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ADMIRALS OF THE BRITISH NAVY
Portraits in Colours by
FRANCIS DODD
With Introduction and Biographical Notes
Published from the Offices of "Country Life," Ltd.,
20, Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, London;
and George Newnes, Ltd., 8-11, Southampton Street,
Strand, London, W.C. 2.
MCMXVII
CONTENTS
_INTRODUCTION_
I.--JELLICOE, ADMIRAL SIR JOHN R., G.C.B., O.M., G.C.V.O.
II.--BURNEY, ADMIRAL SIR CECIL, G.C.M.G., K.C.B., D.S.O.
III.--MADDEN, ADMIRAL SIR C. E., K.C.B., K.C.M.G., C.V.O.
IV.--PHILLIMORE, REAR-ADMIRAL R. F., C.B., M.V.O.
V.--BACON, VICE-ADMIRAL SIR R. H. S., K.C.B., K.C.V.O., D.S.O.
VI.--DE ROBECK, VICE-ADMIRAL SIR J. M., K.C.B.
VII.--NAPIER, VICE-ADMIRAL T. D. W., C.B., M.V.O.
VIII.--BROCK, REAR-ADMIRAL SIR OSMOND de B., K.C.V.O., C.B., C.M.G.
IX.--HALSEY, REAR-ADMIRAL LIONEL, C.B., C.M.G.
X.--PAKENHAM, VICE-ADMIRAL SIR W. C., K.C.B., K.C.V.O.
XI.--PAINE, COMMODORE GODFREY M., C.B., M.V.O.
XII.--TYRWHITT, COMMODORE SIR R. Y., K.C.B., D.S.O.
INTRODUCTION
If the English are singularly incurious about their Navy, that attitude
must not be thought to imply neglect. On the contrary, it is a blend of
admiration, respect, and, above all, confidence, induced very largely by
the Navy itself. For so long has the Navy minded its own silent business
that we--otherwise so inquisitive a people--have come to look upon it as
beyond examination and (normally too eager to cut open the drum and
explore its resources) trustfully to leave it to its own devices,
conscious that those devices are wholly in our own interests. As Matthew
Arnold said in his sonnet to Shakespeare:
_Others abide our question, thou art free--_
so do we address the Navy. For, although it baffles curiosity and ends
by eliminating it, it is only to substitute faith. We do not take for
granted all the things that we cannot understand: sometimes, indeed, we
deny them; but we are satisfied to take for granted the Navy. We know
that it is there. Where "there" is we may have no notion; by "there" we
mean probably everywhere. The Navy is not only there, the Navy is
everywhere, and therefore all's well. That is our simple creed.
A further cause for this quiet and unusual acceptivity is to be found in
the medium in which the Navy works--the sea itself. The sea has ever
been a barrier to investigation, and the Navy and the sea are one.
Public opinion is land-made, and landsmen have neither time nor
inclination to cope with the riddles of the ocean, which to most of us
is vague and inimical, the home of risks and discomforts which it is
wiser to avoid. Well content to consider her, from a safe distance, as a
Sphinx, we are very happy that to others has fallen the perilous lot of
patrolling her and very full of gratitude for their courage and
success.
If the Army, on the contrary, is so much under the microscope, it is
largely because it has few or no mysteries. We know the rules. Armies
are made up of men like ourselves (only better). They advance as we do,
by putting one foot before another, on the solid earth. Their movements
are followable, even if we cannot always understand them; daily
bulletins are printed in the public Press. But the Navy keeps its
secrets. Not only have we no notion where it is, but we should be little
the wiser as to its inner purposes if, scanning the illimitable and
capricious waves, it should be our fortune to descry here and there a
flotilla of its dark grey hulls. Even in harbour most men pointing out a
cruiser to their children say "That's a dreadnought"--a state of
confusion bred and fostered by the strange, dark, dangerous element in
which the Navy has its being.
So much for the causes of our odd willingness to forego one of the chief
privileges of British birthright, which is to criticise, even to
belittling, all that is ours. But there is justification, too, as the
state of the sea to-day testifies. Thanks to the Navy there is at this
moment hardly an enemy ship at large on the surface of the waters. The
Kaiser's darling ironclads are idle as painted ships upon a painted
ocean: not even an ocean, a canal. Our troops in millions have crossed
to the Continent. We have enough to eat.
By what wonders of efficiency and discipline, machinery and
co-ordination, this result has been brought about we neither know nor
are concerned to enquire. Enough that it is. But when it comes to
_personnel_, curiosity is legitimate; and this collection of portraits
and brief biographies has been prepared in the belief that very many of
those whose lives have been rendered secure by these efforts of the Navy
would like to see what manner of men are in control of our safeguards.
This is the heyday of the picture, and here are the pictures of our
leading sailors--the commanders who stand between us and the foe and
keep the foe at bay.
Charles Lamb (who was less of a sea-dog even than most men) confessed in
old age that he once sat to an artist friend for the portraits of
sixteen British Admirals. Mr. Dodd (even could a sitter of such notable
companionableness be now found) would have forced himself to dispense
with the fun of using him, for verisimilitude's sake, because all these
heads have been drawn from life and are reproduced as nearly as possible
in the colours of life. Looking over the forty and more Naval heroes
whom he has limned, one is struck by a generic likeness which is deeper
than such superficial similarity as the service beard can confer. Most
of the Admirals look like Admirals--and is there a better thing to be?
Certainly there is no better word. Not only have their ability and
courage and character united to lift them to high position and
authority; but here, again, we discern the subtle and penetrating
influence of the sea, a mistress who will allow no relaxation of
vigilance or toil, so swiftly and dangerously changeable can she be.
Hence the keen eyes, the level gaze, of all who would understand and
cope with her, and noticeably of all this gallant company.
