Charles Martin-de-Bartolomé

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Admiral Charles Martin-de-Bartholomé as a Captain in 1918.
Portrait: © National Portrait Gallery, London.

Admiral SIR Charles Martin-de-Bartolomé, K.C.M.G., C.B., Royal Navy, Retired (26 November, 1871 – 27 May, 1941) was an officer of the Royal Navy in the First World War.

Life & Career

Charles Martin-de-Bartolomé (known as Bartolomé) was born on 26 November, 1871, the son of Mariano Martin-de-Bartolomé, M.D., of Sheffield. He entered the Royal Navy through the training ship Britannia in January, 1885.

Passing out of Britannia in December, 1886, Martin-de-Bartolomé was discharged from his first ship, Carysfort in September 1890 with fever and rheumatism.[1]

He attained a First Class Certificate in Seamanship (with 925 marks out of a possible 1,000) and was confirmed in the rank of Sub-Lieutenant dated 14 February, 1891.[2] In the examinations for the rank of Lieutenant he took firsts in all subjects. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant dated 14 February, 1892.[3]

He was appointed as gunnery officer in the second class battleship Centurion under Captain Jellicoe on the China Station from 5 January 1898 to 27 October, 1899.[4]

On 3 December, 1900 the Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth was directed to inform him that a "deflection finder" he'd invented was going to be trialled in "certain of HM ships" and that he was to be thanked for his care and trouble taken in working out this "useful contrivance."[5] This was an unusual feat, as it was decidedly rare that such inventive initiatives survived even their first round of serious consideration as to whether they'b be seriously considered for adoption in the Fleet.

Martin-de-Bartolomé was promoted to the rank of Commander dated 31 December, 1902.[6]

He was appointed to the battleship Majestic on 1 March, 1907, as Flag Commander to Francis C. B. Bridgeman, Commander-in-Chief of the new Home Fleet.[7]

Captain

Martin-de-Bartolomé was promoted to the rank of Captain on 31 December, 1907.[8] He was temporarily reappointed to Dreadnought on 11 January, 1908.[9] On 24 February, 1909, he was appointed in command of the armoured cruiser Drake.[10] As Captain of Drake, Bartolomé was apparently quite strict with the men. An amusing story about him was later recounted by a sailor; amusing because the sailor evidently thought he had reason to be aggrieved (the editor thinks otherwise):

Our mess was 43 Mess and we was [sic] the cleanest mess in the ship. And when Captain de Bartolomé joined the ship as a captain he came down on our mess. We had a silver cup presented by the other captain [Arthur Hayes-Sadler]. And the men used to have three-water instead of four-water rum, you see? And he took a look there … And then he said, 'This is the cleanest mess in the ship?' 'Oh, yes Sir.' So he says to the caterer—that's the leading seaman—'Turn your table over.' And you know where we'd been scrubbing at the top, the dirty water would get underneath, see? And some men had pieces of meat stuck on a fork under there, ready for another meal when they came down, see? And that Captain de Bartolomé caught hold of the silver cup, flung it straight out the port[hole], and we had seven days' scrubbing that mess.[11]

He was appointed command of the dreadnought Neptune on 3 January, 1911.[12] She was commissioned a month later.

Bartolomé was appointed an Ordinary Member of the Third Class, or Companion, in the Civil Division of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (C.B.) on 1 January, 1913.[13]

Great War

On 5 November, 1914 Bartolomé was appointed Naval Secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty, with the rank of Commodore, First Class.

He was appointed Captain of H.M.S. Warspite in the Fifth Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet on 16 December, 1916, and assumed command on 18 December.

In May, 1918, he was relieved in command of Warspite, and on 3 June he was appointed to President for Special Service at the Admiralty. On 17 June he was appointed Third Sea Lord and a Lord Commissioner of the Board of Admiralty. By Order in Council of 25 June he was again granted the rank of Commodore, First Class. On 11 November, the date of the Armistice, his title became Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy.

Post-War

He was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral on 23 February, 1919, vice Grant.[14] On the occasion of the King's birthday he was appointed an Additional Member of the Second Class, or Knight Commander, of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (K.C.M.G.) on 3 June, 1919,[15] and was invested with the decoration by the King at Buckingham Palace on 31 July. His retirement, at his own request, was dated from 15 August,[16] the date that he was relieved as Third Sea Lord.

He was advanced to the rank of Vice-Admiral on the Retired List on 1 January, 1925,[17] and was advanced to the rank of Admiral on the Retired List on 27 February, 1929.[18]

See Also

Bibliography

  • "Admiral Sir C. Martin-de-Bartolomé" (Obituaries). The Times. Thursday, 29 May, 1941. Issue 48938, col F, pg. 7.
  • McKee, Christopher (2002). Sober Men and True: Sailor Lives in the Royal Navy, 1900-1945. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-00736-0.

