Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I whanau a Bruce i Stoke Damerel, Devonport, Devon, te tama a Commander Sir Thomas Bruce, i muri mai ka noho ko ia hei Kaitiaki o nga Peke i Dover. I whai ia i tona papa ki te Navy hei Cadet i HMS "Britannia" i te 1875. Ko tana mahi moana tuatahi i runga i te HMS "Black Prince", te kaipuke rangatira o te Channel Squadron me te tuarua o nga kaipuke whawhai i roto i te Royal Navy. Kātahi ka uru atu ia ki te kaipuke HMS "Raleigh" i te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa hei Midshipman, ka whai ake ko HMS "Monarch", te kaipuke pourewa tuatahi, mai i te marama o Noema 1879, i uru atu ki te
Te Pakanga Ingarihi-Ihipa o te tau 1882. I whakatairangahia ia hei Kaihautū i te Hune 1882, i haere ia ki te Royal Naval College, Greenwich i Akuhata 1882, a i te tau 1883 i tohua ia ki te kaipuke pupuhi HMS "Swinger" i Ahitereiria. I noho ia ki a ia tae noa ki te 1887, i whakatairangahia ia hei Lieutenant i te marama o Tihema 1884. I te Hui-tanguru 1888 ka uru ia ki te kaipuke HMS "Porpoise" i te teihana Haina a i te marama o Akuhata 1891 ka haere ia ki te HMS "Beagle" i te teihana Amerika ki te Raki. I te marama o Hanuere 1894 i tohua ia hei rangatira pupuhi o te kaipuke cruiser HMS "Marathon" i te teihana o East Indies, i mahi i te akoranga pupuhi i HMS "Excellent", a i te tau 1897 i uru atu ia ki te kaipuke cruiser HMS "Sirius", e kawe ana i nga kaimahi awhina ki te Mediterranean.