A senior Royal Navy officer who served with distinction through two World Wars, primarily in World War II.
In 1936, he was promoted to vice-admiral, and in 1937 was made second-in-command of the Mediterranean Fleet aboard HMS Hood. Three years later, he was made full commander in chief of the same Mediterranean Fleet aboard HMS Warspite and led it through the naval battles of Calabria (July 1940) and Cape Matapan (March 1941). He was also responsible for the night air raid on Taranto (November 1940) that heavily damaged three Italian battleships (and may have even influenced Japanese plans for Pearl Harbor).
