Hugh Archer (Royal Navy officer)

Captain Hugh Edward Murray Archer, DSO (15 August 1879 - 30 December 1931^[1]) was a British Royal Navy officer and spy.^[2]

Captain Hugh Archer DSO
Archer and his father aboard Edirene
Born	Hugh Edward Murray Archer (1879-08-15)15 August 1879
Died	30 December 1931(1931-12-30) (aged 52)
Nationality	British
Espionage activity
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service branch	SIS (MI6)
Codename	Sagette
Operations	World War I
Father	Walter Archer
Relatives	Norman Archer (brother)

In 1912, Hugh Archer and his father Walter Archer were recruited as agents by Mansfield Smith-Cumming, the first director of the Secret Intelligence Service, who gave them the codenames "Sagette" and "Sage", to spy on German ships in Norwegian and Danish waters.^[3][4][5]

Life and career

In 1894, Archer entered the Royal Navy. Promoted to lieutenant in 1902, he served in the battleship HMS Empress of India and HMS Majestic.^[2]

He specialised in navigation, and was navigating officer of the cruiser HMS Iphigenia in 1906. From 1908, he was the first and navigating lieutenant of the cruiser HMS Perseus in the East Indies.^[2]

He retired in 1910, but rejoined the active list on the outbreak of World War 1 in 1914, and was appointed for minesweeping duties at Sheerness Dockyard.^[2]

Later he was appointed to HMS Attentive, parent ship at Dover Patrol and he was one of four minesweeping officers under the orders of Sir Reginald Bacon who were commended in the Admiral's book on the Dover Patrol.^[2]

Archer was promoted to acting commander and received the Distinguished Service Order in July 1916 in recognition of his services with ships of the Auxiliary Patrol.^[6]

After the armistice he was appointed to the Minesweeping Division (Royal Navy). He was confirmed in the rank of commander with effect from 11 November 1918 and in August 1924 he was promoted to captain on the retired list.^[2]

References

1. "Name Archer, Hugh Edward Murray Date of Birth: 15 August 1879 Rank: ..." The National Archives. 15 January 1894. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
2. "Captain H. E. M. Archer, R.N.". The Times. 6 January 1931.
3. Smith, Michael (31 October 2011). Six: The Real James Bonds 1909-1939. Biteback Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84954-264-7.
4. Smith, Michael (2019). The Anatomy of a Spy: A History of Espionage and Betrayal. Arcade. pp. 111–112. ISBN 9781950691173.
5. Boyd, Andrew (2020). British Naval Intelligence through the Twentieth Century. Seaforth Publishing. p. 73. ISBN 9781526736628.
6. Admiralty (14 July 1916). "To be Companions of the Distinguished Service Order". Supplement to the London Gazette. No. 29668. Retrieved 19 April 2022.