Julian Tenison was born in Queensland, Australia on 2 June 1885, the son of Charles McCarthy Tenison and Elisabeth Crompton-Ashlin.

Julian travelled to England and joined the Royal Navy at the Britannia Royal Naval College in 1900.  He had been entered in the Royal Navy as a ‘Colonial Candidate’.

Julian saw sea service in 1902 in the Cruiser HMS DIADEM and in the Battleship HMS MAGNIFICENT.  In 1903 he was appointed to the Battleship HMS OCEAN on the China Station, followed by the Cruiser HMS LEVIATHAN on the Mediterranean Station in 1904. After Sub Lieutenant’s Courses in 1906 he was appointed to the Cruiser HMS SAPPHIRE until 1907 when he was appointed to the Submarine Depot Ship HMS MERCURY ‘for Course of Instruction in Submarines’.

Promoted to Lieutenant in 1907, the following year he was appointed to the Submarine Depot Ship HMS THAMES ‘for Submarines’.  His first command came in 1909 when he was appointed to HMS MERCURY ‘for Submarine A6 in Command’.  He next took command of HMS C5 in 1910.

His next appointment in 1913 was to the Battleship HMS DREADNOUGHT for his ‘Big Ship’ time. On the outbreak of war in August 1914, DREADNOUGHT was the Flagship of the 4th Battle Squadron, Grand Fleet. On 18 March 1915, the Grand Fleet was conducting a sweep in the North Sea when the 4th Battle Squadron was detached to return to the Cromarty Firth. The Officer of the Watch in DREADNOUGHT spotted a periscope close on the Port bow.  The ship was turned and rammed and sank the German U-Boat U-29

Julian Tenison was promoted Lieutenant Commander in 1915, and left DREADNOUGHT two weeks later with an appointment to the Submarine Depot Ship HMS FORTH.  In 1916 he took command of HMS E4.

E4 was hit, whilst dived, by HMS E41 during torpedo firing practice on 15 August 1916.  Both E41 and E4 sank, E4 being lost with all hands and E41 (q.v) with the loss of one Officer and fifteen Ratings.

Julian Tenison and his crew were buried at the Shotley (St Mary) Cemetery in the Submarine Enclosure.

Both submarines were recovered, refitted, and returned to service.  There is a substantial collection of personal material relating to Julian Tenison in the archive of the Royal Navy Submarine Museum.