In the present work the emphasis is laid rather upon the illustrations
than the letterpress. It is a gallery of portraits rather than a series
of biographies such as "The Lives of the British Admirals," which was
written by Dr. John Campbell, and, with periodical additions, so long
held the field. The time for such biographies happily is not yet. But
when it comes may there be some victories (already, of course, there are
three or four) to record as decisive and as noble as those in Campbell's
volumes!
E. V. LUCAS.
I
ADMIRAL SIR JOHN R. JELLICOE, G.C.B., O.M., G.C.V.O.
ADMIRAL SIR JOHN RUSHWORTH JELLICOE, G.C.B., O.M., G.C.V.O., was born on
December 5th, 1859. He was educated at Rottingdean, and entered the Navy
in 1872, becoming in 1880 a Lieutenant (three First Class Certificates).
As a young officer he specialised in Gunnery.
During the Egyptian War, as Lieutenant of the "Agincourt," he gained the
Egyptian Medal and Khedive's Bronze Star. In 1883 he received a special
£80 prize at the Royal Naval College.
In May, 1886, Lieutenant Jellicoe was awarded the Board of Trade Silver
Medal for having commanded a gig, manned by volunteers, which set out to
rescue the crew of a steamer stranded on a sandbank near Gibraltar. A
heavy sea was running and the boat capsized, but the crew, being
provided with cork jackets, managed to reach the shore in safety.
Lieutenant Jellicoe was Assistant to the Director of Naval Ordnance from
1888 to 1891, on June 30th of which year he became a Commander, and was
serving in the "Victoria" when she foundered off Tripoli after collision
with the "Camperdown" on June 27th, 1893. At the time of the catastrophe
Commander Jellicoe was suffering from Mediterranean fever. He was
promoted to Captain on January 1st, 1897. During the Boxer outbreak in
1900 he was Flag-Captain in the "Centurion," and took part in Admiral
Sir E. H. Seymour's International Expedition to relieve the Pekin
Legations. In this Expedition he acted as Chief Staff Officer, was
wounded, and afterwards received the C.B. for his services.
[Illustration: ADMIRAL SIR JOHN R. JELLICOE]
He was Naval Assistant to the Controller of the Navy from February,
1902, to August, 1903; Captain of the "Drake" from August, 1903, to
January, 1905; and Director of Naval Ordnance and Torpedoes from 1905
to August, 1907. In the previous March he had been made Aide-de-Camp to
the King, a post which he held until February 8th, 1907, when he became
an Admiral. From August, 1907, to August, 1908, he was Rear-Admiral in
the Atlantic Fleet, becoming Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy
at the end of 1908. He commanded the Atlantic Fleet in 1910, with the
rank of Acting Vice-Admiral, and on the occasion of King George V.'s
Coronation he was made a K.C.B. In 1911 he commanded the Second Division
of the Home Fleet, becoming a Vice-Admiral on September 18th of that
year. On December 9th, 1912, he was appointed Second Sea Lord.
On the outbreak of war on August 4th, 1914, he was given Chief Command
of the Grand Fleet, with the acting rank of Admiral. He was in supreme
command at the Battle of Jutland.
In recognition of his services during the war, he received the G.C.B. on
February 8th, 1915, and an Order in Council, dated November 10th, 1914,
laid down that "Admiral Jellicoe on his promotion to the rank of Admiral
is to retain seniority as Admiral of August 4th, 1914, while holding his
present command."
On May 31st, 1916, Admiral Jellicoe received the Order of Merit.
On December 4th, 1916, he became First Sea Lord, the title "Chief of
Naval Staff" being added on May 31st, 1917.
Admiral Jellicoe holds the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, the
Russian Order of St. George (Third Class), the Order of the First Class
of the Rising Sun with Paulounia, and the Grand Cordon of the Order of
Leopold, also the French and Belgian Croix de Guerre and the Grand Cross
of the Military Order of Savoy.
No biographical notice of Sir John Jellicoe would be complete without a
mention of his father, who was, in his day, a well-known and
distinguished Captain in the Merchant Service. It is pleasant to
remember that Captain Jellicoe lived to see his son in command of the
Grand Fleet during the greatest war in history. This close connection
between the two branches of sea service is also peculiarly happy and
appropriate. Admiral Patton, a great-grandfather on his mother's side,
was Second Sea Lord during the Trafalgar campaign.
II
ADMIRAL SIR CECIL BURNEY, G.C.M.G., K.C.B.
ADMIRAL SIR CECIL BURNEY, G.C.M.G., K.C.B., was born in 1858 and
received his education at the Royal Naval Academy, Gosport; he served as
a Lieutenant of the "Carysfoot" during the Egyptian war, and also in the
Naval and military operations near Suakin in the Eastern Soudan. For
these services he received the Egyptian Medal, Khedive's Bronze Star and
Suakin Clasp.
As a Lieutenant of the "Hecate" Admiral Burney performed a singularly
gallant action. His ship having gone outside Plymouth Breakwater for gun
trials, a carpenter's mate engaged in some work on the outside of a
turret slipped overboard, striking his head as he fell. Lieutenant
Burney and Mr. Berridge, gunner, at once plunged to the rescue and
succeeded in supporting the man till one of the boats, which
unfortunately were stowed inboard owing to gun practice, could be got
ready to go to their assistance.
In 1906-7 Admiral Burney was Aide-de-Camp to King Edward VII. He was
Rear-Admiral of Plymouth Home Fleet, 1909-10, a member of the Admiralty
Submarine Committee, 1910-11; Rear-Admiral Commanding Fifth Cruiser
Squadron, February, 1911; Acting Vice-Admiral Commanding Third Battle
Squadron (formerly Atlantic Fleet), in December of the same year and
Vice-Admiral in September, 1912.
In April, 1913, he became second in command in the Mediterranean and
Senior Officer of the International Squadron ordered to blockade the
coast of Montenegro, and in May of the same year he was appointed Chief
to the Commission to administer the affairs of Scutari on behalf of the
Powers.
