(photo Caroline Favier)
| Admiral Prince
Chumporn was the 28th son of King Chulalongkorn. He was born on 19
December 1880. He studied in the Royal Palace until he was 13 years
old. Then he went to the United Kingdom to attend a naval instruction
course. He continued with a midshipman training on HMS Revenge. He commanded his men in the fight against the rebels on Crete Island in Greece. After he graduated from England, he was promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade, the equivalent of Lieutenant-Commander nowadays. He developed the Royal Thai Navy into a modern navy and trained his men national loyalty. He trained naval cadets himself. Every naval cadet had the tattoo "Ror Sor 112" on his chest, because Prince Chumporn wanted to remind him of the fighting against the French Navy in 1893. AD 1893 is the year 112 in the Rattanakosin Era. He had a ship built and named it "Namtan". She was built to practice deviation and insert magnetic sticks to correct the direction of a compass. The name Namtan means "sugar" in English, because like sugar she can't float. The second reason is that sugar is used to quench a hot, spicy taste. The Thai expression to quench a hot, spicy taste means "to get revenge". It is located where naval cadets can see it every day, to remind them to revenge and prevent the same event that happened in Por Sor 112. Prince Chumporn died many years ago, but he is in our memories forever. We call him the "Father of the Navy". |
| References: จันทวิรัช, พลเรือเอก ประพัฒน. พระประวัติและพระกรณียกิจในสมัยรัชกาลที่ ๕ ของ พลเรือเอกพระเจ้าบรมวงศ์เธอ กรมหลวงชุมพรเขตอุดมศักดิ์ รวบรวมจากเอกสารราชการ. กรุงเทพฯ: โรงพิมพ์เจริญธรรม, ๒๕๒๗. Last update: Humanities Department, October 2004. |
