Jump to content

Doveton Sturdee

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Paulturtle (talk | contribs) at 04:26, 1 April 2023 (→South Atlantic: moving this). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Sir Doveton Sturdee, Bt
Sketch of Sturdee for Naval Officers of World War I
Born(1859-06-09)9 June 1859
Charlton, London, England
Died7 May 1925(1925-05-07) (aged 65)
Camberley, Surrey, England
Buried
St Peter's Church, Frimley
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service / branchRoyal Navy
Years of service1871–1921
RankAdmiral of the Fleet
CommandsNore Command
4th Battle Squadron
South Atlantic and Pacific Command
2nd Cruiser Squadron
3rd Cruiser Squadron
1st Battle Squadron
HMS New Zealand
HMS King Edward VII
HMS Bulwark
HMS Bedford
HMS Minerva
HMS Porpoise
Battles / warsAnglo-Egyptian War

First World War

AwardsKnight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
Commander of the Royal Victorian Order

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Frederick Charles Doveton Sturdee, 1st Baronet GCB, KCMG, CVO (9 June 1859 – 7 May 1925)[1] was a Royal Navy officer. After training as a torpedo officer, he commanded two different cruisers and then three different battleships before becoming commander of the 1st Battle Squadron of the Home Fleet. He went on to command the 3rd Cruiser Squadron and then the 2nd Cruiser Squadron.

Just before the start of the First World War Sturdee became Chief of War Staff at the Admiralty. In November 1914 the Royal Navy suffered a serious defeat at the Battle of Coronel. In response Sturdee was sent to the South Atlantic to seek out the German squadron, commanded by Graf Maximilian von Spee, which had caused the damage at Coronel. On 8 December 1914, while coaling at Stanley, Sturdee encountered von Spee and the subsequent action became known as the Battle of the Falkland Islands. Von Spee, finding that he was engaged with a superior force, was forced to flee. In the course of the pursuit Sturdee's forces sank almost the entire German squadron. Only one light cruiser escaped but she was hunted down in March 1915.

In the closing years of the war Sturdee served as commander of the 4th Battle Squadron in the Grand Fleet and then as Commander-in-Chief, The Nore.

Early career

Born the son of Captain Frederick Sturdee RN and Anna Frances Sturdee (née Hodson) in Charlton, Kent,[2] Sturdee was educated at the Royal Naval School at New Cross and then joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in the training ship HMS Britannia on 15 July 1871.[1] Promoted to midshipman on 19 July 1873, he was appointed to the frigate HMS Undaunted, flagship of the China Station in 1876.[3] Promoted to sub-lieutenant on 9 June 1878 and to lieutenant on 7 February 1880,[4] he joined the brig HMS Martin at Portsmouth in May 1880 and then transferred to the torpedo depot ship HMS Hecla in the Mediterranean Fleet in February 1881.[3] He took part in the bombardment of Alexandria in July 1882 during the Anglo-Egyptian War.[3]

After completing a course on torpedoes at HMS Vernon Sturdee became a torpedo officer on HMS Bellerophon, flagship of the North America and West Indies Station, in 1886 before returning to HMS Vernon as an instructor in 1889.[3] Promoted to commander on 30 June 1893,[5] he transferred to the Admiralty as a torpedo specialist in the Directorate of Naval Ordnance.[3] He became commanding officer of the cruiser HMS Porpoise on the Australian Station in November 1897 and became involved in managing the tensions with Germany and the United States over the Samoan Islands in 1899.[3] His handling of this situation, which involved a tense stand-off with the German representatives, earned him his promotion to captain on 30 June 1899,[6] and his appointment as a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 1900 New Year Honours list on 1 January 1900[7][8] (he was invested in person by Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle on 1 March 1900[9]).

Senior office

Sturdee returned to the Admiralty as assistant director of naval intelligence (foreign division) from 1 January 1900, serving as such until 16 October 1902, when he was appointed to command of the protected cruiser HMS Minerva.[10] Appointed a member, 4th class, of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO) on 21 April 1903 during King Edward's visit to Malta,[11] he became commanding officer of the armoured cruiser HMS Bedford in the Home Fleet in November 1903.[3] He went on to be commanding officer of the battleship HMS Bulwark and Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet (Lord Charles Beresford) in May 1905.[12] Advanced to Commander of the Royal Victorian Order on 16 April 1906,[13] he became commanding officer of the battleship HMS King Edward VII and then of the battleship HMS New Zealand in a new role as Chief of Staff of the Channel Fleet in 1907.[12] He was appointed an aide-de-camp to the King on 26 October 1907.[14] He was promoted to rear-admiral on 12 September 1908.[15] Historian Nicholas Lambert writes that “a self-proclaimed naval intellectual, Sturdee was the disciple of Reginald Custance (who had been his boss as Director of Naval Intelligence) and former flag captain to Lord Charles Beresford. Sturdee’s pomposity and arrogance combined with his close association with Beresford earned him the enmity of Admiral Fisher, who tried hard to sabotage his career." Although no longer First Sea Lord, Fisher wrote (1 Feb 1910) to First Lord of the Admiralty Reginald McKenna urging him not to appoint Sturdee Third Sea Lord.[16][17] He became Rear Admiral commanding the 1st Battle Squadron of the Home Fleet, with his flag in the battleship HMS St. Vincent, in 1910.[12]