[Illustration: ADMIRAL SIR CECIL BURNEY]
Vice-Admiral Burney received the K.C.B. on King George's Birthday in
1913, and the K.C.M.G. in October of the same year, in which he also
received the command of the Second and Third Fleets.
At the Battle of Jutland he was second in command of the Grand Fleet and
was mentioned in despatches. He became a G.C.M.G. and Admiral in 1916,
being decorated Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour for his war
services in the same year. In 1916 he was also appointed Second Sea Lord
of the Admiralty. He also holds the Order of St. Vladimir (Second Class)
with swords, the Grand Cross of the Order of St. Maurice and St.
Lazarus, and the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun.
Admiral Burney retired from the post of Second Sea Lord in August, 1917,
and in October was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the East Coast of
Scotland in succession to the late Admiral Sir Frederick Hamilton.
III
ADMIRAL SIR CHARLES EDWARD MADDEN, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., C.V.O.
ADMIRAL SIR CHARLES EDWARD MADDEN, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., C.V.O., became a
midshipman in October, 1877. As an Acting Sub-Lieutenant of H.M.S.
"Ruby," he served in the Egyptian War of 1882 and received the Egyptian
Medal and the Khedive's Bronze Star. He became a Lieutenant on July
27th, 1884.
As a young officer, Admiral Madden specialized in Torpedo work, and from
1893 to 1896 was First Lieutenant and Staff Officer of the "Vernon"
torpedo school ship.
On June 30th of the latter year he became Commander and was promoted
Captain on the same day of the same month in 1901.
From 1902 to 1904 Captain Madden was Flag Captain to Sir Wilmot Fawkes,
commanding the Cruiser Squadron in H.M.S. "Good Hope."
On February 7th, 1905, Captain Madden was appointed Naval Assistant to
the Controller of the Navy, becoming on December 20th of the following
year Naval Assistant to the First Sea Lord.
On the occasion of King Edward's Review of the Home Fleet in the Solent
on August 3rd, 1907, he received the C.V.O.
Nine days later Captain Madden became Captain of H.M.S. "Dreadnought,"
and Chief of Staff, Home Fleet.
[Illustration: ADMIRAL SIR CHARLES E. MADDEN]
On December 1st, 1908, he was appointed Private Secretary to the First
Lord of the Admiralty, and from January 25th, 1910, to December, 1911,
was Fourth Sea Lord; from January, 1910, to April 12th, 1911, when he
was promoted to Rear-Admiral, Captain Madden was Aide-de-Camp to the
King.
From January 5th, 1912, to December 11th of the same year, he was
Rear-Admiral in the First Battle Squadron First Fleet, and from
December, 1912, to December, 1913, he commanded the Third Cruiser
Squadron. In the latter month he assumed the command of the Second
Cruiser Squadron, which command he held till July, 1914.
On the outbreak of War Rear-Admiral Madden was appointed Chief of the
Staff to Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, Commander-in-Chief of the Grand
Fleet, and was specially granted the acting rank of Vice-Admiral on June
11th, 1915. He was present at the Battle of Jutland and was appointed a
K.C.M.G. for his services on that occasion.
In his despatch, Admiral Sir John Jellicoe said of Vice-Admiral Madden,
"Throughout a period of twenty-one months of war his services have been
of inestimable value. His good judgment, his long experience in fleets,
special gift for organization, and his capacity for unlimited work, have
all been of the greatest assistance to me, and have relieved me of much
of the anxiety inseparable from the conduct of the Fleet during the war.
In the stages leading up to the Fleet action, and during and after the
action, he was always at hand to assist, and his judgment was never at
fault.
"I owe him more than I can say."
Vice-Admiral Madden was made a K.C.B. on January 1st, 1916, a K.C.M.G.
on May 31st, and confirmed as a Vice-Admiral on June 10th of the same
year. On November 28th, 1916, he was made an Acting-Admiral and
appointed in command of a portion of the Grand Fleet.
He is a Commander of the Legion of Honour, a Commander of the Military
Order of Savoy, holds the Russian Order of St. Anne (First Class), with
Swords, and Japanese Order of the Rising Sun (First Class).
IV
REAR-ADMIRAL RICHARD FORTESCUE PHILLIMORE, C.B., M.V.O.
REAR-ADMIRAL RICHARD FORTESCUE PHILLIMORE, C.B., M.V.O., entered the
Navy in 1878, became a Lieutenant in 1886 and a Commander in 1899. He
was Commander of the "Goliath" during the China War of 1900 (medal), and
commanded H.M.S. "Mohawk" during the operations in Somaliland in 1904
(medal).
He commanded the machine guns of the Naval Brigade at the capture of
Illig.
On June 30th, 1904, he was promoted to Captain.
From June, 1912, to the end of August, 1914, he was Chief of Staff in
the Mediterranean Fleet, holding the rank of Commodore (Second Class)
from September, 1913.
On January 1st, 1914, he was awarded the C.B.
When Sir A. Berkeley Milne hauled down his flag, Captain Phillimore
remained in "Inflexible" as Captain, and commanded her in Admiral
Sturdee's action off the Falkland Islands, during the bombardment of the
Chanak Forts on March 18th, 1915, and during the previous operations in
the Dardanelles. "Commended for service in Action."
He was principal Beach-Master at the landing in Gallipoli in 1915.
Mentioned in despatches as having performed "most valuable service," and
again mentioned for Transport Services.
[Illustration: REAR-ADMIRAL RICHARD F. PHILLIMORE]
He was attached to the Russian Imperial Headquarters from October, 1915,
to December, 1916, and holds the Order of St. Vladimir (Third Class)
with Swords (awarded in November, 1915) and St. Stanislaus, First Class
with swords (awarded in December, 1916).
Aide-de-Camp to the King, 1915-1916.
V
VICE-ADMIRAL SIR REGINALD H. S. BACON, K.C.B., K.C.V.O., D.S.O.
