Naval Officers of World War I by
Sir Arthur Stockdale Cope. The three Royal Navy admirals killed in action in the war, Arbuthnot, Cradock, and Hood, are respectively nos. 5, 7, and 8 from the left.
The list includes 10 flag officers who died between Britain's entry into the war, 4 August 1914, and the
armistice of 11 November 1918. Listed separately are 6 who died between the armistice and 31 August 1921 which was defined by
an act of British parliament as the formal end of the war. Three flag officers were killed in action; one at the 1914
Battle of Coronel and two at the 1916
Battle of Jutland.
Ranks
During the First World War the Royal Navy senior command consisted of
flag officers[Note 1] of the ranks (in ascending order of seniority): rear-admiral, vice-admiral, admiral, and admiral of the fleet. Ranks could also be held in an
honorary capacity, often by foreign royalty. In August 1914 there were 18 serving rear-admirals, 22 vice-admirals, 12 admirals (plus 2 honorary appointments), and 3 admirals of the fleet (plus the monarch
George V and 3 honorary appointments).[Note 2][4]
In 1914 Royal Navy practice was for rear-admirals to lead
divisions of 2-4
battleships, they also commanded
squadrons of
battlecruisers, with squadrons of smaller vessels often being commanded by
commodores.[Note 3] These units were grouped into regional commands whose commander's rank varied depending on the importance of the region, but was usually a rear-admiral or vice-admiral. More senior officers held command of large sea-going forces such as the
Grand Fleet.[7] Many admirals also held staff positions on land rather than sea-going commands.[4] The rank of admiral of the fleet was held for life and was granted to the most senior serving naval officers or as an honorary rank for prior service.[3]
Until 1957 the Royal Navy maintained separate branches for its officers, distinguishing the military (executive) roles from others, such as engineering, which were considered "civil" roles. The Royal Navy's engineers had previously had
unique rank titles but since reforms in 1903 engineer branch officers had held the same ranks as their executive colleagues, though prefaced with "engineer".[8][9]
First World War service
Royal Navy admirals served on land and at sea during the war. In British wartime
prime ministerDavid Lloyd George's 1933 memoirs he lauds the admirals for serving at sea and sharing the risk of death with their men. He contrasts this with the service of British generals in the war whom he generalises as
châteaux generals who did not visit the battlefield.[10] This myth is unfair on the generals who suffered heavy casualties during the war, with
many killed in action.[11] Three British admirals were killed in action during the war compared to at least 78 British generals with the rate of death proportionately greater in the army.[12][10] The admirals killed were Rear-Admiral
Sir Christopher Cradock at the
Battle of Coronel in 1914 and Rear-Admirals
Sir Horace Hood and
Sir Robert Arbuthnot, both killed at the
Battle of Jutland in 1916.[10]
The colonial navies (the
Royal Australian Navy and
Royal Canadian Navy) served in a combat capacity throughout the war, generally under the direction of the
British Admiralty.[13] The
Royal Indian Marine began the war as a non-combatant force, though during the course of the conflict its vessels were armed and served on patrol and transport duties.[14][15] The only non Royal Navy admiral of the British Empire to die during the war was the Royal Australian Navy's director of naval auxiliary services, Rear-Admiral
Frederick Tickell.[16]
Pre-armistice
This list includes all officers noted by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) as holding flag officer rank and who died between the British entry into the war on 4 August 1914 and the armistice of 11 November 1918. A large number of retired naval officers, including many admirals, volunteered for service during the war. Many accepted
commissions at lower ranks in the
Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) and served in
yachts and other small craft on coastal patrols. The CWGC list these officers at their full rank, even where they died whilst serving in the lower RNR rank.[17]
The First World War is usually held to have ended with the
armistice of 11 November 1918 though the peace treaties officially ending the war took some years to agree and sign. Under the
Termination of the Present War (Definition) Act 1918 the end of the war was defined for general purposes by the British parliament as 31 August 1921. This is the same date that the Commonwealth War Graves Commission uses for its casualty records. The following flag officers died between the armistice and 31 August 1921.[39]
^The Royal Navy has varied in its definition of "flag officer" and the related term "officer of flag rank", with the former sometimes applying only to officers specifically authorised to raise a flag indicating their rank.[1] In the 1913
King's Regulations only the term "flag officer" was used and applied to all officers of the rank of rear admiral and above.[2]
^Of the honorary admirals of the fleet two (German Emperor
Wilhelm II and his younger brother
Prince Henry of Prussia) disavowed their rank when their nation declared war on Britain and one (Russian Tsar
Nicholas II) was executed during the war. Two further (British) admirals of the fleet were appointed during the course of the war.[3]
^Some senior captains were appointed to the role of commodore to command a formation of ships, it did not become a formal rank until 1997. During the First World War two classes of commodore were appointed, the 1st class had sole responsibility for commanding the formation while the 2nd class (lower class) also commanded their own vessel. The 1st class was considered to rank in equivalent with the
US Navy's
rear admiral (lower half).[5] One commodore of the Royal Navy died during the war, Commodore 2nd Class Charles Edward Le Mesurier on 10 November 1917.[6]