Sturdee became President of the Submarine Committee of the Admiralty in early 1911.[12] He benefited from the decision by the incoming First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, in late 1911 to pass over twenty admirals to promote Jellicoe to command of the 2nd Battle Squadron, freeing up a promotion logjam.[18] Sturdee became commander of the 3rd Cruiser Squadron of the Home Fleet, with his flag in the cruiser HMS Shannon, in December 1911.[12] He went on to become commander of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron of the Home Fleet, with his flag in Shannon again, in 1913.[12] He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 3 June 1913.[19]

First World War

Chief of War Staff

Sturdee was promoted to vice-admiral on 13 December 1913.[20] By the end of 1913 Sturdee was appointed Chief of Naval War Staff. Draft notes in Churchill’s papers suggest that he may have been the second choice after Prince Louis of Battenberg had given what Nicholas Lambert describes as “uncharacteristically fierce resistance” to appointing his former superior Reginald Custance.[21] Heathcote states that he took office as Chief of War Staff at the Admiralty in July 1914.[12]

Sturdee objected (16 August 1914) to the Order in Council about blocking trade with Germany through neutral countries. He doubted the “political expediency of adopting an attitude the practical efficacy of which is very doubtful, and which I think is just as sure to raise trouble with neutrals”. Admiral Edmond Slade recorded similar thoughts on 18 August.[22]

Sturdee wrote two “dismissive minutes” (25 September 1914) about the Cabinet’s wishes to mine the eastern North Sea as far south as Rotterdam and Flushing. Nicholas Lambert comments that Sturdee “a self-proclaimed naval theorist of the Mahanian school, was notorious for his monochromatic view of sea power and his dogmatic insistence that the primary objective must remain decisive victory in a fleet engagement”. Captain Herbert Richmond complained in his diary that “he produced the old, stale claptrap that what we want to do is not to keep the enemy in but to get him out & fight”. While Churchill was away at Antwerp Sturdee had persuaded the First Sea Lord Prince Louis of Battenberg to join him in a joint statement that it was not British policy to lay mines (the document is not in the archives, according to Nicholas Lambert – it is only mentioned in the 1 October diary of Captain Philip Dumas, the “Director of Mining”). Churchill (1 October) ordered the Admiralty to draw up a schedule for mining the North Sea, reconfirming instructions given by Prime Minister H.H. Asquith while he was away at Antwerp.[23]

In Nicholas Lambert's view Sturdee shared some of the blame for Admiralty blunders for which Churchill was blamed by the press – the escape of the Goeben and Breslau, and the loss of the Aboukir, Cressy and Hogue.[24]

Admiral Fisher, returning as First Sea Lord, sacked Sturdee (4 November) – he was “the first to go” in Nicholas Lambert’s words. Stephen Roskill (in Man of Secrets, his biography of Maurice Hankey) described this as personal “headhunting” by Fisher. However Nicholas Lambert comments that Captain Philip Dumas wrote in his diary on the day of Fisher’s return (30 October) that “the great hope here is for Sturdee & Leveson to go”. “Blinker” Hall also thought similarly.[25]

South Atlantic

Battle of the Falkland Islands by William Lionel Wyllie. Scharnhorst rolls over and sinks while Gneisenau continues to fight

Admiral Lord Fisher sent a squadron commanded by Sturdee, with his flag in the battlecruiser HMS Invincible, to the South Atlantic to seek out the German squadron, commanded by Graf Maximilian von Spee, which had won the Battle of Coronel.[26] Sturdee was given command at Winston Churchill ’s insistence, because he did not at that time wish him to be scapegoated for Admiralty failings.[27] Halpern comments that the decision was compounded by the fact that Fisher "detested" Sturdee and wanted to remove him from the Admiralty.[28]

On 8 December 1914, while coaling at Stanley, Sturdee encountered von Spee and the subsequent action became known as the Battle of the Falkland Islands. Von Spee, finding that he was engaged with a superior force, was forced to flee. In the course of the pursuit Sturdee's forces sank almost the entire German squadron, including the armoured cruisers, SMS Scharnhorst and SMS Gneisenau. Only the light cruiser SMS Dresden escaped but she was hunted down in March 1915.[29] Lambert comments that it was “remarkable fortune” that Graf Spee ran into Sturdee's force refuelling at Port Stanley.[30]