VICE-ADMIRAL SIR REGINALD HUGH SPENCER BACON, K.C.B., K.C.V.O., D.S.O.,
was born in September, 1863, and entered the Navy in 1877. In 1883 he
became a Lieutenant (Five Firsts and promotion marks). In 1887 he joined
the "Camperdown" as Torpedo Lieutenant. He was awarded a silver medal by
the Italian Government for bravery displayed in rescuing the crew of the
Indian vessel, "Utopia," wrecked in Gibraltar Bay in March, 1891. As
Commander of the "Theseus," he served in the punitive Naval expedition
commanded by Rear-Admiral Rawson, C.B., and took part in the landing and
capture of Benin City in February, 1897. It was in connection with this
campaign that he wrote "Benin, the City of Blood." As Chief of the
Intelligence Department, he was mentioned in despatches, received the
General African Medal, Benin Clasp, and the D.S.O.
He was the first Inspecting Captain of Submarines, and held the
appointment from March, 1901, till October, 1904, being in charge of the
Submarine Service during that time. He was Naval Assistant to the First
Sea Lord from October, 1904, to December, 1905; the first Captain of
H.M.S. "Dreadnought," 1906-07, and Flag-Captain and Chief of the Staff
in the Home Fleet in the latter year. From August, 1907, to December,
1909, Rear-Admiral Bacon was Director of Naval Ordnance and Torpedoes.
On the occasion of King Edward VII.'s Review of the Home Fleet in the
Solent he received the C.V.O., and was Aide-de-Camp to the King from
1908 to 1909, during which year he became a Rear-Admiral.
[Illustration: VICE-ADMIRAL SIR REGINALD BACON]
Having retired in 1909 to take up the post of Managing Director of the
Coventry Ordnance Works, he returned to service in January, 1915, as
Officer Commanding the Siege Brigade, Royal Marines, with temporary rank
of Colonel Second Commandant. He served with the Expeditionary Force in
France. Later in the same year Admiral Bacon was placed in command of
the Dover Patrol, becoming a Vice-Admiral on July 15th, 1915, and being
made a K.C.B. on January 1st, 1916.
On the occasion of the King's visit to his Army in the Field in August,
1916, Vice-Admiral Bacon received the K.C.V.O.
He became a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour in September, 1916,
and was also created Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold by the King
of the Belgians in November, 1916. In 1917 he received the Belgian Croix
de Guerre.
VI
VICE-ADMIRAL SIR JOHN MICHAEL de ROBECK, K.C.B.
VICE-ADMIRAL SIR JOHN MICHAEL de ROBECK, K.C.B., received his Naval
education on board the "Britannia," and entered the Royal Navy as a
cadet in 1875. He became a Lieutenant on September 30th, 1885, a
Commander on the June 22nd, 1897, and a Captain on January 1st, 1902.
From February 15th, 1911, to December 21st of the same year he was
Inspecting Captain of Boys' Training Establishments. On December 1st,
1911, he became a Rear-Admiral. From April 8th, 1912, to May 1st, 1914,
he was Admiral of Patrols, being the first occupant of that post.
On the outbreak of war he commanded a Cruiser Force, and on the
retirement through illness of Vice-Admiral Carden in 1915 he was
appointed acting Vice-Admiral in Command of the British Eastern
Mediterranean Squadron at the Dardanelles, March 17th, and directed the
Naval operations carried out in March and April of that year. It was
during this period that the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force was landed
and firmly established on the Gallipoli Peninsula. In his despatch
published in the "London Gazette," July 6th, 1915, General Sir Ian
Hamilton said, "Throughout the events I have chronicled, the Royal Navy
has been father and mother to the Army. Not one of us realises how much
he owes to Vice-Admiral de Robeck." Later in the year Sir Ian Hamilton
wrote: "The sheet-anchor on which hung the whole of these elaborate
schemes was the Navy. One tiny flaw in the mutual trust and confidence
animating the two services would have wrecked the whole enterprise.
Experts at a distance may have guessed as much: it was self-evident to
the rawest private on the spot. But with men like Vice-Admiral de
Robeck, Commodore Roger Keyes, Rear-Admiral Christian, and Captain F.
H. Mitchell at our backs, we soldiers were secured against any such
risk, and it will be seen how perfect was the precision the sailors put
into their job."
[Illustration: VICE-ADMIRAL SIR JOHN M. DE ROBECK]
Vice-Admiral de Robeck also commanded the Naval Forces which took part
in the evacuation of the Gallipoli Peninsula between November 20th,
1915, and January 9th, 1916.
He was appointed a K.C.B. on January 1st, 1916, in recognition of the
services he had rendered during the war.
He is a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour, and holds the Japanese
Order of the Sacred Treasure (First Class), and the Grand Cross of the
Order of the Crown of Italy.
VII
VICE-ADMIRAL TREVYLYAN DACRES WILLES NAPIER, C.B., M.V.O.
VICE-ADMIRAL TREVYLYAN DACRES WILLES NAPIER, C.B., M.V.O., entered the
Navy as a cadet in 1880, becoming a midshipman two years later. He
served in the Egyptian War on board the "Minotaur," receiving the
Egyptian Medal and Khedive's Bronze Star.
On February 14th, 1887, he was promoted Lieutenant, becoming a Commander
on January 1st, 1899. He served in command of a Destroyer Flotilla, and
in the Royal Yacht and attained the rank of Captain on June 30th, 1903.
Between 1904 and 1907 he was Flag-Captain to Admiral Sir John Durnford
on the Cape Station, and from 1907 to 1910 commanded the Royal Naval
College at Dartmouth, and commanded the "Bellerophon" from 1910 to 1912.
He was appointed Aide-de-Camp to the King on January 14th, 1913, and on
July 1st of the same year was appointed Commodore in command of the
Second Light Cruiser Squadron, which command he held till December 1st.
