Montague George Bentinck Legge

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Rear-Admiral Montague George Bentinck Legge, D.S.O. (16 December, 1883 – 11 February, 1951) was an officer in the Royal Navy.

Life & Career

Legge was born in Paddington, the son of a Lieutenant Colonel E. H. Legge. He gained four months' time on passing out of Britannia. He was sent to join the Mars on 7 September, 1899.[1]

Legge was specially recommended for advancement in April, 1905 and promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 30 September, 1905.[2]

Legge was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Commander on 30 September, 1913.[3]

Legge was appointed in command of the destroyer Forester on 14 November, 1913.[4]

Great War

In 1915, Forester and Archer collided. Legge was admonished for allowing the Officer of the Watch to undertake such a large alteration in course.[5]

Legge commanded the destroyer Nerissa at the Battle of Jutland, where she fought as part of the Thirteenth Destroyer Flotilla.[6] Legge was gazetted on 15 September 1916, "Having defeated the enemy destroyers, gallantly pressed home attack with torpedoes on the enemy Battle Cruisers." A D.S.O. was invested upon him by the King at Buckingham Palace on 10 February, 1917.

On 5 March, 1917, Nerissa lost a Maxim gun overboard in heavy weather and Legge was told to be more careful in future. Legge became ill with measles on 11 March.[7]

Legge was promoted to the rank of Commander on 31 December, 1917.[8]

On 26 January, 1918, he left Nerissa when he was appointed in command of the destroyer Vesper.[9] On 3 July he was hospitalised in Queensferry with influenza. He was found fit on 13 July.[10]

Interbellum

Legge was appointed in command of the destroyer Tancred on 11 January, 1921.[11]

Legge was appointed in command of the shallow draught steamer Widgeon on 8 November, 1921 (or 1922?) as Senior Naval Officer, Upper Yangtze.[12] In January 1925, he was superseded in that command by Salisbury Hamilton Simpson.[13]

Legge was promoted to the rank of Captain on 31 December, 1925.[14]

On 20 February, 1930 Legge assumed duty as the Royal Naval Attaché, Tokyo.

Legge was appointed in command of the battleship Centurion in June, 1933. He grounded her on 11 September, 1934 and was chastised for having failed to see she was being safely navigated by her pilot and for failing to take action upon seeing her developing predicament.[15]

Legge was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral on 17 July, 1936 and was placed on the Retired List the following day in accord with the provisions of the Order in Council of 9 March, 1914.[16]

World War II

Legge worked with the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Selection Board from June, 1939. In November however, he was in Jamaica and was reportedly medically unfit and returning to the U.K. with his staff. In 1940, he was commenced work as the Roof Lookout Control Officer with the Air Ministry, with the rank of Captain. Presumably, this involved civilian observers reporting from their roofs.[17]

Legge died of myocardial degeneration and bronchial emphysema on 11 February, 1951.[18]

