Edward Montgomery Phillpotts

Admiral Edward Montgomery Phillpotts, C.B., Royal Navy, Retired (1 August, 1871 – 9 April, 1952) was an officer of the Royal Navy during the First World War.

Early Life & Career

Edward Montgomery Phillpotts was born on 1 August, 1871, the son of the Reverend H. J. Phillpotts of Lamerton Vicarage, Tavistock.

Phillpotts was confirmed in the rank of Sub-Lieutenant on 28 January, 1892, dated 1 August, 1890, and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant dated 1 February, 1891.

Phillpotts was promoted to the rank of Commander on 1 January, 1902.

He was appointed as Acting Flag Captain of Bulwark on 24 February, 1905 and was thanked for contributing to good results in the gunlayer tests of that year.

Captain

Phillpotts was promoted to the rank of Captain on 30 June, 1906. He served as an umpire in the Annual Manoeuvres of 1906 and assumed command of the first class protected cruiser Grafton in August.

Phillpotts was appointed to command the armoured cruiser Euryalus on 8 February, 1907.

He was appointed to command the battleship Prince of Wales on 4 February, 1909.

Phillpotts assumed the duties of Naval Assistant to the Second Sea Lord on 31 July, 1912.

Great War

Phillpotts grounded Warspite on 17 September, 1915 in what the Admiralty regarded as a severe error in judgement on his part, earning him their "severe displeasure". In a letter of 4 September, 1916, Sir Henry Jackson wrote to Arthur Balfour:

We were discussing the Naval Secretary's relief recently & I stated I saw no objection to Captain Phillpotts & that I thought his appointment would be popular in the Grand Fleet.

I have just heard from 4th Sea Lord, without having mentioned the matter to him, that amongst a certain section of senior officer, mostly based at Rosyth, that the reverse opinion is held there, owing to the record of his services afloat as well as of his seniority. You may like to hear of this as you have not made a decision. My only criticism is his seniority.

On 15 September he was appointed an Additional Member of the Third Class, or Companion, in the Military Division of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (C.B.) dated 31 May, 1916.

Warspite collided with her sister, H.M.S. Valiant on 24 August, 1916 while the two were engaged in a night firing exercise. Phillpotts was tried by Court Martial on 5/6 October 1916 on a charge of having hazarded his vessel, and was sentenced to be reprimanded for not having made definite arrangements for the programme. The sentence was cancelled when it was argued that the Rear-Admiral of the squadron was responsible for making such arrangements.

Phillpotts served as Naval Assistant to the First Sea Lord, Sir John Jellicoe from December, 1916 to October, 1917. He was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral, vice Duff, on 15 January, 1918.

Post-War

On 1 May, 1920, Phillpotts was appointed President of the Ordnance Committee in succession to Rear-Admiral Arthur Craig Waller.

On 7 October, 1923, Phillpotts was promoted to the rank of Vice-Admiral, vice Jackson. He was placed on the Retired List on 8 October.

He was advanced to the rank of Admiral on the Retired List on 1 August, 1927.

Bibliography

• "Adml. Phillpotts" (Obituaries). The Times. Monday, 14 April, 1952. Issue 52285, col D, p. 8.

Papers

• Papers in the possession of the Imperial War Museum, featuring an account of the Battle of Jutland by Humphrey Thomas Walwyn. Catalogue number 2612 86/31/1.
• Papers in the possession of the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives.

Service Records

• The National Archives. ADM 196/88.
• The National Archives. ADM 196/43.

Naval Appointments
Preceded by Frederick T. Hamilton	Captain of H.M.S. Bulwark 24 Feb, 1905 – 1 Jan, 1906	Succeeded by Osmond de B. Brock
Preceded by Frederick C. A. Ogilvy	Captain of H.M.S. Grafton 16 Aug, 1906 – 10 Jan, 1907	Succeeded by Charles F. Thorp
Preceded by A. Gordon H. W. Moore	Captain of H.M.S. Euryalus 8 Feb, 1907 – 4 Feb, 1909	Succeeded by Arthur L. Cay
Preceded by Herbert W. Savory	Captain of H.M.S. Prince of Wales 4 Feb, 1909 – 20 Dec, 1910	Succeeded by Ronald A. Hopwood
Preceded by Herbert MacI. Edwards	Captain of Portsmouth Signal School 10 Jan, 1911 – 31 Jul, 1912	Succeeded by Frederick L. Field
Preceded by Herbert MacI. Edwards	Superintendent of Signal Schools 10 Jan, 1911 – 31 Jul, 1912	Succeeded by Frederick L. Field
Preceded by Cecil F. Lambert	Naval Assistant to the Second Sea Lord 31 Jul, 1912 – 22 Feb, 1915	Succeeded by Hubert G. Brand
Preceded by New Command	Captain of H.M.S. Warspite 22 Feb, 1915 – 18 Dec, 1916	Succeeded by Charles Martin-de-Bartolomé
Preceded by Argentine H. Alington	Naval Assistant to the First Sea Lord 16 Dec, 1916 – 8 Oct, 1917	Succeeded by Hamnet H. Share
Preceded by Christopher R. Payne	Head of Signal Section before 17 Aug, 1917	Succeeded by Richard L. Nicholson as Director of Signal Division
Preceded by Clement Greatorex	Director of Naval Equipment 8 Oct, 1917 – 1 May, 1920	Succeeded by Edward F. Bruen
Preceded by Arthur W. Craig	President of the Ordnance Committee 1 May, 1920 – 8 Oct, 1923	Succeeded by Henry R. Crooke