William Reginald Hall

Sir William Reginald Hall
Admiral Hall in 1919
Nickname(s)	Blinker
Born	28 June 1870 Britford, Wiltshire
Died	22 October 1943 (aged 73)
Allegiance	United Kingdom / British Empire
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1884–1919
Battles/wars	World War I
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Companion of the Order of the Bath Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star

Admiral Sir William Reginald Hall KCMG CB (28 June 1870 – 22 October 1943), known as Blinker Hall, was the British Director of Naval Intelligence (DNI) from 1914 to 1919. Together with Sir Alfred Ewing he was responsible for the establishment of the Royal Navy's codebreaking operation, Room 40, which decoded the Zimmermann telegram, a major factor in the entry of the United States in World War I.

William Hall was born in Britford, Wiltshire, eldest son of Captain William Henry Hall, the first head of Naval Intelligence, who married the daughter of the reverend George Armfield from Armley, Leeds. Hall decided on a naval career for himself when taken on a cruise on board HMS Flamingo by his father. He joined the training ship HMS Britannia in 1884 and two years later was appointed to the armoured cruiser Northampton. After a year he was transferred to the ironclad battleship Bellerophon which was part of the North American Station. In 1889 he became acting sub-lieutenant before attending courses for his Lieutenants examinations at Greenwich, the gunnery school and torpedo school where he achieved first class grades in all five of the subjects. Now as Lieutenant he was posted to the China Station where he served on the flagship, the armoured cruiser Imperieuse. In 1892 he was recommended to train as a gunnery officer, which involved a course in mathematics at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, followed by a year's course at the gunnery school at HMS Excellent, a shore establishment at Whale Island, Portsmouth. Having qualified, he remained for a year on the staff.