Archibald Day

Vice-Admiral Sir Archibald Day, KBE, CB, DSO (18 July 1899 – 17 July 1970) was an officer in the Royal Navy and Hydrographer of the Navy from 1950-1955. He played an important part in planning the evacuation from Dunkirk in 1940, and wrote a history of the Hydrographic Service.

Sir Archibald Day
Born(1899-07-18)18 July 1899
Died17 July 1970(1970-07-17) (aged 70)
Dover
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchRoyal Navy
Years of service1914–1955
RankVice-admiral
OfficeHydrographer of the Navy
Term1950-1955

Life

Day spent two years with HMS Conway, the naval school ship, and then was at Dartmouth Naval College, but was mobilised for World War I after only one term at the age of 15. He served as cadet and midshipman in the North Sea and with HMS Welland in the Mediterranean. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 15 August 1919, and in 1920 began survey work, serving on HMS Endeavour on the north coast of Egypt.[1][2][3]: 174–175 [4] He spent the next 12 years surveying in various ships on the east coast of England, China, Malaya, and the Middle East, with two spells ashore as naval assistant.[3]: 174–175 

Fair chart of Kyrenia, surveyed by Day in HMS Ormonde in 1934[5]

His first command, from June 1932, was HMS Fitzroy, surveying on the east coast of England and Scotland. He was then with HMS Ormonde in the Persian Gulf and Cyprus. He was promoted to Commander in 1934.[3]: 174–175  From 1937 to 1940, he was Superintendent of Charts in the Hydrographic Department. He was promoted to Captain in 1940 and appointed Chief Staff Officer to the Flag Officer, Dover. He played a major part in planning the evacuation from Dunkirk in 1940.[6][7]: 77  His surveying experience on the east coast of England, with its many treacherous sandbanks and strong tides, was invaluable in this task.[8] He was Assistant Hydrographer in 1943 and 1944. This was at time when chart production was essential to the war effort, and seven million charts and maps were being printed each year.[8]

Chart of Akyab (now Sittwe) Harbour surveyed by Day in White Bear in 1945

In November 1944, Day took over command of HMS White Bear, a yacht converted for surveying, and carrying printing equipment and staff. White Bear was then in Colombo, and took part in the Burma campaign (1944–1945) coordinating survey teams that were charting the many channels on the coast of Burma, and printing maps and charts for the assault forces.[3]: 106–107  He was awarded the DSO for this operation.[3]: 174–175  After the Japanese surrender, White Bear conducted surveys around the Malay peninsula and in Indonesia, to assist re-establishment of normal navigation.[8]

After the war, Day resumed his position as Assistant Hydrographer, and then in February 1948 took command of HMS Dalrymple, newly commissioned as a survey ship, working in the Mediterranean.[9][3]: 162  In 1950 he was appointed Hydrographer of the Navy, a post he held until 1955. As Hydrographer, Day collaborated with the Decca Navigator Company to develop electronic systems for surveying using transportable shore stations. He was a supporter of international cooperation in Hydrography and Oceanography, leading the United Kingdom Delegation to the International Hydrographic Conference held in Monaco in April 1952. He was promoted to vice-admiral on 27 January 1953,[10] and made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 1954.[3]: 174–175  He retired in 1955.[8]

After retirement, Day led a small team to carry out a hydrographic survey of Lake Nyasa[11] In 1956 he was appointed coordinator of the International Geophysical Year, based in Brussels, but travelling extensively to facilitate the work of scientists from many countries that were taking part.[8]

His final work was his history The Admiralty Hydrographic Service 1795-1919, which was published in 1967. The book gives a summary of the earlier part of the period, which was covered by Dawson's earlier Memoirs of Hydrography[12] and a much more detailed account of the period from 1884-1919 with biographies of surveyors and tabulations of surveys and ships by year.[3]: 1  He died on 17 July 1970 in Dover.[8]

References
  1. "Sir Archibald Day". Nature. 227 (5263): 1174. September 1970. Bibcode:1970Natur.227R1174.. doi:10.1038/2271174b0. eISSN 1476-4687. ISSN 0028-0836. S2CID 4152537.
  2. Irving, G. (1970). "Obituary: Vice-Admiral Sir Archibald Day, KBE, CB, DSO". The Geographical Journal. 136 (3): 501–502. JSTOR 1795286.
  3. Morris, Roger O. (1995). Charts and Surveys in Peace and War: The History of the Royal Navy's Hydrographic Service, 1919-1970. H.M. Stationery Office. ISBN 978-0-11-772456-3.
  4. "Archibald Day". Dreadnought Project.
  5. Southern, R.M. (1948). Admiralty Manual of Hydrographic Surveying (2 ed.). H.M. Stationery Office. OCLC 1110309666.
  6. "Vice-Admiral Sir ARCHIBALD DAY, CB, DSO". Polar Record. 15: 554–555. 1971.
  7. Robert Jackson (26 July 2012). Dunkirk: The British Evacuation, 1940. Hachette UK. ISBN 978-1-78022-452-7.
  8. "Obituary, Vice Admiral Sir Archibald Day". International Hydrographic Review. 48 (1): 7–9. 1971.
  9. Mason, Geoffrey B. (2005). Gordon Smith (ed.). "HMS Dalrymple (A 302), – ex-Loch-class Frigate, Survey Ship". naval-history.net. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  10. "No. 39802". The London Gazette. 17 March 1953. p. 1530.
  11. Bailey, R.T. (1960). "Hydrographic Survey of Lake Nyasa (1955 to 1959)". The International Hydrographic Review. 37 (1): 43–55.
  12. Dawson, Llewellyn Styles (1885). Memoirs of hydrography, including brief biographies of the principal officers who have served in H.M. Naval Surveying Service between the years 1750 and 1885. Eastbourne: Henry W. Keay. p. 70. Part 1. - 1750 to 1830; Part 2. - 1830-1885.

Bibliography

See also
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