[Illustration: REAR-ADMIRAL T. D. W. NAPIER]
On October 24th, 1913, he became a Rear-Admiral. He has served afloat in
the war from December, 1914, to the present time, and for his services
received the C.B. on June 3rd, 1916. He was also mentioned in despatches
for his services in the Battle of Jutland, in which he commanded the
Third Light Cruiser Squadron. The Squadron had a difficult rôle to
perform throughout the battle. With the First Light Cruiser Squadron it
formed the screen of Sir David Beatty's Battle Cruiser Squadrons at
the opening of the battle, and later in the day protected the head of
the line from torpedo attack by light cruisers and destroyers. It
attacked the German Battle Cruisers with torpedoes and gun fire.
"Rear-Admiral Napier deserves great credit for his determined and
effective attack."
He holds the Order of St. Stanislaus (First Class), with swords.
VIII
REAR-ADMIRAL SIR OSMOND DE BEAUVOIR BROCK, K.C.V.O., C.B., C.M.G.
REAR-ADMIRAL SIR OSMOND DE BEAUVOIR BROCK, K.C.V.O., C.B., C.M.G.,
entered the Navy in the early 'eighties of the last century, becoming a
Midshipman on August 15th, 1884. While serving in the "Raleigh" he was
awarded the Royal Humane Society's Testimonial on Vellum for having
jumped overboard at Simon's Bay to the assistance of John Duggan,
stoker.
He was promoted to Lieutenant on February 14th, 1889, having passed the
examination with five First Class Certificates, and later specialised in
Gunnery. He was promoted to Commander on January 1st, 1900, and on
January 1st, 1904, he became a Captain. In 1905 he was Flag Captain to
Lord Charles Beresford, and in November, 1910, was appointed Assistant
Director of Naval Mobilisation. From January 8th, 1912, to August 1st,
1912, he acted as Assistant Director, Mobilisation Division, Admiralty
War Staff.
[Illustration: REAR-ADMIRAL SIR OSMOND DE B. BROCK]
During the action in Heligoland Bight on August 28th, 1914, Captain
Brock commanded the "Princess Royal," and in the action off the Dogger
Bank, January 24th, 1915, he commanded the same ship. When Sir David
Beatty's flagship "Lion" was damaged he transferred his flag to the
destroyer "Attack," and later the "Princess Royal." For his services
Captain Brock was mentioned in despatches and awarded the C.B. He
commanded a Battle Cruiser Squadron in the Battle of Jutland, was again
mentioned in despatches and awarded the C.M.G. It was on these Battle
Cruiser Squadrons, as Sir John Jellicoe remarked, that the brunt of the
fighting fell, and Sir David Beatty reported the "able support"
rendered him in the battle by their commanders.
He was Aide-de-Camp to the King from October 24th, 1913, to March 5th,
1915, when he became a Rear-Admiral.
IX
REAR-ADMIRAL LIONEL HALSEY, C.B., C.M.G.
REAR-ADMIRAL LIONEL HALSEY, C.B., C.M.G., Third Sea Lord, was born in
1872, and joined H.M.S. "Britannia" in 1885. As a Naval Cadet he served
in the "Agincourt," Flag-ship of Rear-Admiral the Hon. Edmund R.
Fremantle, then second in command of the Channel Squadron. Becoming a
Sub-Lieutenant in 1891, he subsequently served as Lieutenant and
Flag-Lieutenant in several different ships.
During the South African War he took part in the defence of Ladysmith,
where he had charge of the 4.7 gun in Princess Victoria Battery at Cove
Hill Redoubt. He was also executive Officer to Captain Lambton (now
Admiral Sir Hedworth Meux) towards the end of the siege, besides taking
charge of all the Naval guns. For his services in this connection he was
mentioned in despatches.
On January 1st, 1901, he was specially promoted to Commander. In 1912 he
became Captain of the "New Zealand," the first capital ship built at the
charge of a Dominion Government. In the following year Captain Halsey
received the C.M.G. From September, 1914, till he became Rear-Admiral in
April, 1917, he was Aide-de-Camp to the King.
[Illustration: REAR-ADMIRAL L. HALSEY]
Captain Halsey was mentioned in despatches for his services in the
actions at Heligoland and the Dogger Bank. He became Captain of the
Fleet and Commodore, First Class, in 1915. After the Battle of Jutland,
Admiral Jellicoe wrote as follows:--"My special thanks are due to
Commodore Lionel Halsey, C.M.G., the Captain of the Fleet, who also
assists me in the working of the Fleet at sea, and to whose good
organization is largely due the rapidity with which the Fleet was
fuelled and replenished with ammunition on return to its bases. He was
of much assistance to me during the action."
Commodore Halsey received the C.B. on June 3rd, 1916, becoming Fourth
Sea Lord in December of the same year, and Third Sea Lord in May, 1917.
He is a Commander of the Legion of Honour, and holds the Russian Order
of St. Vladimir (Third Class).
X
VICE-ADMIRAL SIR WILLIAM C. PAKENHAM, K.C.B., K.C.V.O.
VICE-ADMIRAL SIR WILLIAM CHRISTOPHER PAKENHAM, K.C.B., K.C.V.O., was
born in July, 1861, the second son of the late Rear-Admiral the Hon.
Thomas Alexander Pakenham. In his early days in the Royal Navy he made a
reputation as a swimmer, assisting in the rescue of a seaman who fell
overboard at Larnaca, Cyprus, and some years later endeavouring to save
a man who fell from the foreyard of the "Calypso" during drill at Kiel.
He became a Captain on June 30th, 1903, and from April, 1904, to May,
1906, he was Naval Attaché at Tokyo.
He became a C.B. in July, 1905, and received the Order of the Rising Sun
(Second Class) from H.I.M. the Emperor of Japan in 1906. In July, 1907,
when in command of the "Antrim," escorting King Edward to Ireland, he
was awarded the M.V.O.
From December, 1911, to December, 1913, he was a Lord Commissioner of
the Admiralty. In June, 1913, he became Rear-Admiral, and in December
was appointed to command the Third Cruiser Squadron.
