Robert Chisholm was born in Hendon in Middlesex on 4 May 1884, the son of Robert Fellowes Chisholm and Alice Chisholm. He joined the Royal Navy as a Cadet and, after time in surface ships, he joined submarines as a Lieutenant in January 1911.

After three unspecified submarine appointments, Chisholm’s first command came in May 1913, that of HMS B3. He was promoted Lieutenant Commander in October 1914 and, in February 1915, he was appointed in command of HMS E37.

E37 was lost on the night of 30 November 1916, probably in a minefield off Orford Ness. There were no survivors. Robert Chisholm is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval War Memorial on Panel No 11.