Grand Fleet

Sturdee was created a baronet on 15 March 1916[31] with the title "of the Falkland Is."[2]

Sturdee on board HMS Hercules commanding 4th Battle Squadron at the Battle of Jutland

Sturdee became commander of the 4th Battle Squadron in the Grand Fleet, with his flag in the battleship HMS Benbow, in January 1915 and directed his squadron at the Battle of Jutland in May 1916.[29] He was advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George on 31 May 1916[32] and awarded the Cross of Commander of the French Legion of Honour on 15 September 1916.[33]

Frederick Charles Doveton Sturdee, 1918, by Glyn Philpot

Promoted to full admiral on 17 May 1917,[34] Sturdee was appointed Grand Officer of the Italian Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus on 11 August 1917,[35] and became Commander-in-Chief, The Nore in March 1918.[29] He was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on his retirement on 5 July 1921[36] and advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 1 January 1921.[37] He was President of the Society for Nautical Research (1922–1925).[38]

Personal life

Sir Doveton Sturdee's gravestone in the churchyard of St Peter's Church, Frimley.

In 1882 Sturdee married Marion Andrews (died 1940): they had a son and a daughter.[3]

Sturdee retired to Camberley, in Surrey, and died there on 7 May 1925. He was buried in the churchyard of St Peter's Church in nearby Frimley. His gravestone incorporates a cross made from the timbers of Nelson's ship, HMS Victory. His grandson William Staveley[39] and grandson-in-law Edward Ashmore were also Admirals of the Fleet.[40]

Arms

Coat of arms of Doveton Sturdee
Crest
Issuant out of a naval crown an arm in armour holding in the hand a spiked club proper.
Escutcheon
Gyronny of eight Argent and Gules on a chief Azure an anchor fessewise Or.
Motto
Firmus Maneo [41]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Doveton Sturdee". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/36364. Retrieved 7 December 2014. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ a b Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1922). "Sturdee, Sir Frederick Charles Doveton" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 32 (12th ed.). London & New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company. p. 599.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Heathcote, p. 238
  4. ^ "No. 24810". The London Gazette. 10 February 1880. p. 622.
  5. ^ "No. 26422". The London Gazette. 14 July 1893. p. 3981.
  6. ^ "No. 27099". The London Gazette. 14 July 1899. p. 4345.
  7. ^ "New Year Honours". The Times. No. 36027. London. 1 January 1900. p. 9.
  8. ^ "No. 27154". The London Gazette. 16 January 1900. p. 286.
  9. ^ "Court Circular". The Times. No. 36079. London. 2 March 1900. p. 6.
  10. ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36904. London. 21 October 1902. p. 5.
  11. ^ "No. 27560". The London Gazette. 2 June 1903. p. 3525.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g Heathcote, p. 239
  13. ^ "No. 27908". The London Gazette. 27 April 1906. p. 2875.
  14. ^ "No. 28079". The London Gazette. 12 November 1907. p. 7581.
  15. ^ "No. 28178". The London Gazette. 18 September 1908. p. 6760.
  16. ^ Lambert states, apparently erroneously, that the post went to Reginald Bacon, who had held it briefly in 1909
  17. ^ Lambert 2012, pp.283-5
  18. ^ Lambert 2012, pp.283-5
  19. ^ "No. 28724". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 May 1913. p. 3903.
  20. ^ "No. 28783". The London Gazette. 19 December 1913. p. 9338.
  21. ^ Lambert 2012, pp.283-5
  22. ^ Lambert 2012, p.225
  23. ^ Lambert 2012, pp.261-2
  24. ^ Lambert 2012, pp.283-5
  25. ^ Lambert 2012, pp.292.3
  26. ^ Massie, p. 248
  27. ^ Lambert 2012, pp.292.3
  28. ^ Halpern, p. 247
  29. ^ a b c Heathcote, p. 240
  30. ^ Lambert 2012, pp.292.3
  31. ^ "No. 29512". The London Gazette. 17 March 1916. p. 2932.
  32. ^ "No. 29751". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 September 1916. p. 9071.
  33. ^ "No. 29751". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 September 1916. p. 9081.
  34. ^ "No. 30084". The London Gazette. 22 May 1917. p. 4942.
  35. ^ "No. 30227". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 August 1917. p. 8208.
  36. ^ "No. 32394". The London Gazette. 19 July 1921. p. 5733.
  37. ^ "No. 32178". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1921. p. 4.
  38. ^ Murphy & Oddy, p. 26.
  39. ^ Heathcote, p. 235
  40. ^ "No. 47160". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 March 1977. p. 2825.
  41. ^ Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 102nd edition. 1959.

Sources

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Doveton Sturdee.
Military offices
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief, The Nore
1918–1921 		Succeeded by
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baronet
(of the Falkland Islands)
1916–1925 		Succeeded by
Lionel Sturdee
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Doveton_Sturdee&oldid=1147626023"