Ambrose Thomas Norman Abbay

Captain (retired) Ambrose Thomas Norman Abbay, D.S.O., (10 November, 1886 – ) was an officer in the Royal Navy. As of July 2019, he has the distinction of being the first alphabetical name of over 8,500 people on our site. He would be easily found in the phonebook.

Life & Career

Abbay was born in Earl Soham, the son of the Reverend R. Abbay. He gained two and a half months time on passing out of the training ship Britannia.

Abbay was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 1 April, 1909.

After a few torpedo boat commands, Abbay was appointed to the light cruiser Yarmouth for two years, commencing on 18 April, 1912. On 5 June, 1914 he was appointed in command of the "B" Class destroyer Wolf.

He was appointed in command of the destroyer Wolf on 5 June, 1914.

Great War

Abbay stayed in command of Wolf until being appointed to command the River Class destroyer Garry on 5 October, 1915.

Abbay was appointed in command of the "M" Class destroyer Observer on 23 May, 1916, to take command upon her commissioning. Some time later that year, he moved over to command Paragon. Superseded in that ship on 18 November, 1916, six days later he was appointed to the new destroyer Rob Roy, to take command upon her commissioning. Abbay was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Commander in her on 1 April, 1917.

In late 1917, Captain (D), Thirteenth Destroyer Flotilla Arthur Dutton reported that Abbay "[h]andles ship well, but does not keep her up to mark."

Abbay received an expression of the Admiralty's appreciation for his work in salving the torpedoed S.S. Idomeneus (?) on 15 September, 1917. He remained in command of Rob Roy through the end of the war, being superseded only on 22 January, 1919.

Post-War

He was awarded a D.S.O. for services in command of the Walker in the Baltic during 1919, gazetted on 8 March, 1920. He would soon thereafter be mentioned in despatches on 9 April, 1920.

On 16 November, 1920, he was appointed in command of the destroyer Tomahawk.

Abbay was thanked for his services on the occasion of the destruction of the French transport Vinh Long on 16 December, 1922, with copies of the gratitude of the French Minister of Marine forwarded to him.

Abbay was promoted to the rank of Commander on 31 December, 1922.

On 17 June, 1926, Abbay was appointed in command of new destroyer Ambuscade, and for duty with Captain Superintendent of Contract-Built Ships. He was superseded in her on 12 September, 1928.

On 20 December, 1927, he married Beatrix Yvonne Alice Tennant in Essex.

On 16 May, 1928, Ambuscade and Amazon damaged the Greek S.S. Antonios Stathatos at her moorings at Santos. Abbay was informed that he should have kept his speed to 8 knots in consideration of the nature of the channel in this harbour.

On 9 February 1929 he was appointed to duty inside the Admiralty with the Director of Naval Equipment, vice Hallett. He was superseded there on 19 February, 1931 and on 30 April was appointed in command of the old seaplane carrier Ark Royal.

Abbay was placed on the Retired List with the rank of Captain on 10 November, 1932.

On 14 March, 1938, a medical evaluation decreed that Abbay was fit for shore duty only, due to a fibrotic lung.

See Also

• Service Records
• Wikipedia

Naval Appointments
Preceded by Hector R. Monro	Captain of H.M. T.B. 079 3 May, 1910 – 6 Jun, 1911	Succeeded by Edward J. Forsyth-Forrest
Preceded by Hugh B. Worsley	Captain of H.M. T.B. 112 6 Jun, 1911 – 18 Apr, 1912	Succeeded by Edward S. Graham
Preceded by Philip G. Wodehouse	Captain of H.M.S. Wolf 5 Jun, 1914 – 9 Oct, 1915	Succeeded by Arthur E. Durham
Preceded by William W. Wilson	Captain of H.M.S. Garry 9 Oct, 1915 – 23 May, 1916	Succeeded by Henry A. Binmore
Preceded by New Command	Captain of H.M.S. Observer 23 May, 1916 – c. late May, 1916[Inference]	Succeeded by Frederic G. Schurr
Preceded by Frederic G. Schurr	Captain of H.M.S. Paragon Jun, 1916 – 18 Nov, 1916	Succeeded by Richard G. Bowyer
Preceded by New Command	Captain of H.M.S. Rob Roy 24 Nov, 1916 – 22 Jan, 1919	Succeeded by Reginald W. Grubb
Preceded by Henry C. Rawlings	Captain of H.M.S. Walker 22 Jan, 1919 – 16 Nov, 1920	Succeeded by William E. B. Magee
Preceded by George H. Creswell	Captain of H.M.S. Tomahawk 16 Nov, 1920 – 15 Apr, 1921	Succeeded by Valentine M. Wyndham-Quin
Preceded by Valentine M. Wyndham-Quin	Captain of H.M.S. Sepoy 13 Apr, 1921 – Jan, 1923	Succeeded by Percival C. W. Manwaring
Preceded by Richard M. Welby	Captain of H.M.S. Worcester Jan, 1924 – 22 Apr, 1926	Succeeded by Ralph Kerr
Preceded by New Command	Captain of H.M.S. Ambuscade 17 Jun, 1926 – 12 Sep, 1928	Succeeded by Louis H. K. Hamilton
Preceded by Philip Hordern	Captain of H.M.S. Ark Royal 30 Apr, 1931 – 11 May, 1932	Succeeded by Cecil R. E. W. Perryman