Sir Charles Dennistoun Burney, 2nd Baronet (28 December 1888 – 11 November 1968, in Bermuda) was an English aeronautical engineer, private inventor and Conservative Party politician.
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Early military career
Burney was the son of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Cecil Burney Bt. He was given a naval education, starting his training at HMS Britannia in 1903, and joining the battleship Exmouth as a midshipman in early 1905. He was posted to the destroyer HMS Crusader in 1909, which was being used for experimental anti-submarine work at the time.
In 1911, he came up with a novel seaplane design using a hydrofoil undercarriage. Further development was carried out by the Bristol and Colonial Aeroplane Company and two prototype designs, the X.2 and X.3, were produced, but were unsuccessful.
On the outbreak of World War I, Burney was given command of the destroyer HMS Velox, but shortly afterwards joined the research establishment at HMS Vernon. There he developed the paravane, an anti-mine device, for which he took out a number of patents in 1916. These were to earn him around £350,000 during the course of the war through their use by foreign merchant fleets. He was appointed CMG in the 1917 Birthday Honours. In 1920 Burney retired from the navy with the rank of lieutenant-commander, and was promoted on the retired list to commander.