1914, he became an Additional Naval Assistant to the First Sea Lord before being given command of the battleship HMS Colossus in May 1915. He led her at the Battle of Jutland with notable success, contributing to the sinking of the German cruiser Wiesbaden. He returned to the Admiralty in July 1917 to become Assistant Director of Plans and then Director of the Operations Division (Home) and was closely involved in the planning for the Zeebrugge Raid.