Rear-Admiral Pakenham was present at the Battle of Jutland and received
a K.C.B. on May 31st, 1916, for his services on that occasion.
[Illustration: VICE-ADMIRAL SIR WILLIAM PAKENHAM]
When Admiral Sir David Beatty was given the command of the Grand Fleet
in succession to Admiral Sir John Jellicoe in November, 1916, Admiral
Pakenham was selected to assume the command of the Battle Cruiser Force,
and was promoted to Acting Vice-Admiral on June 19th, 1917.
On the occasion of the visit of H.M. King George to the Fleet in July,
1917, Admiral Pakenham was made a K.C.V.O.
Vice-Admiral Pakenham has received the Russian Order of St. Stanislaus
(Second Class), and also an Imperial Gift, graciously conferred by
H.I.M. the Emperor of Japan.
XI
COMMODORE GODFREY M. PAINE, C.B., M.V.O.
COMMODORE GODFREY MARSHALL PAINE, C.B., M.V.O., was born in 1871 and
entered the Navy in 1885, becoming a Lieutenant on August 23rd, 1893,
after service in the Royal Yacht.
On December 31st, 1903, he became a Commander, and was in the "Renown"
during the voyage of the Prince and Princess of Wales to India, October,
1905, to May, 1906. On June 30th, 1907, he became a Captain. From June,
1909, to June, 1911, he commanded the Third Torpedo Boat Destroyer
Flotilla.
From August, 1911, to May, 1912, he was Captain of H.M.S. "Actæon," the
Torpedo School Ship at Sheerness, then the Headquarters of the infant
Naval Air Service. He gained the pilot's certificate of the Royal Aero
Club in May, 1912, flying a Short biplane, and before the end of the
month became first Commandant of the Central Flying School, Salisbury
Plain.
This School, inaugurated in 1912, was open to both Naval and Military
aviators, and was, in consequence, an institution demanding special
qualifications from the Officer in command. The new experiment proved a
complete success under Captain Paine.
[Illustration: COMMODORE G. M. PAINE]
In 1915 Captain Paine became a Commodore (First Class), and in 1917 he
was appointed Director of Naval Air Service and Fifth Sea Lord. The
skill, versatility and usefulness of the Naval Air Service have rivalled
those of the military airmen. The naval airmen have had to discover
their true rôle and make their traditions. When their record can be
known the success of Commodore Paine will be fully appreciated. He
received a C.B. on January 1st, 1914. He is also a Commander of the
Legion of Honour.
XII
COMMODORE SIR REGINALD YORKE TYRWHITT, K.C.B., D.S.O.
COMMODORE (First Class) SIR REGINALD YORKE TYRWHITT, K.C.B., D.S.O., was
born in 1870 and entered the "Britannia" as a cadet in 1885, becoming a
Lieutenant on August 25th, 1892.
As Lieutenant of H.M.S. "Cleopatra" in 1894 he was one of a landing
party, composed of seamen and marines, under Lieutenant Colmore, who
went to protect the inhabitants of Bluefields, Nicaragua. This
expedition saved the lives of the inhabitants, who expressed their
gratitude in a letter of thanks.
Having become a Captain on June 30th, 1908, Captain Tyrwhitt commanded
the Second Flotilla from August, 1912, to November, 1913, when he was
appointed Captain of the First Fleet Flotillas and was advanced to the
rank of Commodore (Second Class), in April, 1914.
At the outbreak of war, Commodore Tyrwhitt was in command of the Harwich
Force consisting of the First, Second, and Tenth Flotillas. He took part
in the actions in the Heligoland Bight and off the Dogger Bank and in
many minor actions in 1914-17.
For his services in the action in the Heligoland Bight he was awarded
the C.B. The "London Gazette" stated that his attack was delivered with
great skill and gallantry. Commodore Tyrwhitt also received the thanks
of the Admiralty for the manner in which he lead his forces.
[Illustration: COMMODORE SIR REGINALD Y. TYRWHITT]
In December, 1914, he was advanced to Commodore (First Class). In June,
1916, he received the D.S.O., and in April, 1917, he was appointed
A.D.C. to the King, and for services rendered during the War received
the K.C.B. on July 25th, 1917.
Commodore Tyrwhitt is a Commander of the Legion of Honour and Chevalier
of the Military Order of Savoy.
The Western Front
DRAWINGS BY MUIRHEAD BONE
"They illustrate admirably the daily life of the troops under my
command."
--F.M. SIR DOUGLAS HAIG, K.T.
In Monthly Parts, Price 2/- net.
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BRITISH ARTISTS AT THE FRONT
Continuation of "The Western Front"
The sequel to the monthly publication illustrated by Mr.
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at the Front."
In size, quality of paper and style this publication will
retain the characteristics of its predecessor.
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"COUNTRY LIFE," LTD., 20, Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, London,
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_Uniform with this publication._
Generals of the British Army
PORTRAITS BY FRANCIS DODD
_INTRODUCTION_
I.--HAIG, FIELD MARSHAL SIR DOUGLAS, K.T., G.C.B., G.C.V.O.,
K.C.I.E., =A.D.C.=
II.--PLUMER, GENERAL SIR H. C. O., G.C.M.G., G.C.V.O., K.C.B.,
=A.D.C.=
III.--RAWLINSON, GENERAL SIR H. S., Bart., G.C.V.O., K.C.B.,
K.C.V.O.
IV.--GOUGH, GENERAL SIR H. De La POER, K.C.B., K.C.V.O.
V.--ALLENBY, GENERAL SIR E. H., K.C.B.
VI.--HORNE, GENERAL SIR H. S., K.C.B.
VII.--BIRDWOOD, LIEUT.-GEN. SIR W. R., K.C.B., K.C.S.I.,
K.C.M.G., C.I.E., D.S.O.
VIII.--BYNG, GENERAL THE HON. SIR J. H. G., K.C.B., K.C.M.G.,
M.V.O.
IX.--CONGREVE, LIEUT.-GEN. SIR W. N., =V.C.=, K.C.B., M.V.O.
