# Harold Farncomb

Rear Admiral Harold Bruce Farncomb CB, DSO, MVO (28 February 1899 – 12 February 1971) was a senior officer in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) who served in the First and Second World Wars, and as a lawyer. He was the first Australian-born RAN officer to reach a flag rank in the RAN. The Collins class submarine HMAS Farncomb is named in his honour.

## Early life

Harold Farncomb was born in North Sydney, New South Wales on 28 February 1899, the second child of Frank Farncomb and Helen Louisa Farncomb, née Sampson. The family lived in Gordon on the north shore of Sydney. He attended Gordon Public School and Sydney Boys' High School before entering the Royal Australian Naval College (RANC) at age 13 in the RANC's first intake. Farncomb excelled academically at the RANC, graduating with very impressive scores and topped his final year (1916). On completing his studies at the RANC he was promoted to midshipman on 1 January 1917 and left immediately on the steamer Naldera for training with the Royal Navy. Farncomb was stationed on board the battleship HMS Royal Sovereign in April 1917.

## Naval career

Farncomb served on Royal Sovereign until shortly after the end of World War I. On leaving Royal Sovereign Farncomb was promoted to sub-lieutenant and sent to HMS Excellent on Whale Island for course training. After completing training at Whale Island Farncomb was transferred to Woolsher, a small craft attached to the destroyer force at the Firth of Forth. He then received his first posting in Australia; stationed on board HMAS Stalwart for a year as a gunnery officer, this posting was followed by a year on the staff of Commodore Percy Addison, Commodore Commanding the Australia Squadron (CCAS). In May 1925, after a 10-month war staff course in the United Kingdom, he took a posting as a staff officer (operations) with the CCAS.

### Naval career summary

| 1913 | Royal Australian Naval College, Osborne House, Geelong, Victoria |
| 1917 | promoted midshipman |
| | HMS Royal Sovereign (in UK) |
| 1918 | promoted sub-lieutenant |
| | HMS Excellent (Whale Island, Hampshire) |
| 1920 | promoted lieutenant – awarded the maximum of five first-class certificates for his lieutenant's courses |
| 1921 | gunnery officer, HMAS Stalwart (in Australia) |
| 1922 | intelligence officer, Commodore (Sir) Percy Addison's staff on the flagship, HMAS Melbourne |
| 1923 | Royal Naval College, Greenwich |
| 1925 | staff officer (operations) to CCAS (Commodore Commanding the Australia Squadron) |
| 1927 | promoted lieutenant commander |
| 1932 | promoted commander |
| 1933 | executive officer, HMAS Australia |
| 1934 | made a Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO) |
| 1935 | Naval Intelligence Division at the Admiralty |
| 1937 | first RANC graduate to be promoted captain |
| | commander HMAS Yarra |
| 1939 | as commander, commissioned HMAS Perth |
| 1940 | commander HMAS Canberra |
| 1941 | commander of the flagship HMAS Australia, chief staff officer to Rear Admiral (Sir) John Crace |
| 1942 | Rear Admiral (Sir) Victor Crutchley replaced Crace |
| 1943 | made a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). Citation: "For skill, resolution and coolness during operations in the Solomon Islands whilst commanding HMAS Australia" |
| 1944 | commander HMS Attacker (in the Mediterranean) |
| | assumed command of the Australian Squadron as commodore first class commodore commanding H.M.A. Squadron (Fleet) |
| 1945 | flag officer-in-charge, New South Wales |
| | commodore superintendent of training at Flinders Naval Depot, Westernport, Victoria |
| | made a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) and awarded the Navy Cross and made a Commander of the Legion of Merit by the United States |
| 1946 | commodore commanding H.M.A. Squadron (Fleet) |
| 1947 | promoted rear admiral |
| | flag officer commanding H.M.A. Squadron (Fleet) |
| 1950 | head of the Australian Joint Services Staff in Washington |
| 1951 | retired from Navy |

## Post-military life

Farncomb left the service in 1951 and learned Latin to enable him to study for the Barristers' Admission Board examinations. Admitted to the Bar on 6 June 1958, he developed a reasonably busy practice in Sydney and subsequently joined the solicitors, Alfred Rofe & Sons. A street in the town of Narooma is named in Farncomb's honour.
Heart disease eventually led to his retirement.

## Personal life

On 31 March 1927 at Trinity Congregational Church, Strathfield, Sydney, he married Jean Ross Nott; they were to remain childless. "Jean provided staunch support throughout the vicissitudes of her husband's career".

## Retirement and death

Survived by his wife, Farncomb died of heart failure on 12 February 1971 in St Vincent's Hospital, Darlinghurst, and was cremated with Anglican rites. His ashes were scattered at sea on 2 March from the flight deck of his last flagship, HMAS Sydney, off the coast of Western Australia.