Captain
On 31 December 1891, Prince Louis was promoted to the rank of captain and became an aide-de-camp to the Queen, a post he would retain under both King Edward VII and King George V. At the beginning of the following year, he was appointed naval advisor to the inspector-general of fortifications. His role was to act as a liaison between the navy and the army in order to ensure a co-ordinated defence. Traditionally, there was a great deal of friction between the two services, but Louis exercised his social skills in the role, leading Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, to write to him, "You have produced a mutual feeling of goodwill and unanimity which I have always wished to see established, and which, by your tact and sound judgement, you have brought about to the fullest extent."
In 1892, Battenberg invented the Battenberg Course Indicator, a relative velocity analogue computer device used by seamen to determine course and speed to steer for changes of position between ships and which remains in use today.
By February 1894 his role was further developed when he was appointed joint secretary of the naval and military committee on defence, which was later renamed the Committee of Imperial Defence. Louis captained HMS Cambrian in the Mediterranean Fleet from October 1894 to May 1897 and HMS Majestic in the Channel Fleet from June 1897. His careful study of both naval and military defence, as well as its interaction, led to his appointment as Assistant Director of the Naval Intelligence Division in June 1899. He used his relationships with the royal houses of Europe to gather intelligence on the naval fleets of other nations, which he passed onto the Admiralty in full and detailed reports.
After a year as captain of HMS Implacable in the Mediterranean, during which he spectacularly defeated a larger opposing force during naval exercises, Louis was appointed as Director of Naval Intelligence in November 1902, an apt posting for a man whom First Lord of the Admiralty the Earl of Selborne described as "the cleverest sailor I have met yet".
Read more about this topic: Prince Louis Of Battenberg
Famous quotes containing the word captain:
“See how peaceful it is here. The sea is everything. An immense reservoir of nature where I roam at will.... Think of it. On the surface there is hunger and fear. Men still exercise unjust laws. They fight, tear one another to pieces. A mere few feet beneath the waves their reign ceases, their evil drowns. Here on the ocean floor is the only independence. Here I am free.”
—Earl Felton, and Richard Fleischer. Captain Nemo (James Mason)
“The captain sat in a commodore’s hat
And dined in a royal way
On toasted pigs and pickles and figs
And gummery bread each day.”
—Charles Edward Carryl (1841–1920)
“John Gilpin was a citizen
Of credit and renown,
A train-band captain eke was he
Of famous London town.”
—William Cowper (1731–1800)