See Also

Naval Appointments
Preceded by
Hugh U. Fletcher
Captain of H.M.S. Surly
29 Mar, 1909[19][20] – 1 Jan, 1910[21]
Succeeded by
Edmond A. B. Stanley
Preceded by
Hugh T. England
Captain of H.M.S. Fawn
1 Jan, 1910[22] – 23 Aug, 1910[23]
Succeeded by
Adrian St. V. Keyes
Preceded by
Walter L. Allen
Captain of H.M.S. Desperate
23 Aug, 1910[24][25] – 15 Nov, 1911[26]
Succeeded by
Edmond A. B. Stanley
Preceded by
James F. Houstoun
Captain of H.M.S. Forester
14 Nov, 1913[27][28] – 4 Apr, 1916[29]
Succeeded by
Wilfred A. Thompson
Preceded by
Wilfred A. Thompson
Captain of H.M.S. Nerissa
8 Apr, 1916[30] – 26 Jan, 1918[31]
Succeeded by
Edward O. Tudor
Preceded by
New Command
Captain of H.M.S. Vesper
26 Jan, 1918[32][33] – 25 Aug, 1920[34]
Succeeded by
Richard B. England
Preceded by
Hamilton C. Allen
Captain of H.M.S. Tancred
11 Jan, 1921[35][36] – 15 Mar, 1922[37]
Succeeded by
Hugh M. Barnes
Preceded by
Geoffrey Corlett
Captain of H.M.S. Widgeon
c. Dec, 1922[38]
Succeeded by
Salisbury H. Simpson
Preceded by
Sir Leonard P. Vavasour, Bart.
Captain of H.M.S. Dartmouth
early 1926[39] – 15 Apr, 1926[40]
Succeeded by
Norman M. C. Thurstan
Preceded by
Evelyn C. O. Thomson
Captain of H.M.S. Mackay
2 Dec, 1926[41] – 6 Apr, 1927[42]
Succeeded by
John H. K. Clegg
Preceded by
Lewis G. E. Crabbe
Captain (D), Seventh Destroyer Flotilla
2 Dec, 1926[43] – 6 Apr, 1927[44]
Succeeded by
John H. K. Clegg
Preceded by
George H. D'O. Lyon
Captain of H.M.S. Stuart
2 May, 1927[45] – 19 Dec, 1928[46]
Succeeded by
William J. Whitworth
Preceded by
George H. D'O. Lyon
Captain (D), Second Destroyer Flotilla
2 May, 1927[47] – 19 Dec, 1928[48]
Succeeded by
William J. Whitworth
Preceded by
Ragnar M. Colvin
as Royal Navy Naval Attaché for Japan and China
Royal Navy Naval Attaché at Tokyo
20 Feb, 1930[49] – Jan, 1933[50]
Succeeded by
Henry B. Rawlings
Preceded by
Francis S. W. de Winton
Captain of H.M.S. Centurion
1 Jun, 1933[51] – Jan, 1934[52]
Succeeded by
Geoffrey R. S. Watkins
Preceded by
William J. Whitworth
Captain of H.M.S. Centurion
26 Jun, 1934[53] – 1 Jan, 1935[54]
Succeeded by
Irving M. Palmer
Preceded by
Albert J. Robertson
Captain of H.M.S. Greenwich
1 Aug, 1935[55] – 4 Aug, 1936[56]
Succeeded by
Francis H. G. Walker
Preceded by
William M. Kerr
Captain of Rosyth Dockyard
? – 4 Aug, 1936[57]
Succeeded by
Francis H. G. Walker
Preceded by
Albert J. Robertson
Senior Officer, Reserve Fleet, Rosyth
1 Aug, 1935[58] – 4 Aug, 1936[59]
Succeeded by
Francis H. G. Walker
Preceded by
Albert J. Robertson
King's Harbour Master, Rosyth
1 Aug, 1935[60] – 4 Aug, 1936[61]
Succeeded by
Francis H. G. Walker

Footnotes

  1. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  2. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  3. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  4. The Navy List. (January, 1915). p. 318.
  5. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  6. Battle of Jutland Official Despatches. pp. 34, 46.
  7. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  8. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  9. The Navy List. (February, 1919). p. 928.
  10. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  11. The Navy List. (January, 1921). p. 870.
  12. The Navy List. (January, 1923). p. 843.
  13. Simpson Service Records. The National Archives. ADM 196/49. f. 151.
  14. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  15. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  16. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  17. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  18. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  19. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  20. The Navy List. (January, 1910). p. 380.
  21. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  22. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  23. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  24. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  25. The Navy List. (April, 1911). p. 300.
  26. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  27. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  28. The Navy List. (October, 1915). p. 394f.
  29. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  30. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  31. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  32. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  33. The Navy List. (August, 1920). p. 883.
  34. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  35. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  36. The Navy List. (January, 1921). p. 870.
  37. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  38. "Naval Appointments." The Times (London, England), 13 Nov. 1922, p. 7.
  39. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  40. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  41. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  42. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  43. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  44. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  45. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  46. Whitworth Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/232. f. 117.
  47. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  48. Whitworth Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/232. f. 117.
  49. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  50. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  51. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  52. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  53. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  54. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  55. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  56. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  57. Superseded that day. Walker Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51/73. f. 79.
  58. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  59. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  60. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.
  61. Legge Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/48/170. f. 574.