Henry Segrave had an illustrious record in auto racing after World War I, during which he served in the Royal Flying Corps as a fighter pilot. He became the first British driver to win a Grand Prix in a British car, by winning outright the 1923 Grand Prix de l'Automobile Club de France, held at Tours in a Sunbeam. He also won the Gran Premio do San Sebastian, Spain, in 1924 as well as the Grand Prix de Provence at Miramas in both 1925 and 1926, driving a Talbot. He then retired from Grand Prix racing and turned to World Land Speed records, which he broke three times and which earned him his knighthood.

The next challenge for Sir Henry Segrave was the World Water Speed record. In his first runs, he broke Garfield Wood's previous record. He wasn't satisfied with the record, because it was still a fraction under one hundred miles-per-hour. On the second attempt on Lake Windermere, Westmorland, England, on Friday, 13 June 1930 his boat hit a submerged log and disintegrated. His riding mechanic Victor Halliwell drowned when the boat rolled over on him as it crashed, and his chief engineer Mr. Michael "Jack" Willcocks of Clevedon in Somerset, also on board, was seriously injured after being thrown from the craft, but survived.

R.I.P