Bernard Currey

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Admiral Bernard Currey, Royal Navy (11 May, 1862 – 6 June, 1936) was an officer of the Royal Navy. He had a knack for photography and spoke French and Japanese.

Early Life & Career

Currey was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant with seniority of 11 November, 1882, having earned three first-class certificates,[1] also claiming the Beaufort Testimonial for 1882 as well as the Goodenough Medal, being the Sub-Lieutenant who achieved the highest gunnery examination for the year and while also achieving a first-class certificate in seamanship.[2]

Currey earned his first-class torpedo certificate in April, 1886.[3]

Currey was promoted to the rank of Commander on 30 June, 1895, aged thirty-three years, one month, and nineteen days.[4]

Captain

Currey was promoted to the rank of Captain on 30 June, 1901.[5]

On 10 February, 1904, he was appointed in command of the second class protected cruiser Scylla.[6] Also in 1904, he was appointed as captain of Terpsichore.[6] On 5 November, he was appointed as captain of Good Hope.[6]

From 1904 to 1906, he served as flag captain in that ship to Rear-Admiral Edmund Samuel Poe in the First Cruiser Squadron in the Channel Fleet,[7] moving on to command Black Prince on 1 February, 1906.[6]

On 21 December, 1908, he was appointed in command of the battleship H.M.S. Agamemnon.[8]

Currey was appointed in command of H.M.S. Exmouth on 30 April of 1910.[6]

Currey was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral on 1 March, 1911, vice Paget.[9]

He was made President of the Committee on Eyesight of Officers on 9 October, 1913.[6]

Great War

On the outbreak of war, Currey was serving as Rear-Admiral in the Fifth Battle Squadron of the Channel Fleet.[10] He was ordered to haul down his flag on 9 February, 1915, and he struck his flag on 14 February. He was appointed Senior Naval Officer and in charge of all Naval Establishments at Gibraltar on 21 September, and he assumed command on 27 October.[11] He was promoted to the rank of Vice-Admiral on 9 June, 1916.[12]

Post-War

Currey was promoted to the rank of Admiral on 1 January, 1919, vice Limpus.[13] He was placed on the Retired List at his own request on 9 January.[14]

Currey's widow, Grace Elaine, retired as trustee in charge of the Royal Sailors' Rests in March, 1958. She died on 14 February, 1969 at East Leigh House, Havant.[15]

Bibliography

  • "Admiral B. Currey" (Obituaries). The Times. Monday, 8 June, 1936. Issue 47395, col B, p. 19.

Papers

Service Records

Naval Appointments
Preceded by
Reginald G. O. Tupper
Rear-Admiral Commanding, Portsmouth Division, Home Fleets
1913 – 1914
Succeeded by
Command Abolished

Naval Appointments
Preceded by
George A. Callaghan
Captain of H.M.S. Edgar
16 Jul, 1902[16] – 27 Aug, 1902[17]
Succeeded by
John E. Bearcroft
Preceded by
Charles W. Winnington-Ingram
Captain of H.M.S. Scylla
10 Feb, 1904[18] – 1904[19]
Succeeded by
Alfred W. Paget
Preceded by
Charles H. Coke
Captain of H.M.S. Terpsichore
1904[20] – 4 Nov, 1904[21]
Succeeded by
William H. Baker-Baker
Preceded by
Charles E. Madden
Captain of H.M.S. Good Hope
4 Nov, 1904[22] – 14 Jul, 1905[23]
Succeeded by
George P. W. Hope
Preceded by
New Command
Captain of H.M.S. Black Prince
1 Feb, 1906[24] – 21 Dec, 1906[25]
Succeeded by
Richard P. F. Purefoy
Preceded by
The Hon. Alexander E. Bethell
Assistant Director of Torpedoes
21 Dec, 1906[26] – 21 Dec, 1908[27]
Succeeded by
Stuart Nicholson
Preceded by
Sackville H. Carden
Captain of H.M.S. Agamemnon
21 Dec, 1908[28][29] – 5 Apr, 1910[30]
Succeeded by
Edmund R. Pears
Preceded by
John de M. Hutchison
Captain of H.M.S. Exmouth
30 Apr, 1910[31] – 27 Mar, 1911[32]
Succeeded by
Stuart Nicholson
Preceded by
John de M. Hutchison
Chief of Staff, Mediterranean Station
30 Apr, 1910[33] – 27 Mar, 1911[34]
Succeeded by
Stuart Nicholson
Preceded by
Reginald G. O. Tupper
President of Anti-Submarine Committee
18 Nov, 1912[35] – 18 Nov, 1913[36]
Succeeded by
Robert S. Phipps Hornby
Preceded by
?
Rear-Admiral, Second-in-Command, Fifth Battle Squadron
18 Nov, 1913[37] – 14 Feb, 1915[38]
Succeeded by
Cecil F. Thursby
Preceded by
Frederic E. E. Brock
as Senior Officer, Gibraltar
Senior Naval Officer and in charge of all Naval Establishments, Gibraltar
21 Sep, 1915[39] – 19 Jun, 1917[40]
Succeeded by
Sir Heathcoat S. Grant
as Senior Officer, Gibraltar

Footnotes

  1. The London Gazette: no. 25167. p. 5051. 14 November, 1882.
  2. Currey Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/87. f. 119.
  3. Currey Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/87. f. 119.
  4. The London Gazette: no. 26647. p. 4233. 26 July, 1895.
  5. The London Gazette: no. 27335. p. 4780. 19 July, 1901.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Currey Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 36.
  7. Precis posted at Liddle Hart Centre
  8. "Naval and Military Intelligence" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Friday, 20 November, 1908. Issue 38809, col E, p. 14.
  9. The London Gazette: no. 28473. p. 1958. 7 March, 1911.
  10. Supplement to the Monthly Navy List. (September 1914). p. 6.
  11. Currey Service Record. p. 36.
  12. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 29621. p. 5828. 13 June, 1916.
  13. The London Gazette: no. 31112. p. 364. 7 January, 1919.
  14. The London Gazette: no. 31136. p. 1073. 21 January, 1919.
  15. "Deaths" (Deaths). The Times. Monday, 17 February, 1969. Issue 57487, col B, p. 16.
  16. Currey Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 36.
  17. Currey Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 36.
  18. Currey Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 36.
  19. Currey Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 36.
  20. Currey Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 36.
  21. Currey Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 36.
  22. Currey Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 36.
  23. Currey Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 36.
  24. Currey Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 36.
  25. Currey Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 36.
  26. Currey Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 36.
  27. Currey Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 36.
  28. The Navy List. (January, 1910). p. 273.
  29. Currey Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 36.
  30. Currey Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 36.
  31. Currey Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 36.
  32. Currey Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 36.
  33. Currey Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 36.
  34. Currey Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 36.
  35. Date inferred from the date of Tupper ceasing duty on the committee. Clearly listed as "President of Submarine Committee" in Return, for the Year ended 31st March 1913, of the Army and Navy Officers permitted, under Rule 2 of the Regulations drawn up under Section 6 of the "Superannuation Act, 1887," to hold Civil Employment of Profit under Public Departments. pp. 22-23, 32-33.
  36. Currey Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42/31.
  37. Squadrons and Senior Naval Officers in Existence on 11th November, 1918. f. 36.
  38. Squadrons and Senior Naval Officers in Existence on 11th November, 1918. f. 36.
  39. The Navy List. (December, 1916). p. 559.
  40. Currey Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 36.