Raymond George Francis Herault de Caen

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Lieutenant-Commander Raymond George Francis Herault de Caen, D.S.C. (2 May, 1882 – 12 April, 1922) was an officer in the Royal Navy and the Royal Naval Reserve.

Life & Career

De Caen was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 1 April, 1913.

He joined Temeraire from the R.N.R. in June 1913, having just passed medically.

De Caen was appointed in command of the destroyer Laurel on 2 April, 1918.[1]

De Caen was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Commander on 1 April, 1921.

He was placed in command Sardonyx as well as of a group of reserve destroyers on 27 December, 1921. There were signs that things were not going well for him. On 8 February, 1922 he was faulted for losing keys to steel chests and asked to cover the cost of making new keys. An inspection by Captain Leveson-Gower of De Caen's group seemed to indicate he knew little about his destroyers or how his men were accommodated. Assistant Captain (D) of the Devonport Reserve Henry Oliphant concurred with this in a follow-up inspection. Furthermore, he found de Caen's wine bill to be "abnormally excessive."

De Caen drowned in a bathtub at the Royal Hotel, Devonport in April 1922. A coroner who sat without a jury determined de Caen had suffered "an attack of syncope brought on by an affection [sic] of the heart."

His widow attested that he had been in very bad health as a result of the war, and had been given just six months to live.

See Also

Naval Appointments
Preceded by
Alban T. B. Curteis
Captain of H.M.S. Lively
29 Mar, 1916[2] – 13 Apr, 1917
Succeeded by
Basil A. Taylor
Preceded by
Harold E. Denison
Captain of H.M.S. Ouse
14 Apr, 1917[3] – 18 May, 1917
Succeeded by
Thomas H. G. Barton
Preceded by
Ernest R. Maycock
Captain of H.M.S. Dahlia
19 May, 1917[4] – 1 Apr, 1918
Succeeded by
William S. Bardwell
Preceded by
Arthur Evans
Captain of H.M.S. Laurel
2 Apr, 1918[5] – 17 Feb, 1919
Succeeded by
Victor L. A. Campbell
Preceded by
Robin W. M. Lloyd
Captain of H.M.S. Narwhal
18 Feb, 1919 – 25 Mar, 1919
Succeeded by
Cecil R. Hemans
Preceded by
Frederick R. M. Johnson
Captain of H.M.S. Ossory
26 Mar, 1919 – 5 Dec, 1919
Succeeded by
?
Preceded by
James C. N. MacMillan
Captain of H.M.S. Sardonyx
27 Dec, 1921 – 12 Apr, 1922
Succeeded by
Douglas Faviell

Footnotes

  1. The Navy List. (February, 1919). p. 829.
  2. The Navy List. (December, 1916). p. 395w.
  3. "Naval Appointments." The Times (London, England), Tuesday, Apr 17, 1917; pg. 13; Issue 41454.
  4. The Navy List. (August, 1917). p. 392z.
  5. The Navy List. (February, 1919). p. 829.