Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - An haifi Bruce a Stoke Damerel, Devonport, Devon, ɗan Kwamandan Sir Thomas Bruce, wanda daga baya ya zama Babban Jami'in Packets a Dover. Ya bi mahaifinsa zuwa Navy a matsayin Cadet a HMS "Britannia" a 1875. Sabis na farko na teku ya kasance a cikin HMS "Black Prince", babban jirgin ruwa na Channel Squadron da kuma na biyu na ironclad a cikin Royal Navy. Daga nan sai ya shiga jirgin ruwa mai suna HMS "Raleigh" a cikin Bahar Rum a matsayin Midshipman, sannan HMS "Monarch", jirgin ruwa na farko, daga Nuwamba 1879, ya shiga cikin Yaƙin Anglo-Masar
na shekara ta 1882. An gabatar da shi zuwa Sub-Lieutenant a watan Yunin 1882, ya tafi Royal Naval College, Greenwich a watan Agustan 1882, kuma a 1883 an nada shi zuwa jirgin ruwa na HMS "Swinger" a Ostiraliya. Ya kasance a cikinta har zuwa 1887, bayan da aka ba shi mukamin Laftanar a watan Disamba na 1884. A watan Fabrairun 1888 ya shiga jirgin ruwa mai suna HMS "Porpoise" a kan tashar China kuma a watan Agustan 1891 ya tafi jirgin ruwa mai suna HMS "Beagle" a kan tashar Arewacin Amirka. A watan Janairun 1894 an nada shi jami'in bindiga na jirgin ruwa mai suna HMS "Marathon" a tashar Gabashin Indiya, ya yi karatun bindiga a HMS "Excellent", kuma a 1897 ya shiga jirgin ruwa mai suna HMS "Sirius", yana dauke da ma'aikatan agaji zuwa Bahar Rum.