Charles Kingsmill Admiral Sir Charles Edmund Kingsmill ( July 7 , 1855 – July 15 , 1935 ) was the first director of the Department of the Naval Service of Canada after playing a prominent role in the establishment of the Royal Canadian Navy in 1910 . Along with Walter Hose , he is considered the father of the Royal Canadian Navy . Royal Navy career . Charles Edmund Kingsmill was born at Guelph , Ontario in 1855 and educated at Upper Canada College in Toronto . He was the son of John Juchereau Kingsmill , Crown Attorney for Wellington County and Ellen Diana Grange . In 1870 he joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman . He was promoted Sub - Lieutenant in 1875 , Lieutenant in 1877 , Commander in 1891 , and Captain in 1898 . During his career in the Royal Navy , he commanded HM Ships " Goldfinch " ( 1890 – 91 ) , " Blenheim " ( 1895 - 95 ) , " Archer " ( 1895 – 98 ) , " Gibraltar " ( 1900 ) , " Mildura " ( 1900 – 03 ) , " Resolution " , " Majestic " ( 1905 – 06 ) , and " Dominion " ( 1907 ) . Royal Canadian Navy . In 1908 , Kingsmill retired from the Royal Navy and returned to Canada . He was appointed honorary aide - de - camp to His Excellency the Governor - General in 1909 . At the behest of then Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier , he accepted the post of director of the Marine Service in the Department of Marine and Fisheries under then Minister of Marine and Fisheries Louis - Philippe Brodeur . The appointment predetermined his eventual appointment as Rear - Admiral RCN and director of the Naval Service of Canada upon the formation of the RCN on 4 May 1910 . He served in that position for 11 years and guided Canada ’ s nascent Navy through its first decade . He was made Vice - Admiral on 17 May 1913 and a full Admiral in 1917 , the only naval officer in Canadian history to be promoted to that rank . He was knighted in 1918 . In 1912 , The Naval Services Act was replaced by a new bill requiring Canada to supply the RN with cash instead of ships . This resulted in a crisis when the Canadian Navy ' s budget was reduced by half . However , the efforts of Kingsmill and Deputy Minister George J . Desbarats through Minister of Marine and Fisheries John Douglas Hazen , the government was made aware as to the value of its navy as well as that of the Royal Naval College of Canada in Halifax . He was made a Knight Bachelor in 1918 . He was awarded for outstanding services as the Director of Naval Services of Canada 1910 – 1921 . Admiral Kingsmill retired on December 31 , 1921 and died at his summer home on Grindstone Island near Portland , Ontario in July 1935 . He is buried in the Anglican cemetery in Portland , where an Ontario Heritage Trust plaque commemorates his contribution to Canadian Naval history . Medals of Admiral Sir Charles Edmund Kingsmill , Kt : The junior officer quarters building at Venture NOTC , the Canadian Naval Officer Training Centre , is named after him . On 3 January 2011 a portrait bust of Admiral Sir Charles Kingsmill was presented at Navy Headquarters , Department of National Defence in Ottawa to Vice - Admiral Dean McFadden to mark the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Navy . The portrait was sculpted by Canadian artist Christian Cardell Corbet . Relatives . Kingsmill ' s cousin , Col . Walter Bernard Kingsmill , the son of Admiral Kingsmill ' s uncle , Nicol Kingsmill , was head of the 10th Royal Grenadiers and led the 123rd Battalion on the front lines in France during the First World War .