Ralph Frederick Seymour

Commander Ralph Frederick Seymour, C.M.G., D.S.O., Royal Navy (6 January, 1886 – 4 October, 1922) was an officer of the Royal Navy during the First World War, where he served as Flag Lieutenant to Sir David Beatty in the Battle Cruiser Fleet and then in the Grand Fleet.

Life & Career

Seymour was born on 6 January, 1886, in Pimlico, London, the son of Horace A. D. Seymour, a Commissioner of Customs who had recently served as a Private Secretary to William Gladstone. In 1894 he was appointed Deputy Master of the Royal Mint. His mother was Elizabeth, daughter of Colonel Frederick Romilly. A paternal great-grandfather, Vice-Admiral Lord Hugh Seymour, commanded the Leviathan at the Glorious First of June in 1794, and later served as a Lord Commissioner on the Board of Admiralty. His maternal great-grandfather was the Earl of Minto, who served as First Lord of the Admiralty from 1835 to 1841.

Seymour was educated at Summerfields, near Oxford. His mother later wrote that he "was born a sailor". Accordingly he joined the Royal Navy as a Naval Cadet on 15 September, 1900, being appointed to the training ship Britannia at Dartmouth. He passed out on 15 January, 1902, and was appointed to the battleship Mars in the Channel Squadron from the same date, as well as being rated Midshipman. His father fell seriously ill and Seymour was given leave immediately, but on returning home found the Union flag at half mast and that he was too late: Horace Seymour died on 25 June, the day before his appointment as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath was announced.

His subsequent early service was characterised by short periods of service in different ships. On 1 October, 1902, he was appointed to St. George, to Revenge on 3 November, and to Russell on 24 February, 1903. In August he was sent home by the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, after contracting Mediterranean Fever, but was evidently well enough to be appointed to Empress of India on 8 September, Royal Oak on 9 May, 1904, and then Triumph on 15 September. Captain Cecil Burney of Empress of India recorded of him in June, 1904, "Conduct VGI. Ability VG, rest G. Promising." On 15 March, 1905, he passed in Seamanship with a second class certificate, and became an Acting Sub-Lieutenant. He joined the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, on 5 May to study. In June he passed Navigation Part I, and in November passed Navigation Part II. On 20 February, 1906, he took a second class in Pilotage, and on 30 May a first class in gunnery. He was appointed to the Cæsar for the Annual Manoeuvres of 1906 in June before taking a second class certificate in torpedo on 17 August.

Seymour's first lengthy appointment was to Hermes on the East Indies Station, from 4 September, 1906, until she paid off on 3 October, 1908. In the meantime he was promoted to Lieutenant on 15 December, 1906. In September, 1908, the Commander-in-Chief on the station, Vice-Admiral Sir Edmund S. Poë, wrote that Seymour "Promises very well." The Captain, Douglas R. L. Nicholson, noted, "Very capable & hardworking, promises very well." On 24 July he had applied to qualify in torpedo studies. His request was referred to the torpedo establishment torpedo training school Vernon, and his name placed on a list on 31 August.

On 19 December, 1908, he was appointed to the battleship Irresistible in the Channel Fleet, which was absorbed into the Home Fleet in 1909. The ship paid off on 1 June, 1910. Captain Cresswell J. Eyres wrote of him in May that he was a "G[ood] officer[,] able & with plenty of initiative." In May his name was removed from the list of those wishing to qualify in torpedo and on 19 May his name was placed on the list of officers wishing to qualify in signal duties. Perhaps it was no coincidence given that he had spent years serving under Douglas Nicholson, a one-time Superintendent of Signal Schools. On 27 July he was appointed to Exmouth, flagship of Poë, the new Commander-in-Chief in the Mediterranean, who apparently specially asked for Seymour. In April, 1911 the outgoing Captain, Bernard Currey, wrote that he was "V zealous G judgement VG physically." He was later (August, 1912) commended for having "Specially contributed to good results of Exmouth in Battle Practice 1911." In February, 1912, his new Captain, Stuart Nicholson (no immediate relation to Douglas) wrote that Seymour was "Zealous [and] capable. VG O/W [Officer of the Watch]. V.G. Physique. Tact &c." On 31 March he became Poë's Flag Lieutenant after the sudden retirement of the incumbent, Cyril Goolden, who went to Ceylon as a tea planter. When Poë's (and Seymour's) time in the Mediterranean came to an end on 1 June, he wrote of his Flag Lieutenant, "V. Intelligent & promising. Zealous & sound judgement."

