John Augustine Edgell

Vice-Admiral Sir John Augustine Edgell (20 December 1880 - 14 November 1962) was an officer in the Royal Navy and Hydrographer of the Navy from 1932 to 1945. He was noted for his support for innovations such as echo sounding and radio navigation, for the surveying and chart production operations of his department during World War II, and for his advocacy of the science of oceanography

Early life to 1914

Edgell was born at Teddington to James and Mary Beatrice Edgell. He joined the Navy aged 13, first on the cadet training ship HMS Britannia, and then on . He was promoted to midshipman in June 1897, then joined the surveying service in 1902 as a sub-lieutenant on HMS Triton in the North Sea. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 31 March 1903, and from the same month served on in British Columbia then in China and Borneo. He took a course on magnetic observations in 1906, and then continued survey work on HMS Merlin in the Red Sea, Malaya and Borneo, and on in the Indian Ocean and south-west Pacific. His first command was surveying on the west coast of Africa from 1912 to 1914. He then surveyed the east coast of Scotland and the Shetland Islands in .

World War I to 1931 In September 1915, having been promoted to Commander, Edgell took HMS Endeavour to the eastern Mediterranean in support of the Dardanelles operation. The ship carried printing presses so the charts prepared from her surveying work could be provided to the fleet without the need to be returned to England for printing. Edgell then became Superintendent of Charts, from 1917 to 1920. In 1921 he was again at sea, surveying in Singapore on HMS Merlin. He was promoted to captain in 1923, and again became Superintendent of Charts, from 1923 to 1925. His next surveying assignment was in Australia, commanding HMAS Moresby until 1928. He was Assistant Hydrographer from 1928 to 1932, interrupted by a surveying assignment on HMS Endeavour in the Red Sea in 1930–1931.

Hydrographer: 1932-1939 Edgell became Hydrographer in October 1932, and would hold this position until the end of World War II. He was promoted to rear admiral in 1935, and to vice admiral in 1938, officially retiring at that point. However he continued in post until 1945. During his time as Hydrographer he oversaw many technical innovations, including the development of echo sounding for deep water work, and the change from flat-bed to rotary offset printing, the latter facilitated by the move of the Chart Printing Establishment to Taunton. He also planned the introduction of a new generation of surveying ships. These developments greatly increased productivity, and laid the basis for the enormous expansion of surveying and chart production needed during the war. Edgell developed his interest in the scientific aspects of surveying during this time, publishing a number of papers on surveying methods, and actively promoting research in oceanography. One project was the construction of a non-magnetic vessel specifically for research into magnetic fields. Construction of the Royal Research Ship (R.R.S.) Research was started in 1937, but interrupted on the outbreak and war, and never restarted. Edgell served on the executive committee of the institute, and on the National Geographic Council.

Edgell was created K.B.E in 1942. He was the Admiralty's representative on the Boards of the Port of London Authority (1941-1950) and the Kent River Board, and acting conservator of the River Mersey (1945-1950). He died on 14 November 1962.