Service Records

Naval Appointments
Preceded by
Charles E. Madden 		Captain of H.M.S. Dreadnought
1 Dec, 1908[19] – 24 Feb, 1909[20] 		Succeeded by
A. Gordon H. W. Moore
Preceded by
Arthur Hayes-Sadler 		Captain of H.M.S. Drake
24 Feb, 1909[21][22] – 26 Jul, 1909[23] 		Succeeded by
The Hon. Hubert G. Brand
Preceded by
Herbert G. King-Hall 		Captain of H.M.S. Indomitable
26 Jul, 1909[24][25] – 3 Jan, 1911[26] 		Succeeded by
Arthur A. M. Duff
Preceded by
New Command 		Captain of H.M.S. Neptune
3 Jan, 1911[27][28] – 1 Dec, 1911[29] 		Succeeded by
Allan F. Everett
Preceded by
Henry F. Oliver 		Naval Assistant to the First Sea Lord
15 Dec, 1911[30] – 1 Aug, 1914[31] 		Succeeded by
Percy T. H. Beamish
Preceded by
Henry B. Pelly 		Captain of H.M.S. Invincible
1 Aug, 1914[32][33] – 31 Oct, 1914[34] 		Succeeded by
Percy T. H. Beamish
Preceded by
Henry F. Oliver 		Naval Secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty
5 Nov, 1914[35] – 16 Dec, 1916[36] 		Succeeded by
Allan F. Everett
Preceded by
Edward M. Phillpotts 		Captain of H.M.S. Warspite
16 Dec, 1916[37][38] – May, 1918[39] 		Succeeded by
Hubert Lynes
Preceded by
Lionel Halsey
as Third Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Materiel 		Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy
17 Jun, 1918[40] – 1 Jul, 1919[41] 		Succeeded by
Sir William C. M. Nicholson

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Martin-de-Bartolomé Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43/193. f. 208.
  2. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 26310. p. 4249. 26 July, 1892.
  3. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 26307. p. 4067. 15 July, 1892.
  4. ↑ Martin-de-Bartolomé Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43/193. f. 208.
  5. ↑ Martin-de-Bartolomé Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43/193. f. 208.
  6. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27512. p. 4. 2 January, 1903.
  7. ↑ "Naval & Military Intelligence." The Times (London, England), Friday, 1 March, 1907. Issue 38269, col F, p. 5.
  8. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 28096. p. 34. 3 January, 1908.
  9. ↑ "Naval & Military Intelligence." The Times (London, England), Friday, 10 January, 1908. Issue 38539, col A, p. 9.
  10. ↑ "Naval & Military Intelligence." The Times (London, England), Friday, 12 February, 1909. Issue 38881, col B, p. 9.
  11. ↑ McKee. pp. 49-50. Emphasis added.
  12. ↑ "Naval & Military Intelligence." The Times (London, England), Saturday, 17 December, 1910. Issue 39458, col A, p. 8.
  13. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 28677. p. 1. 1 January, 1913.
  14. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 31230. p. 3482. 14 March, 1919.
  15. ↑ The Edinburgh Gazette: no. 13459. p. 2063. 5 June.
  16. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 31610. p. 12892. 21 October, 1919.
  17. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 33010. p. 219. 9 January, 1925.
  18. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 33474. p. 1575. 5 March, 1929.
  19. ↑ Bartolomé Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 208.
  20. ↑ Bartolomé Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 208.
  21. ↑ Bartolomé Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 208.
  22. ↑ The Navy List. (July, 1909). p. 303.
  23. ↑ Bartolomé Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 208.
  24. ↑ Roberts. Battlecruisers. p. 122.
  25. ↑ Bartolomé Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 208.
  26. ↑ Bartolomé Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 208.
  27. ↑ Bartolomé Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 208.
  28. ↑ The Navy List. (April, 1911). p. 348.
  29. ↑ Bartolomé Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 208.
  30. ↑ Bartolomé Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 208.
  31. ↑ Bartolomé Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 208.
  32. ↑ Roberts. Battlecruisers. p. 122.
  33. ↑ Bartolomé Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 208.
  34. ↑ Bartolomé Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 208.
  35. ↑ Martin-de-Bartolomé Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 208.
  36. ↑ Bartolomé Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 208.
  37. ↑ The Navy List. (October, 1917). p. 399e.
  38. ↑ Bartolomé Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 208.
  39. ↑ Bartolomé Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 208.
  40. ↑ The Naval Staff of the Admiralty. p. 126.
  41. ↑ Bartolomé Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 208.

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