Edmund George Irving

Sir Edmund George Irving
Sir Edmund George Irving
Born	5 April 1910; North Borneo
Died	1 October 1990 (aged 80)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1924-1966
Rank	Rear admiral
Office	Hydrographer of the Navy
Term	1960-1965

Rear-Admiral Sir Edmund George Irving, KBE, CB, FRGS (5 April 1910 – 1 October 1990) was a naval hydrographer.

Early life[edit]

Irving was born in Sandakan, British North Borneo to the resident magistrate George Clerk Irving and his wife Ethel Mary Frances Poole.

Education[edit]

Irving attended St Anthony's preparatory school, Eastbourne, and the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. He then went to sea as a cadet in HMS Royal Oak in 1927.^[1]

Career[edit]

In 1931 Irving joined the Royal Naval Surveying Service. In 1944, when in command of HMS Franklin, Irving resurveyed a number of the ports and harbours in north-west Europe as they fell into allied hands. After his ship berthed in Terneuzen his surveys of the Schelde enabled allied shipping to carry military supplies to Antwerp.

In 1948 Irving carried out sea trials of the newly developed two-range Decca system for fixing the position of surveying ships when out of sight of land in HMS Sharpshooter.

In the late 1950s, as a rear admiral, he was appointed Hydrographer of the Navy.^[2] In this position he convinced the Admiralty that purpose-built survey vessels would be cheaper than converted naval vessels, the first being launched as HMS Hecla in 1964. He retired in 1966, subsequently working for the Decca company.

Honours[edit]

Irving was president of the Institute of Navigation from 1964 to 1967.^[3] He was president of the Royal Geographical Society (1969–71) and received their Patron's Medal in 1976.

Mount Irving in the South Shetland Islands was named in his honour.

References[edit]

^ G. S. Ritchie (2004). "Irving, Sir Edmund George (1910–1990)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/40141. Retrieved 1 August 2009. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ Report of the Proceedings - Seventh International Hydrographic Conference. Impr. Monégasque. 1957.
^ "Presidents and Directors of the RIN". Royal Institute of Navigation. Retrieved 22 November 2021.

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[1] G. S. Ritchie (2004). "Irving, Sir Edmund George (1910–1990)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/40141. Retrieved 1 August 2009. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

[2] Report of the Proceedings - Seventh International Hydrographic Conference. Impr. Monégasque. 1957.

[Institute-3] "Presidents and Directors of the RIN". Royal Institute of Navigation. Retrieved 22 November 2021.

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v t e Presidents of the Royal Geographical Society
19th century	F. J. Robinson George Murray John Barrow William R. Hamilton George Greenough Roderick Murchison Charles Abbot William J. Hamilton William Smyth Roderick Murchison Francis Egerton Frederick Beechey Roderick Murchison Bingham Baring Roderick Murchison Henry Rawlinson Henry Frere Rutherford Alcock Thomas Baring Henry Bruce John Campbell Richard Strachey M. E. Grant Duff Clements Markham
20th century	George Goldie Leonard Darwin George Curzon Douglas Freshfield Thomas Holdich Francis Younghusband Lawrence Dundas David George Hogarth Charles Close William Goodenough Percy Cox Henry Balfour Philip Chetwode Francis Rodd Harry Lindsay James Wordie James Marshall-Cornwall Roger Nathan Raymond Priestley Dudley Stamp Gilbert Laithwaite Edmund Irving Edward Shackleton Duncan Cumming John Hunt Michael John Wise Vivian Fuchs George Bishop Roger Chorley Crispin Tickell George Jellicoe John Palmer
21st century	Ron Cooke Neil Cossons Gordon Conway Michael Palin Judith Rees Nicholas Crane Lynda Chalker Nigel Clifford