Charles Blois Miller

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Vice-Admiral (retired) Charles Blois Miller, C.B. (22 March, 1867 – 14 July, 1926) was an officer in the Royal Navy with a flair for draughtsmanship and a somewhat harsh disciplinary style of command.

Life & Career

Miller gained five months' time on passing out of Britannia.

Miller was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant dated 1 October, 1890.[1]

Miller was promoted to the rank of Commander on 30 June, 1903.[2]

He was promoted to the rank of Captain on 31 December, 1908.[3]

Miller was appointed in command of the first class protected cruiser Edgar on 21 February, 1911. 17,000 undeclared cigarettes were discovered aboard the ship, and Miller was told that he was expected to exercise greater oversight of such dutiable goods.

Miller was appointed captain of H.M.S. Jupiter in September, 1911.

On 9 January, 1912, he was appointed in command of the light cruiser Liverpool.[4] On 10 June 1912, he was hospitalised with scarlet fever. He was found fit on 5 August. In November, he was criticised by the Admiralty for his failure to adequately explain the "abnormal number of punishments" he meted out upon the crew of Liverpool. This was followed in December, however, by a favourable report on the state of discipline within the ship. In April 1913, confidential books in Liverpool went missing.[5][6]

Miller was appointed in command of the light cruiser Nottingham on 9 July, 1913, and commanded her at the Battle of Dogger Bank, for which he was mentioned in a gazette supplement of 2 March 1915, and at the Battle of Jutland, where Admiral Beatty found he "commanded & fought ... with great skill & gallantry," for which Miller was awarded a C.B., gazetted 15 September, 1916.[7] Miller and was still in command of Liverpool when she was lost on 19 August, 1916.[8]

Miller was issued a new naval commission on 22 September, his original having apparently been lost in Liverpool shortly after being appointed in command of the battlecruiser Glorious. He would command Glorious through the end of the war.[9][10]

In a Court Martial in mid-1917, Miller punished Lieutenant Haworth-Booth for being absent without leave – a finding the Admiralty found excessively harsh given the circumstances, which appear to involve the officer's wife being seriously ill.[11]

Miller was granted leave on 3 February 1918 as Glorious was undergoing refit.[12]

Post-War

Miller married on 19 August, 1919. He was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral on 17 February, 1920.[13]

Miller retired at his own request on 23 May, 1924 and was subsequently promoted to the rank of Vice-Admiral on the Retired List on 1 July, 1925.[14]

Miller was killed in a motoring accident at Berrick crossroads near Wallingford, Berkshire when the car he was driving struck a motorcycle. The motorcyclist was seriously injured in the accident.[15]

See Also

Papers

Naval Appointments
Preceded by
George H. Borrett 		Captain of H.M.S. Pioneer
9 Jan, 1907[16] – 19 Jan, 1909[17] 		Succeeded by
William F. Blunt
Preceded by
Louis C. S. Woollcombe 		Captain of H.M.S. Æolus
20 Sep, 1910[18] – 22 Nov, 1910[19] 		Succeeded by
William W. Wilson
Preceded by
The Hon. Algernon D. E. H. Boyle 		Captain of H.M.S. Edgar
21 Feb, 1911[20][21] – 22 Jul, 1911[22] 		Succeeded by
Henry P. Ritchie
Preceded by
Francis W. Caulfeild 		Captain of H.M.S. Royal Arthur
15 Aug, 1911[23] – 1 Sep, 1911[24] 		Succeeded by
Basil H. Fanshawe
Preceded by
Cole C. Fowler 		Captain of H.M.S. Jupiter
1 Sep, 1911[25] – 9 Jan, 1912[26] 		Succeeded by
John Nicholas
Preceded by
Charles H. Morgan 		Captain of H.M.S. Liverpool
9 Jan, 1912[27][28] – 9 Jul, 1913[29] 		Succeeded by
Edward Reeves
Preceded by
New Command 		Captain of H.M.S. Nottingham
9 Jul, 1913[30] – 19 Aug, 1916[31] 		Succeeded by
Vessel Lost
Preceded by
New Command 		Captain of H.M.S. Glorious
27 Aug, 1916[32][33] – 12 Mar, 1919[34] 		Succeeded by
James T. Bush
Preceded by
? 		In Command of the Coastguard, Plymouth Area
1 Jan, 1920[35] – 1 May, 1920[36] 		Succeeded by
Ernest A. Taylor
Preceded by
Crawford Maclachlan 		Rear-Admiral, Reserve Fleet, Rosyth
3 May, 1921[37] – 3 May, 1922[38] 		Succeeded by
Henry P. Boxer
as Senior Officer, Reserve Fleet, Rosyth

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 26093. p. 5268. 3 October, 1890.
  2. ↑ Miller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42/382. f. 456.
  3. ↑ Miller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42/382. f. 456.
  4. ↑ The Navy List. (July, 1913). p. 340.
  5. ↑ Miller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/89/51. f. 51.
  6. ↑ Miller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42/382. f. 456.
  7. ↑ Miller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/89/51. f. 51.
  8. ↑ Naval Operations. Vol. IV. pp. 35, 38.
  9. ↑ Miller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42/382. f. 456.
  10. ↑ The Navy List. (February, 1919). p. 801.
  11. ↑ Miller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/89/51. f. 51.
  12. ↑ Miller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42/382. f. 456.
  13. ↑ Miller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/89/51. f. 51.
  14. ↑ Miller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/89/51. f. 51.
  15. ↑ Miller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/89/51. f. 51.
  16. ↑ Miller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42/382. f. 456.
  17. ↑ Miller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42/382. f. 456.
  18. ↑ Miller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42/382. f. 456.
  19. ↑ Miller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42/382. f. 456.
  20. ↑ Miller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42/382. f. 456.
  21. ↑ The Navy List. (April, 1911). p. 307.
  22. ↑ Miller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42/382. f. 456.
  23. ↑ Miller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42/382. f. 456.
  24. ↑ Miller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42/382. f. 456.
  25. ↑ Miller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42/382. f. 456.
  26. ↑ Miller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42/382. f. 456.
  27. ↑ The Navy List. (July, 1913). p. 340.
  28. ↑ Miller Service REcord. The National Archives. ADM 196/42/382. f. 456.
  29. ↑ Miller Service REcord. The National Archives. ADM 196/42/382. f. 456.
  30. ↑ The Navy List. (December, 1914). p. 362.
  31. ↑ Naval Operations. Vol. IV. pp. 35, 38.
  32. ↑ Miller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/89/51. f. 51.
  33. ↑ The Navy List. (February, 1919). p. 801.
  34. ↑ Miller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/89/51. f. 51.
  35. ↑ Miller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/89/51. f. 51.
  36. ↑ Miller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/89/51. f. 51.
  37. ↑ Miller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/89/51. f. 51.
  38. ↑ Miller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/89/51. f. 51.

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