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Page:Admirals of the British Navy.djvu/48

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X VICE-ADMIRAL SIR WILLIAM C. PAKENHAM, K.C.B., K.C.V.O. VICE-ADMIRAL SIR WILLIAM CHRISTOPHER PAKENHAM, K.C.B., K.C.V.O., was born in July, 1861, the second son of the late Rear-Admiral the Hon. Thomas Alexander Pakenham. In his early days in the Royal Navy he made a reputation as a swimmer, assisting in the rescue of a seaman who fell overboard at Larnaca, Cyprus, and some years later endeavouring to save a man who fell from the foreyard of the " Calypso " during drill at Kiel. He became a Captain on June 30th, 1903, and from April, 1904, to May, 1906, he was Naval Attache at Tokyo. He became a C.B. in July, 1905, and received the Order of the Rising Sun (Second Class) from H.I.M. the Emperor of Japan in 1906. In July, 1907, when in command of the " Antrim," escorting King Edward to Ireland, he was awarded the M.V.O. From December, 1911, to December, 1913, he was a Lord Com- missioner of the Admiralty. In June, 1913, he became Rear-Admiral, and in December was appointed to command the Third Cruiser Squadron. Rear-Admiral Pakenham was present at the Battle of Jutland and received a K.C.B. on May 3ist, 1916, for his services on that occasion. When Admiral Sir David Beatty was given the command of the Grand Fleet in succession to Admiral Sir John Jellicoe in November, 1916, Admiral Pakenham was selected to assume the command of the Battle Cruiser Force, and was promoted to Acting Vice- Admiral on June igth, 1917.