Naval Career
His parents wanted him to become a lawyer, but he chose to go to sea. He began training for the merchant navy, but transferred to the Royal Navy in 1885.
Gaunt served as a lieutenant on several vessels in the Pacific Ocean, and was promoted to the rank of Commander in 1901. He became a Captain in 1907, commanding a series of cruisers and the battleships HMS Majestic and HMS Thunderer. He saw action in the Philippines in 1897 and Samoa in 1901.
In 1914 Gaunt was appointed naval attaché to the United States, and was instrumental in infiltrating the Hindu-German Conspiracy during the war. Gaunt headed the intelligence network operated by Courtenay Bennett's intelligence and liased with the Czech intelligence network operated by E.V. Voska. On learning of the plot from the Czech European network at the outbreak of the war, Voska passed on the information to Gaunt and to Tomáš Masaryk who further passed on the information the American authorities. Voska's American network was a counter-espionage network of nearly 80 members who, as Habsburg subjects, were presumed to be German supporters but were involved in spying on German and Austrian diplomats.
When the U.S. entered the World War I in 1917, Gaunt was appointed as liaison officer. In 1918 he served on convoys across the Atlantic and in June was appointed to the naval intelligence staff at the Admiralty. He retired from the navy in October 1918 with the rank of Rear Admiral and was subsequently promoted to full Admiral. He was knighted as KCMG in 1918.
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