X.--HALDANE, LIEUT.-GEN. J. A. L., C.B., D.S.O.
XI.--WATTS, LIEUT.-GEN. H. E., C.B., C.M.G.
XII.--SMUTS, LIEUT.-GEN. THE RT. HON. JAN C., P.C., K.C., M.L.A.
HUDSON & KEARNS, LTD., Printers, HATFIELD STREET, LONDON, S.E. 1.
Contents of this Issue.
_INTRODUCTION._
I.--BEATTY, ADMIRAL SIR DAVID, G.C.B., G.C.V.O., D.S.O.
II.--JACKSON, ADMIRAL SIR HENRY B., G.C.B., K.C.V.O., F.R.S.
III.--COLVILLE, ADMIRAL THE HON. SIR STANLEY C. J., G.C.V.O.,
K.C.B.
IV.--BROCK, ADMIRAL SIR F. E. E., K.C.M.G., C.B.
V.--GRANT, REAR-ADMIRAL HEATHCOAT S., C.B.
VI.--TUDOR, REAR-ADMIRAL F. C. TUDOR, C.B.
VII.--CALLAGHAN, ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET SIR GEORGE A., G.C.B.,
G.C.V.O.
VIII.--LEVESON, REAR-ADMIRAL A. C., C.B.
IX.--EVAN-THOMAS, VICE-ADMIRAL SIR H., K.C.B., M.V.O.
X.--BRUCE, REAR-ADMIRAL HENRY H., C.B., M.V.O.
XI.--ALEXANDER-SINCLAIR, REAR-ADMIRAL E. S., C.B., M.V.O.
XII.--KEYES, REAR-ADMIRAL SIR ROGER J. B., K.C.B., C.M.G.,
M.V.O., D.S.O.
INTRODUCTION
PART II.
The first thing a landlubber does when he opens his mouth about the sea
or about sea power is to put his foot in it; and therefore one's sense
of decency in approaching this procession of illustrious admirals,
headed by Sir David Beatty, compels one to put oneself in a posture of
reverent trepidation and respectful humility. The man of words in time
of war ought to prostrate himself before the man of action. He ought to
order himself lowly and reverently before and very much below his
betters. In his case judgment or even criticism is an outrageous
impertinence. He knows little about war by land and even less about war
by sea. Any enlargement of his knowledge is only a microscopical
diminution of his ignorance. The sea is a mystery, unveiled only to
those who go down to (or in) the sea in ships.
Sailors tolerate our immeasurable ignorance, for they rejoice in the
sense of humour which the sea seems to enrich and expand. It is many
years since a mischievous midshipman cajoled me into climbing the mast
of H.M.S. "Majestic," then flying the flag of Sir Harry Rawson. Until I
went up in an aeroplane at St. Omer I never drank more deeply of the cup
of terror. That midshipman, for all I know, may now be one of these
grave admirals with smiles lurking at the corners of their eyes and
lips. It is a far cry from the naval manoeuvres of the "'nineties" to
the "real thing" of 1918, but the impulse to hark back to those mimic
battles is irresistible. My first and last misdemeanour was the striking
of a match on the paint of a casemate. The memory of it even now makes
me blush from nape to heel, and warns me that nearly everything a
landlubber may say about the Navy is as the striking of a match on the
wrong place at the wrong time on a Victorian man o' war.
And yet those far-off days in wardroom and gunroom, on navigating bridge
and quarter-deck, helped me to drink the pure milk of the Navy word. No
man who has watched a blinded battle fleet keeping station on a
pitch-black night, or whose head has grown giddy in the mazes of a
cruiser action, or who has seen a destroyer attack pushed home in the
dark, or who has seen the drifters coming in coated with ice, can fail
to feel in his bones the thrill of sea-power. To such a man there comes
at all moments the salt warning, "Put not your trust only in armies. For
England there is but one supreme war-faith, the creed of the sea."
There is no lack of lip-service to the sea-creed in these islands. The
sea-litany and the sea-liturgy and the sea-prayers and the sea-collects
and the sea-psalms and the sea-proverbs are tirelessly chanted and sung
and said by high and low. Line upon line, precept upon precept,
sea-bible and sea-gospel and sea-hymn--we know them all by heart. Our
Newbolts, our Kiplings, our Conrads, our Hurds, our Leylands--yes, and
our Mahans--they are all a great cloud of witnesses to the supreme
necessity of sea-power. And yet in one's lay bones one feels that our
practice falls far short of our preaching, and that we as a race are not
utterly single-minded in our worship of the one power who has never
betrayed us, the sea. The sea is a jealous god, and in these latter days
a sure instinct leads one back to the old faith taught by Nelson and his
forerunners, by the great captains and admirals whose bones are dust.
Peace is a rust that tarnishes a Navy, and, as one studies these
portraits and these all too brief and bare biographies, one wonders
whether "the Nelson touch" is hereditary, and whether these clear-eyed,
strong-lipped admirals are all chips of the old block. One wonders, I
say, and yet one does not doubt, for at every meal we eat the proof of
the pudding. These admirals and their men have kept the faith and held
the sea against High Seas Fleet and mine and submarine. Not for many a
long day will all the wonders they have wrought be known or even
suspected. Few there be who are allowed to peep into the inner shrine of
admiralty. The higher secrets of sea-power are guarded and will be
guarded long after Britain shall have won this war.
Herein is the true explanation of these modest memoirs which tell so
little with all their camouflage of dates and decorations. Compared with
a British admiral, Tacitus was a loquacious and copious blabber and
babbler. If you interrogate him, he smiles and displays a long row of
ribbons or a festoon of foreign orders. "The Silent Navy" is silent
because it is not safe to talk or to be talked about, and also because
it is not in love with the gauds of publicity. I confess I like the
austere reticence of these dull and dreary lifelets of our great
admirals. It warns us that we must walk by faith and not by sight when,
like Peter, we take to the stormy waters.
