Godfrey Herbert

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Commander Godfrey Herbert, D.S.O., R.N. (28 February, 1884 – 8 August, 1961) was an officer in the Royal Navy.

Life & Career

Born in Coventry, the son of the non-practicing solicitor John Herbert.

Herbert was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 31 December, 1905.[1]

Herbert was appointed in command of the submarine C 30 in June, 1913.[2]

On 19 November, 1913, he was appointed to Maidstone to be Lieutenant aboard D 5.[3]

Promotion to Lieutenant-Commander followed on 31 December, 1913,[4] and on 25 March, 1914, Herbert was appointed to depot ship Adamant for command of submarine D 5.[5] He was to be one of only five of her crew to survive her mining on 3 November, 1914.[6]

Herbert was appointed in command of the Q-ship H.M.S. Antwerp on 27 January, 1915, and was appointed in command of the "Q" ship Baralong on 5 April, 1915. On 19 August, Baralong was involved in the Baralong Incident after sinking U 27 in the Irish Sea. Just eight days later, Herbert was appointed in command of the E 22.

Herbert was awarded the Distinguished Service Order on 13 September, 1915.[7]

Herbert was appointed to Dolphin on 27 April, 1916 and loaned to command the Q-ship Carrigan Head, also known as Q 4 in June. He was superseded in her on 9 October, and was appointed to K 13, to assume command upon her commissioning.

On 29 January, 1917, he was in command of K 13 when she sank on a test dive. Herbert was able to escape from the submarine – his second such bit of luck.

Herbert was promoted to the rank of Commander on 30 June, 1917,[8] and on 3 July, he was appointed to Colleen, receiving ship in Queenstown, for general staff duties and coordination with the Americans, remaining there through the end of the war.[9]

World War II

Herbert was appointed as Captain of the armed merchant cruiser Cilicia on 2 September, 1939 and served in her being appointed as Captain of Minelayers in Portsmouth on 16 March, 1940.

Herbert was granted the acting rank of Captain on 10 November, 1939.

Herbert was appointed as Captain of Minelayers in Alexandria on 4 November, 1941 and was moved to Port Said sometime in 1942.

He reverted to the Retired List on 10 February, 1943.

See Also

Naval Appointments
Preceded by
?
Captain of H.M.S. C 33
1 Aug, 1910[10] – 15 Dec, 1910
Succeeded by
Theodore S. Brodie
Preceded by
Theodore S. Brodie
Captain of H.M.S. C 36
15 Dec, 1910 – 4 Mar, 1913
Succeeded by
Donald I. McGillewie
Preceded by
Thomas F. Besant
Captain of H.M.S. C 30
Jun, 1913[11] – 19 Nov, 1913
Succeeded by
Allan Poland
Preceded by
Thomas F. P. Calvert
Captain of H.M.S. D 5
19 Nov, 1913 – 3 Nov, 1914[12]
Succeeded by
Vessel Lost
Preceded by
New Command
Captain of H.M.S. E 22
27 Aug, 1915 – 19 Apr, 1916
Succeeded by
Reginald T. Dimsdale
Preceded by
?
Captain of H.M.S. H 8
19 Apr, 1916 – 27 Apr, 1916
Succeeded by
Ronald A. Trevor
Preceded by
?
Captain of H.M.S. Q.4
Jun, 1916 – 9 Oct, 1916
Succeeded by
James C. Wauhope
Preceded by
New Command
Captain of H.M.S. K 13
11 Oct, 1916 – 29 Jan, 1917
Succeeded by
Charles de Burgh
as Captain of H.M.S. K 22
Preceded by
John G. Bower
Captain of H.M.S. K 12
1 Jan, 1919 – Feb, 1919
Succeeded by
Gilbert E. Venning

Footnotes

  1. The Navy List. (December, 1913). p. 39.
  2. The Navy List. (July, 1913). p. 395a.
  3. The Navy List. (December, 1913). p. 343.
  4. The Navy List. (November, 1914). p. 47.
  5. The Navy List. (June, 1914). p. 273.
  6. Wikipedia
  7. The Navy List. (October, 1915). p. 757c.
  8. The Navy List. (November, 1917). p. 176c.
  9. The Navy List. (December, 1918). p. 759.
  10. "Naval Appointments." The Times (London, England), 5 Aug. 1910, p. 7.
  11. The Navy List. (July, 1913). p. 395a.
  12. Hepper. British Warship Losses in the Ironclad Era: 1860-1919. p. 29.