MaleFrancis Jurgensen was a Manticoran citizen and an officer of the Royal Manticoran Navy.
Physical appearance[]
Jurgensen was a small, neat man with brown eyes. (HH10)
Biography[]
Holding the rank of Admiral of the Green, he served as Second Space Lord for the High Ridge government, placing him in charge of Manticore's Office of Naval Intelligence. Since he owed his rank more to political patronage than to any personal ability, he proved to be remarkably incompetent at his job. In keeping with the cutback policies advanced by his primary patron, First Lord of the Admiralty Sir Edward Janacek, he curtailed the number and use of human agents deployed in the Republic of Haven and the Silesian Confederacy, and devoted minimal analysis to the intelligence that did reach his office. Benjamin Mayhew, Protector of Grayson, confided to Honor Harrington his troubling suspicion that ONI, under Jurgensen's stewardship, was not analyzing raw data as much as it was simply cherry-picking those facts which supported the High Ridge government's biased view of events, including the non-belligerence of the Havenites, and the RMN's vast superiority over them in technology, in the unlikely event that hostilities between the two nations ever flared up again.
Jurgensen also severely limited the intelligence that was shared with several of Manticore's allies, including Grayson. Whatever official explanation was given, Jurgensen did little to hide his suspicion of the Grayson Navy, which employed at least two ex-Havenite officers, Alfredo Yu and Warner Caslet, in its ranks. This bias outraged Harrington, who categorized Jurgensen as "a political cretin in a uniform."
Jurgensen was utterly shocked when the Republic of Haven announced several new classes of ships they had developed in secrecy. Even his primary patron, Janacek, was forced to admit to Baron High Ridge that Jurgensen had badly botched his responsibilities, but urged that Jurgensen remain in office, partly because replacing him would be a sign of weakness to the government's critics, and partly because Janacek hoped to retain him as a convenient scapegoat if the Republic's announcements turned out to be accurate.
Jurgensen was replaced by Admiral Patricia Givens after the fall of the High Ridge government, and was to be dismissed from the service. There even was talk of criminal charges being lodged against him. (HH10)
Service Record[]
Promotions[]
- Admiral
Posts[]
- Second Space Lord
References[]
| Preceded by Patricia Givens |
Second Space Lord of the Royal Manticoran Navy |
Succeeded by Patricia Givens |