There is, of course, the doubting Thomas, who is "hot for certainties"
in the sea affair. He whispers in my ear that there is in the higher
ranks a dearth of genius as compared with the lower ranks, and he tries
to support his theory by asserting that all the brilliant junior
officers must pass through a narrow bottle-neck before they become
captains, and that the captains, after ten or twelve years of that awful
solitude which is the captain's pride and peril, are apt to suffer from
the ossifying brain which rejects new ideas, from the crusted
conservatism which resists reform, from deskwork and paperwork, and from
all the ravages of the red tapeworm.
My answer is that the sea is a giant that refreshes itself, and that
your Nelson is proof against his routine, master of his groove. The long
duel with the submarine is in itself evidence of the adaptability of our
seamen. Where we have failed is not on the sea but in the dim region
behind the sea, where the word of the sailor is no longer dominant and
where other forces and factors interlock and interplay. Many and
manifold are the uses of sea-power; many and manifold also are its
abuses. And it is one of the qualities of sea-power that it is
inarticulate, not given to polemics or dialectics or rhetoric or
oratory, a thing of profound instinct and intuition, a product of the
genius of race. Napoleon never understood sea-power as the German
Emperor and Admiral von Tirpitz have learned to understand it, after
much patient poring over the writings of Mahan. In all humility we ought
not to be surprised that some of our own great ones have been and
perhaps still are in the same state of pupilage as Napoleon. But war is
a schoolmaster whose lessons are learned in due time by the most
backward scholars.
There is a music-hall song sung in these stern days by some witless
buffoon, "If you don't want to fight, join the Navy." As if the locker
of Davy Jones were not fat with the valour of our seamen and our
fishermen! In the bitterness of his soul a Super-Dreadnought captain
said to me, "After the war I'll not be able to walk down Piccadilly
without being hissed." These are extravagances of hyperbole, but they
are a reflection of the folly that asks, "What is the Navy doing?" When
I hear that fatuous question I retort, "What on earth and what on the
sea is the Navy not doing?" It is keeping the ring for all the armies of
all the Allies, and it is waiting for the last great sea-fight of
Armageddon, the fight that is bound to come.
"They were dull, weary, eventless months, those months of watching and
waiting of the big ships. Purposeless they surely seemed to many, but
they saved England. Those far distant storm-beaten ships, upon which the
Grand Army never looked, stood between it and the dominion of the
world." A greater army than the Grand Army, led by chieftains hardly
less renowned than Napoleon, is battering, as I write, at the gates of
the Channel Ports. Whatever may befall, we know in our bones that these
admirals of ours and their seamen stand between the Emperor Wilhelm and
his imperial dream of world tyranny. Sir David Beatty sitting in his
deck-chair is a living symbol of sea-power, and the armchair pessimist
may well emulate his nonchalant vigilance, noting the wicked twinkle in
his humorous eye and the sardonic curl of his sailor-mouth.
The Kaiser has chosen to sup with the sea-devil, and he has need of a
very long spoon before he sees his supper, which happens to be our
freedom and the freedom of all free men.
JAMES DOUGLAS.
I
ADMIRAL SIR DAVID BEATTY, G.C.B., G.C.V.O., D.S.O.
ADMIRAL SIR DAVID BEATTY, G.C.B., G.C.V.O., D.S.O., was born on January
17th, 1871, and entered the "Britannia" in January, 1884. He became a
Lieutenant in August, 1892. During the Egyptian War he served on the
Nile in cooperation with the Egyptian Army, under the late Lord
Kitchener. In the course of this campaign he rendered excellent service
in getting gunboats over the Cataract, and, as second in command of the
Flotilla, at the forcing of the Dervish batteries at Hafir under fire.
On Commander Colville being wounded, Lieutenant Beatty took command of
the Flotilla and fought the gunboats in front of the enemy batteries
with great persistence and success, eventually dismounting their guns.
For these services he was awarded the D.S.O. and mentioned in
despatches.
He was also mentioned in despatches by the Sirdar for service with the
gunboats employed during the Soudan operations on the Nile in 1898,
which included the capture of Berber and the battles of Atbara and
Khartoum. He subsequently accompanied Lord Kitchener in the advance to
Fashoda, and was present at his meeting with Major Marchand. After the
capture of Khartoum he was specially promoted to Commander.
When the Boxer outbreak occurred Admiral Beatty was Commander in the
"Barfleur," second flagship on the China Station, and served in the
Tientsin Concession throughout the siege. He showed exceptional tenacity
in attempting with 200 bluejackets to capture two Chinese guns which
were causing great trouble to the forces and inhabitants; after being
twice wounded he continued to lead his men to the attack. He afterwards
commanded the British Naval Brigade of the international force which
relieved Admiral Seymour's expedition from a critical situation in
Hsikon Arsenal. Later he commanded the Naval Brigade at the capture of
Tientsin City. For these services he was specially promoted to the rank
of Captain at the early age of 29, in 1900.
[Illustration: ADMIRAL SIR DAVID BEATTY]
From November, 1908, to January 1st, 1910, Captain Beatty was
Aide-de-Camp to the King.
On January 1st, 1910, although not 39 years old, he became Rear-Admiral,
and two years later was appointed Naval Secretary to the First Lord of
the Admiralty, a post which he held until February, 1913. During the
Naval Manoeuvres of 1912, Rear-Admiral Beatty commanded the Sixth
Cruiser Squadron, flying his flag in H.M.S. "Aboukir."
In the following year he was appointed to command the First Battle
Cruiser Squadron. In June, 1914, he was made a K.C.B., and on August 3rd
was promoted Acting Vice-Admiral and given command of the Cruiser Forces
of the Grand Fleet.
On August 28th, 1914, he was in command of the British Forces which
proceeded into the Heligoland Bight in support of a Flotilla of
Destroyers which was being hard pressed. In the action which resulted,
three German Light Cruisers were sunk. No British ships were lost.