Hugh Watson
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{About||the Scottish physician|Hugh Ferguson Watson}}
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix = Sir
| image = Sir Hugh Dudley Richards Watson.jpg
| caption = Portrait by Walter Stoneman, 1928
| birth_name = Hugh Dudley Richards Watson
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1872|04|20|df=y}}
| birth_place = Saltfleetby, Lincolnshire, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1954|05|22|1872|04|20|df=y}}
| death_place = Windsor, Berkshire, England
| placeofburial_label =
| placeofburial =
| placeofburial_coordinates =
| nickname =
| allegiance = United Kingdom
| branch = Royal Navy
| serviceyears = 1885–1928
| rank = Admiral
| unit =
| commands = {{ubl|{{HMS|Essex|1901|6}}|{{HMS|Bellerophon|1907|6}}|HMS Canada}}
| battles = World War I
| awards = {{ubl|Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath|Commander of the Royal Victorian Order|Commander of the Order of the British Empire}}
| relations =
| laterwork =
}}
Admiral Sir Hugh Dudley Richards Watson {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=small|KCB|CVO|CBE}} (20 April 1872 – 22 May 1954) was a Royal Navy officer who became Naval Secretary.
Naval career
Watson joined the Royal Navy in 1885. From 6 May 1902 he served as 1st Lieutenant on the armoured cruiser HMS Sutlej,{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Naval & Military intelligence |date=19 April 1902 |page=9 |issue=36746}} soon to be commissioned for service on the China station. He was promoted to the rank of commander on 1 January 1903,{{London Gazette |issue=27512 |date=2 January 1903 |page=4 }} and later appointed Commander of the School of Physical Training[http://www.worldnavalships.com/navy_list_1908_ship_u_to_z.htm Navy List 1908]. Worldnavalships.com. Retrieved 5 June 2012. before becoming Naval Attaché in Berlin in 1910[http://www.gulabin.com/armynavy/pdf/Senior%20Royal%20Navy%20Appointments%201900-.pdf Senior Royal Navy Appointments] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315105247/http://www.gulabin.com/armynavy/pdf/Senior%20Royal%20Navy%20Appointments%201900-.pdf |date=15 March 2012 }}. (PDF). gulabin.com. Retrieved 5 June 2012. and then serving in World War I as Captain of the cruiser HMS Essex from 1914, the battleship HMS Bellerophon from 1915, and the battleship HMS Canada from 1918.[https://web.archive.org/web/20121011022350/http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=sandberg&id=I00485 Hugh Dudley Richards WATSON]. Wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com. Retrieved 5 June 2012.
He played one first-class cricket match for the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1908.{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/33/33668/33668.html|title=Player profile: Hugh Watson|publisher=CricketArchive|archivedate=24 October 2015|url-status=bot: unknown|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151024232727/https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/33/33668/33668.html}}
After the War, he served with the Allied Post War Control Commission and then became Naval Secretary in 1921 before becoming Commander of the 4th Battle Squadron (renumbered the 3rd Battle Squadron in November 1924) and Second-in-Command of the Mediterranean Fleet in August 1923. His last appointment was as Admiral commanding the Reserve Fleet in 1926 before he retired in 1928.
References
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{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{succession box|title=Naval Secretary|before=Rudolph Bentinck|after=Michael Hodges|years=1921–1923}}
|-
{{s-bef | before=Sir Rudolph Bentinck}}
{{s-ttl | title=Commander-in-Chief, Reserve Fleet | years=1926–1928}}
{{s-aft | after=Sir William Boyle}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Hugh}}
Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
Category:Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order
Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Category:Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
Category:British naval attachés
Category:Royal Navy officers of World War I