46-815: Admiral of the Fleet Sir James Fownes Somerville (17 July 1882 – 19 March 1949) was a Royal Navy officer. He served in the First World War as fleet wireless officer for the Mediterranean Fleet where he was involved in providing naval support for the Gallipoli Campaign . He also served in the Second World War as commander of the newly formed Force H : after the French armistice with Germany, Winston Churchill gave Somerville and Force H
92-613: A Knight of the Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem on 23 December 1946. He lived at the family seat of Dinder House in Somerset where he died of coronary thrombosis on 19 March 1949. His body was buried in the churchyard of St Michael and All Angels Church at Dinder . Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy) Admiral of the Fleet is a five-star naval officer rank and
138-577: A Japanese flying boat on 2 August 1942. Somerville's unwillingness to risk his ships in a diversionary attack against the Japanese in Southeast Asia during mid- and late 1942, which he saw as necessary to preserve its precariously limited strength and its ability to guard merchant convoys in the Indian Ocean, was met with derision by US Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Ernest J. King , as King believed that
184-522: A daughter and a son. His son Lieutenant-Commander John Arthur Fownes Somerville, CB, CBE served in the Royal Navy and became the deputy director of GCHQ . The news reader Julia Somerville is one of their granddaughters. Somerville joined the training ship HMS Britannia as a cadet on 15 January 1897 and served as midshipman in the cruiser HMS Royal Arthur in the Channel Fleet and then in
230-460: A decision on their future in the peace Treaty of Versailles . During April 1919 the Grand Fleet was disbanded, with much of its strength forming a new Atlantic Fleet . Most of the interned German warships were later scuttled despite Royal Navy attempts to save them. Not all the Grand Fleet was available for use at any one time, because ships required maintenance and repairs. At the time of
276-775: A former First Sea Lord and Chief of the Defence Staff, was also appointed an honorary admiral of the fleet. Grand Fleet The Grand Fleet was the main battlefleet of the Royal Navy during the First World War . It was established in August 1914 and disbanded in April 1919. Its main base was Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands . Formed in August 1914 from the First Fleet and part of
322-595: The Battle of Jutland in May 1916, it had 32 dreadnought and super-dreadnought battleships. Of these, 28 were in the order of battle at Jutland . The actual strength of the fleet varied through the war as new ships were built and others were transferred or sunk but the number of battleships steadily increased, adding to the margin of superiority over the German fleet. After the USA joined the war,
368-570: The Dunkirk evacuation . His next major assignment was as commander of the newly formed Force H based in Gibraltar , with his flag in the battlecruiser HMS Hood . After the French armistice with Germany on 22 June 1940, Winston Churchill gave Somerville and Force H the task of neutralizing the main element of the French battle fleet, then at Mers El Kébir in Algeria . They were to attack and destroy
414-479: The First World War , initially as a wireless officer in the battleship HMS Marlborough in the Grand Fleet and then as fleet wireless officer for the Mediterranean Fleet serving in the battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth , then the battlecruiser HMS Inflexible and then the cruiser HMS Chatham . In HMS Chatham he was involved in providing naval support for the Gallipoli Campaign . He
460-454: The Indian Ocean raid that inflicted heavy losses on Somerville's fleet including a light aircraft carrier, two heavy cruisers, two destroyers, one corvette, five other vessels, and 45 aircraft. The damage inflicted upon Royal Navy and allied Commonwealth forces in the Indian Ocean was nonetheless minimized, being forewarned by intelligence so their heavy units sailed from their bases prior to
506-778: The Invergordon Mutiny . He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath on 1 January 1935. Somerville became Flag Officer Destroyers in the Mediterranean Fleet in March 1936 and during the Spanish Civil War commanded an international force in the area of Majorca when Palma was threatened with bombardment by Republican forces. Promoted to vice admiral on 11 September 1937, he became Commander-in-Chief, East Indies , with his flag in
SECTION 10
#1732852584718552-571: The Second Fleet of the Home Fleets, the Grand Fleet included 25–35 modern capital ships . It was commanded initially by Admiral Sir John Jellicoe . The 10th Cruiser Squadron carried out the Northern Patrol between Shetland and Norway and cruisers from Cromarty and Rosyth operated a second line (and screened the fleet) in enforcing the blockade of Germany . The administrative complications of
