David McDowall Hannay (25 December 185329 May 1934) was an English naval historian. Hannay was born in London. His father, James Hannay, had been in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

, but later became a

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

. David Hannay was educated at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

, and then joined his father, who was British

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

in Barcelona, as vice-consul. Over a period of years he wrote on naval topics in many journals and magazines. His first book was a

monograph A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...

on Admiral Robert Blake, and he contributed several other works to various series of naval biographies. In addition, his interest in Spain led to a study of its literature and he became a recognized authority on Spanish affairs. Hannay was an original member of the Navy Records Society on its formation in 1893, and due to his research efforts, and his lectures at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, he became recognized as a leading scholar and historian on naval affairs. He contributed many articles to the 1911 ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' and a few to the ''

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

''. Through his influence as a journalist he helped form public and naval opinion on the need for an adequate

naval fleet A fleet or naval fleet is a large formation of warships – the largest formation in any navy – controlled by one leader. A fleet at sea is the direct equivalent of an army on land. Purpose In the modern sense, fleets are usually, but no ...

prior to

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He contributed articles to the ''Pall Mall Gazette'', the ''Saturday Review of Politics, Literature, Science, and Art'', and the '' St James's Gazette''. He was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery.

Publications

* ''Admiral Blake'' (1886) * ''Life of Tobias George Smollett'' (1887) * ''Life of Frederick Marryat'' (1889) * ''Rodney'' (1891) ( George Bridges Rodney) * '' Don Emilio Castelar'' (1896) * ''The Later Renaissance'' (1898), from the series ''Periods of European Literature'' edited by George Saintsbury * ''A short history of the Royal Navy'' in 2 vols (vol. 1 (1898) vol.2 (1907) * ''Ships and Men'' (1910) * ''The Sea Trader: his friends and enemies'' (1912) * ''Naval Courts Martial'' (1914) * ''Diaz'' (1917) (Mexican President

Porfirio Díaz José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori (; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915) was a General (Mexico), Mexican general and politician who was the dictator of Mexico from 1876 until Mexican Revolution, his overthrow in 1911 seizing power in a Plan ...

) * ''Spain'' (1917)

Notes

External links

* * * * 1853 births 1934 deaths English naval historians 19th-century English historians 20th-century English historians English male journalists People educated at Westminster School, London 19th-century English male writers 19th-century English writers {{UK-historian-stub