Admiral Sir Reginald Neville Custance, (20 September 1847 – 30 August 1935) was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

officer. He was the eldest son of General William Neville Custance CB.

Naval career

Custance joined the

in 1860. Promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on 31 December 1885, he was given command of the cruiser HMS ''Phaeton'' in January 1890, of the battleship HMS ''Barfleur'' in February 1895 and of the cruiser HMS ''Blenheim'' in September 1898. He went on to be Director of Naval Intelligence in March 1899, serving until November 1902, when he was asked to take the position of Second-in-Command of the

Mediterranean Fleet The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between t ...

, after the sudden death of Rear-Admiral Burges Watson. During his first year as Director, he had been promoted to flag rank as a

rear-admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star " admiral" rank. It is often regar ...

on 1 August 1899, and he was promoted to vice-admiral on 20 October 1904. He was appointed Second-in-Command of the

Channel Fleet The Channel Fleet and originally known as the Channel Squadron was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1854 to 1909 and 1914 to 1915. History Throughout the course of Royal Navy's history the ...

in February 1907.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Custance, Reginald 1847 births 1935 deaths Directors of Naval Intelligence Royal Navy admirals Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order