Russell Birch was born in Brighton, Sussex, on 9 September 1891, to Ernest Mawbey Birch and his wife, Leticia Cecile Birch, of 6, Lygon Place, Grosvenor Gardens, London. He joined the Royal Navy as a Cadet on 15 January 1904 and joined submarine training as a Sub Lieutenant in September 1913.

Promoted Lieutenant in June 1913, Birch was appointed to HMS B6 as First Lieutenant in September 1913. As the Dardanelles campaign developed, B6 was sent firstly to the Island of Tenedos and later to Mudros Harbour on the island of Lemnos.

Russell Birch was next appointed to HMS B7 in command in July 1915, but was hospitalised with typhoid and enteric fever from August 1915 to January 1916. In March 1916 Birch was apparently on board E24 for experience ‘and to assist with the navigation’. E24 sailed from Harwich on Tuesday 21 March 1916, with orders to carry out a mine-laying operation in the Heligoland Bight. The submarine did not return from this operation and appears to have been sunk in a minefield on or about Friday 24 March 1916.

Russell Birch is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval War Memorial on Panel No 11.