English naval historian, born at Liverpool on the 23rd of April 1830, and educated at the Royal Institution school, Liverpool, and Caius College, Cambridge. In 1853 he entered the navy as an instructor, and served during the Crimean War, afterwards entering the Mediterranean and Channel fleets successively. In 1866 he became instructor at the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth, and in 1873 was transferred to the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. In 1885 he was appointed professor of modern history at King’s College, London, a post which he held until his death. In 1893 he founded the Navy Records Society, of which he became secretary, retiring in 1912. He was knighted in 1907. Sir John Laughton was also a distinguished meteorologist, and from 1882 to 1884 was president of the Royal Meteorological Society. His numerous writings include Physical Geography in its Relation to the Prevailing Winds and Currents (1870); A Treatise on Nautical Surveying (1872); an edition of Nelson’s letters and despatches (1886); Studies in Naval History (1887); Nelson (in “English Men of Action,” 1895); Nelson and his Companions in Arms (1896); A Life of Henry Reeve (1898); From Howard to Nelson (1899), and Sea Fights and Adventures (1901). He died in London on the 14th of September 1915. (See authored articles: David Glasgow Farragut, Robert Fitzroy, Arthur William Acland Hood, Wilhelm von Tegetthoff.)