598-602: The coronation of his wife Elizabeth II as Queen. This promotion was to a New Zealand rank, separate from the Royal Navy rank. Following the creation of the Chief of the Defence Staff in 1959, the five naval officers appointed to that position became admirals of the fleet. Recognizing the reduced post– Cold War size of the British Armed Forces, no further appointments were made to the rank after 1995 when Sir Benjamin Bathurst
644-628: The Admiralty as Director of Signals in February 1925 before becoming Flag Captain to Sir John Kelly in his new role as Commander of the 1st Battle Squadron in early 1927, first in the battleship HMS Warspite and then, after the Warspite struck a rock, in the battleship HMS Barham . He joined the directing staff at the Imperial Defence College in 1929 and became commanding officer of
690-681: The British forces in the Battle of Cape Spartivento in November; Churchill was outraged at Somerville for not continuing the pursuit of the Italian Navy after that battle and dispatched the Earl of Cork to conduct an inquiry, but Cork found that Somerville had acted entirely appropriately. Force H bombarded Genoa on 9 February 1941, and Somerville, still in HMS Renown in May 1941, also played an important role in
736-814: The Eastern Fleet doing so would greatly assist the Americans in their own operations against the Japanese as they clashed at the Battles of the Coral Sea and Midway and throughout the Guadalcanal campaign . In Spring 1944, with reinforcements, Somerville was able to go on the offensive in a series of aggressive air strikes in the Japanese-occupied Dutch East Indies : these included attacks on Sabang in April and May 1944 and on Surabaya in May 1944 . He
782-583: The French ships if all other options failed. Churchill wrote to him: You are charged with one of the most disagreeable tasks that a British Admiral has ever been faced with, but we have complete confidence in you and rely on you to carry it out relentlessly. Although Somerville privately felt that such an attack would be a mistake, he carried out his orders. The French refused to comply with British conditions and so on 3 July 1940, Force H attacked French ships at Mers-el-Kébir . Somerville's forces inflicted severe damage on their erstwhile allies, most notably sinking
828-516: The Japanese air attacks. Somerville avoided a direct confrontation with the Imperial Japanese Navy , preserving the Eastern Fleet's two fleet carriers and one battleship. For most of the rest of 1942, Somerville's fleet avoided any major operations against the Japanese, barring a brief sortie into the Bay of Bengal in late July and early August 1942 during which he turned back after being spotted by
874-467: The Mediterranean Fleet in March 1920 and then Executive Officer in the battleship HMS Emperor of India also in the Mediterranean Fleet. Promoted to captain on 31 December 1921, he joined the Admiralty as Deputy Director of Signals in early 1922, before becoming Flag Captain to Sir John Kelly , commanding the 4th Battle Squadron , in the battleship HMS Benbow in August 1922. He returned to
920-665: The Order of the British Empire for his service with Force H on 21 October 1941. Somerville became Commander-in-Chief, Eastern Fleet with his flag in the battleship HMS Warspite in March 1942 and was promoted to full admiral on 6 April 1942. Following the fall of Singapore , Somerville transferred his fleet headquarters from Trincomalee in Ceylon to Kilindini in Kenya . In April 1942 Admiral Chūichi Nagumo 's powerful 1st Air Fleet (Kidō Butai) centered around five fleet carriers launched
966-500: The Somerville family of Dinder House, changing their surname to Somerville in 1831 in honour of this connection. Through his paternal grandmother, he was descended from the Hood family, which had a long tradition of naval service and which counted as members Vice Admiral Sir Samuel Hood, 1st Baronet , and Admiral Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood . In 1913, Somerville married Mary Main; they had
SECTION 20
#17328525847181012-627: The US Battleship Division Nine was attached to the Grand Fleet as the Sixth Battle Squadron , adding four, later five, dreadnought battleships . The order of battle of the Grand Fleet at the end of the war in 1918 included 35 dreadnought battleships and 11 battlecruisers. Twenty ships had been completed since the outbreak of war. Five of these ships were from the United States Navy and one HMAS Australia from
1058-480: The battleship Bretagne with heavy loss of life. Several other major French ships were damaged during the bombardment. The operation was judged a success, but he admitted privately to his wife that he had not been quite as aggressive in the destruction as he could have been. He was Mentioned in Despatches on 16 August 1940. Somerville transferred his flag to the battlecruiser HMS Renown in August 1940 and led
