W.M. James

In 1916 William James served as Executive Officer on board the ill-fated battlecruiser HMS Queen Mary and left the ship the day before she sailed to her destruction at the Battle of Jutland (31 May-June 1 1916). James went on to become one of the major figures in the twentieth century Royal Navy, famed for his work in naval intelligence and rising to the rank of full Admiral in 1938 before retiring to pen a series of acclaimed works of naval history and strategy.