Camille Cambon

Camille Louis Marie Cambon (born June 7, 1878 in Montpellier , Hérault department , † January 4, 1937 in Paris , Seine department ) was a rear admiral in the French Navy .

Life

Training as a naval officer and First World War

Cambon, son of the lawyer Camille Cambon and his wife Elise Larmand, began studying at the École polytechnique in 1898 and then in 1900 training as a naval officer at the Naval School (École Navale) . In the course of his training, he was transferred to the military port of Toulon on October 1, 1900 and in 1901 on board the protected cruiser D'Entrecasteaux , where he took part in operations off China during a voyage to the Far East . On October 1, 1902, he was promoted to first lieutenant at sea (Enseigne de vaisseau de première classe) and in 1903 transferred to the Gaulois ship of the line belonging to the Mediterranean squadron (Escadre de Méditerranée) . Subsequently, he found employment as an officer on the liner Bouvet and then on the standard liner Charles Martel , before completing a course for torpedo boat officers in 1905 .

In 1906 Cambon became a torpedo officer on the unit line ship Patrie in the Mediterranean and then in March 1908 torpedo officer on the armored cruiser Latouche-Tréville , whereupon a course at the naval weapons school (École de canonnage) followed. After he had been promoted to lieutenant captain (Lieutenant de vaisseau de première classe) on June 1, 1910, he became a deputy member of the artillery test commission in Gâvres on September 1, 1910 . In 1912 he became a naval weapons officer on the unit line ship Vérité and took part as such in the First World War on December 2, 1912 in the bombing of the fortresses of the Dardanelles . In January 1916 he became deputy commander of the patrol boat Foudre of the patrol division in the eastern Mediterranean and did a great job transporting Serb troops to the Salonika front.

In June 1916, Cambon took over his first command of his own, as the commander of the patrol boat Atmah . Subsequently, in October 1917, he took over the post of the patrol boat Éros as deputy commander of the patrol division responsible for Algeria and Tunisia , and as such took part in escorting convoys against enemy submarines .

Post-war period and promotion to rear admiral

At this post Cambon was promoted to Corvette Captain (Capitaine de Corvette) on August 3, 1918 and to Frigate Captain (Capitaine de Frégate) on August 1, 1920 . As such, he was transferred on January 1, 1921 to the armored cruiser Gueydon , which belonged to the Atlantic Division (Division navale de l'Atlantique) . He then took over in December 1922 the post of Chief of Staff at the commanding officer of the Levante Division (Division du Levant) , Flotilla Admiral Jacques Vindry , on its flagship , the armored cruiser Waldeck-Rousseau . In 1924 he became secretary of the Supreme Marinerate (Conseil Supérieur de la Marine) and received as such on September 17, 1925 his promotion to sea captain (Capitaine de Vaisseau) .

Then Cambon took over the post in 1926 as head of Department 1 in the General Staff of the Navy and was also an officer at the Center for Higher Naval Studies (Center des Hautes Études Navales) . In October 1927 he became the commandant of the battleship Lorraine , which was part of the Mediterranean squadron, and then in 1929 chief of staff at the Inspector General of the Naval Units in southern France . In this role, he was promoted to flotilla admiral (Contre-amiral) on May 10, 1930 and then served as chief of staff at the Cherbourg naval base . In February 1931 he became director of the navy's military personnel department and in 1934 commander of the training division of the 1st squadron on the flagship Paris . In this position he was in February 1936 Rear Admiral (Vice-amiral) and on February 15, 1936 Commander of the Legion of Honor . Thereupon he was again director of the department for military personnel of the fleet as well as a member of the Supreme Naval Council and on September 21, 1936 president of the technical committee and the fortress investigation commission.

On January 1, 1937, Cambon took over the role of First Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (Premier Sous-Chef d'État-Major au Ministère de la Marine) , but died three days later.

Web links

• Entry on the homepage of the naval school
• Entry in Geneanet