1104-761: The biggest fleet action of the war – the Battle of Jutland – in June 1916. After the Battle of Jutland , the German High Seas Fleet rarely ventured out of its bases at Wilhelmshaven and Kiel in the last two years of the war to engage with the British fleet. Following the German defeat, 74 ships of the High Seas Fleet ( Hochseeflotte ) of the Imperial German Navy ( Kaiserliche Marine ) were interned in Gutter Sound at Scapa Flow pending
1150-499: The cruiser HMS Norfolk in July 1938. He retired with suspected tuberculosis in early 1939 but was still advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 8 June 1939. With the approach of the Second World War , Somerville was recalled to duty on special service to the Admiralty later in 1939 and performed work on naval radar development. In May 1940, Somerville served under Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay , helping organize
1196-578: The cruiser HMS Norfolk in the Home Fleet in December 1931. Promoted to commodore on 14 October 1932, he became commander of the Royal Navy Barracks at Portsmouth later that month and then, after promotion to rear admiral on 12 October 1933, he became Director of Personnel Services at the Admiralty in May 1934. As Director of Personnel Services he introduced a seaman's welfare scheme following
1242-523: The cruiser HMS Warspite on the Pacific Station . He was promoted to sub-lieutenant on 15 December 1901 and to lieutenant on 15 March 1904 before joining the armoured cruiser HMS Sutlej on the China Station . He attended the torpedo school HMS Vernon in 1907 and then remained there to work on the development of wireless telegraphy . Somerville served in the Royal Navy in
1288-716: The distant blockade across the northern exits of the North Sea overwhelmed the capacity of Vice Admiral Francis Miller , the Base Admiral in Chief from 7 August 1914, devolving on the commander in chief, Admiral John Jellicoe. To relieve the administrative burdens on Miller and Jellicoe, the post of the Admiral of the Orkneys and Shetlands was created to oversee the defence of the islands, naval bases and shore duties. Vice-Admiral Stanley Colville
1334-499: The fleet role. In a break with tradition the rank was awarded to the most senior Admiral of the Red, who retained this substantive rank while also serving as Admiral of the Fleet. Appointments were for life, remunerated via a £5 daily stipend and an annual allowance of £1,014 for the hiring and maintenance of servants. It was intended that only one officer would hold the rank at any time, with their presence aboard any naval vessel to be denoted by
1380-679: The flying of the Royal Standard from the main mast . The ranks of Admiral of the Fleet and Admiral of the Red were formally separated from 1805, with an announcement in the London Gazette that "His Majesty [has] been pleased to order the Rank of Admirals of the Red to be restored" in His Majesty's Navy..." as a separate role. The same Gazette promoted 22 men to that rank. From the nineteenth century onward there were also occasional variations to
1426-569: The highest rank of the Royal Navy , formally established in 1688. The five-star NATO rank code is OF-10 , equivalent to a field marshal in the British Army or a Marshal of the Royal Air Force . Apart from honorary appointments, no new admirals of the fleet have been named since 1995, and no honorary appointments have been made since 2014. The origins of the rank can be traced back to John de Beauchamp, 1st Baron Beauchamp de Warwick , who
James Somerville - Misplaced Pages Continue
1472-462: The many entrance channels between the southern islands to enable the use of submarine nets and booms . These blocked approaches were backed by minefields, artillery and concrete barriers. Admiral Jellicoe was succeeded by Admiral Sir David Beatty in December 1916. The Grand Fleet was based first at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands , and later at Rosyth on the Firth of Forth . It participated with
1518-537: The previous requirement that only one Admiral of Fleet could serve at one time. In 1821 George IV appointed Sir John Jervis as a second admiral of the fleet, to balance the Duke of Wellington ' s promotion as a second Field Marshal in the British Army. In 1830 King William IV increased the number of admirals of the fleet to three, though these additional lifetime postings subsequently lapsed. Between 1854 and 1857 there
1564-452: The pursuit and sinking of the German battleship Bismarck later that month. Somerville transferred his flag to the battleship HMS Nelson in August 1941 and also played a major role in protecting Malta from enemy attack in autumn 1941. He transferred his flag to the battleship HMS Rodney and then to the battleship HMS Malaya . He was appointed a Knight Commander of
1610-546: The task of neutralizing the main element of the French battle fleet, then at Mers El Kébir in Algeria . After he had destroyed the French Battle fleet, Somerville played an important role in the pursuit and sinking of the German battleship Bismarck . Somerville later became Commander-in-Chief, Eastern Fleet . In April 1942 Admiral Chūichi Nagumo 's powerful Indian Ocean raid inflicted heavy losses on his fleet. However, in spring 1944, with reinforcements, Somerville
