William Napier (Royal Navy officer)

Admiral William Rawdon Napier, CB, CMG, DSO (13 June 1877 – 8 April 1951) was a Royal Navy officer who served as First Naval Member and Chief of the Australian Naval Staff from 1926 to 1929.

Napier joined the Royal Navy as a naval cadet in January 1891.

From 25 July 1902 he was posted to the cruiser HMS St George, serving in the Cruiser squadron,[2] before becoming torpedo officer (T) in the cruiser HMS Good Hope when it commissioned for service in the Atlantic Fleet in November 1902.

[3] He served during the First World War and was mentioned in despatches for his service in the Gallipoli campaign[4] and awarded the Distinguished Service Order for minesweeping operations.

[6] He was promoted to full admiral on the Retired list in 1933.