Rear Admiral Sir Sydney Marow Eardley-Wilmot (3 October 1847 - 27 February 1929) was a Royal Navy officer who took an active part in the Suakin Expedition and who lost a hand as the result of an explosion at the Vernon torpedo school. He had a specialism in naval gunnery and was Superintendent of Ordnance Stores at the Admiralty during the period of the Anglo-German naval arms race when the Dreadnought Fleet was developed. He advocated for the construction of the largest guns possible. He wrote a number of works of naval history as well as two books about future naval warfare.Eardley-Wilmot was born into a military family - he had four elder brothers, three of whom (William, Revell and Frederick) were army officers. He joined the Royal Navy on 9 June 1860 and served on HMS Emerald and HMS Duncan as a midshipman. He received the Canadian General Service Medal in 1866 for services related to the Fenian raids of 1866. 3] He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in 1869. In January 1870, he joined HMS Zealous in the Pacific on which he served for three years and about which he later edited an account of the voyage given by the officers.