1656-555: Was abandoned in 1864, though the rank of admiral of the fleet was maintained. The title of First Naval Lord was renamed First Sea Lord in 1904. During the two World Wars a number of serving officers held active commissions as admirals of the fleet, as well as the First Sea Lord—e.g. Sir John Tovey . Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was created an Admiral of the Fleet in the Royal New Zealand Navy in 1954, following
1702-491: Was able to go on the offensive in a series of aggressive air strikes in the Japanese-occupied Dutch East Indies . He spent the remainder of the war in charge of the British naval delegation in Washington, D.C. Somerville was born on 17 July 1882, the second son of Arthur Fownes Somerville, of Dinder House , Somerset , and his wife Ellen Somerville (née Sharland, daughter of William Stanley Sharland of New Norfolk, Tasmania ). His father had studied at Trinity Hall, Cambridge ,
1748-443: Was also advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 22 August 1944. Somerville was placed in charge of the British naval delegation in Washington, D.C. in October 1944 where he managed—to the surprise of almost everyone—to get on very well with the notoriously abrasive and anti-British Admiral Ernest King , the United States' Chief of Naval Operations . He became Deputy Lieutenant of Somerset on 8 November 1944,
1794-434: Was appointed ' Admiral of the King's Southern, Northern and Western Fleets ' on 18 July 1360. The appointment gave the command of the English navy to one person for the first time; this evolved into the post of Admiral of the Fleet. In the days of sailing ships the admiral distinctions then used by the Royal Navy included distinctions related to the fleet being divided into three divisions – red, white, or blue. Each division
1840-403: Was appointed admiral of the fleet on his retirement as First Sea Lord. The rank was not abolished and in 2012 the Prince of Wales (now King Charles III ) became an honorary admiral of the fleet (as well as field marshal and marshal of the Royal Air Force ), in recognition of his support to Queen Elizabeth II in her role of as Commander-in-Chief of the British Armed Forces. In 2014, Lord Boyce ,
1886-421: Was appointed to the command (7 September 1914 – 19 January 1916) with Miller under his authority. Admiral Jellicoe was significantly concerned about the possibility of submarine or destroyer attacks on Scapa Flow. While the Grand Fleet spent almost the first year of the war patrolling the west coast of the British Isles, their base at Scapa was defensively reinforced, beginning with over sixty blockships sunk in
James Somerville - Misplaced Pages Continue
1932-399: Was assigned at least one admiral , who in turn commanded a number of vice-admirals and rear admirals . While the full admirals were nominally equals, tradition gave precedence to the Admiral of the White who held the fleet rank in addition to his substantive role. The Restoration era brought a general reorganisation of naval ranks and structure, including formalisation of the admiral of
1978-468: Was called to the bar as a barrister in 1875 and had then become a Recorder of Wells, Somerset in 1916 and had served as President of the Somerset Archaeological Society . Somerville was descended in the male-line from the Fownes family of Nethway and Kittery Court, his ancestors being John Fownes the younger and John Fownes the elder were Members of Parliament for Dartmouth in the early eighteenth century and another ancestor went on to marry an heiress of
2024-414: Was no admiral of the fleet at all as the most senior naval officer of the time – Admiral of the Red Thomas Le Marchant Gosselin – was mentally ill and had not served at sea for forty-five years. In deference to Gosselin's seniority the position was instead left vacant until his death in 1857, whereupon it was filled by Admiral Charles Ogle . The organisation of the British fleet into coloured squadrons
2070-412: Was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 8 May 1945 and was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire on 1 January 1946. He was also appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau by the Netherlands government and a Commander of the Legion of Merit by the United States. In retirement Somerville became Lord Lieutenant of Somerset in August 1946 and was appointed
2116-428: Was promoted to commander on 31 December 1915, and awarded the Distinguished Service Order and Mentioned in Despatches on 14 March 1916. He transferred to the battleship HMS King George V in the Grand Fleet in January 1917 and then joined the signals school at Portsmouth at the end of the year. Somerville stayed in the service after the war, becoming Executive Officer in the battleship HMS Ajax in
#717282