On 29 May Poë, Nicholson, and Seymour had visited the Admiralty yacht Enchantress at Malta. which was carrying the Prime Minister, Herbert H. Asquith; the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill; and Churchill's Naval Secretary, Rear-Admiral David Beatty.

Seymour participated in the Annual Manoeuvres of 1912 in the second class protected cruiser Thetis. On 28 November he was appointed to Victory for the Signal School. On 18 February, 1913, he completed the long course in signals. It was noted that he needed to qualify in W.T. (Wireless Telegraphy) before being fully qualified as a Lieutenant (S). His entry onto the Royal Navy's centre stage occurred almost immediately thereafter, on 1 March, 1913, when he was appointed as Flag Lieutenant to Rear-Admiral David Beatty of the First Battle Cruiser Squadron. This role, at the right hand of one of the most forceful figures of the war, would extend to April, 1919, and place Seymour in a place where his slightest mistakes would weigh heavily. And though he made a number of considerable blunders, the context in which they occurred is worth examining, as also would be the curiously scant attention these errors drew upon himself in their immediate aftermath. It has been suggested that Beatty's selection of Seymour was based solely on his aristocratic background. However, it must also be considered that the field of selection was not exactly wide. On 18 February, 1913, there were 49 qualified Lieutenants (S) in The Navy List, all of whom were employed or about to be employed, one of them in the Royal Australian Navy: The number of Flag Lieutenants afloat and ashore was 27. One might reasonably ask why Beatty didn't apply for Basil R. Poë, his Flag Lieutenant in the manœuvres of 1912, an undoubted signals expert and also Admiral Poë's son.

Seymour was promoted to Lieutenant-Commander on 15 December, 1914, when he and Rear-Admiral Beatty were in the battlecruiser Lion.

Battle of Dogger Bank

Main article: Battle of Dogger Bank

Seymour's first test as a signal officer would arise at the Battle of Dogger Bank, when a pair of signals were hauled down simultaneously enough that they were interpreted as a single message, the effect of which was to prompt every major British ship to concentrate fire on the doomed enemy cruiser Blücher as richer game was allowed to escape. Part of the confusion here was attributable to damage to the flagship, but the human portion of culpability which permitted several German battlecruisers to escape likely destruction fell squarely on Seymour.

When Lion was taken into dockyard hands from 24 January to 9 April, 1915 to repair her considerable damage from the battle, Seymour followed Beatty to H.M.S. Princess Royal. They then returned to Lion, with Beatty now Vice-Admiral Commanding Battle Cruiser Fleet. Seymour, despite his blunder at Dogger Bank, seemed to be the beneficiary of the gloss applied to a small victory that should have been a considerable victory. By not highlighting the lost opportunities, the more favourable public story was presented.

Battle of Jutland

Main article: Battle of Jutland

Seymour was again at the forefront in Britain's most important battle, one in which close coordination between formations was reliant on efficient and reliable signalling. In this instance, Vice-Admiral Beatty must assume a greater proportion of the blame. Two failures occurred where Seymour might be discussed as a culpable party.

Firstly, the B.C.F. turned to pursue and engage the German forces spotted at the outset of the battle, but the powerful Fifth Battle Squadron, which had been loaned to the B.C.F., were not given an effective signal to join the battlecruisers in the turn south, and this failure was allowed to persist for an unreasonable time. The greatest component of this failure was Beatty's. His share was the confluence of his failure to integrate 5 B.S. into his force, his choice to keep them fairly distant, and on the side where they'd be furthest from any enemy sighted. But, though an effort was made to signal this turn to 5 B.S., it was made from the wrong ship, and in the wrong medium (by flag hoist, rather than by flashing lamp which would have more reliably spanned the distance under the present conditions).

Secondly, after the Run to the South, when Beatty spotted the enemy battlefleet and knew he must turn north to bring them to his own battlefleet, a great delay in signalling occurred which allowed 5 B.S. to, once again, very belatedly receive this command. This apparent error placed the fast battleships of 5 B.S. in greater jeopardy than was warranted, even if Beatty wished them to be the most proximate targets of the enemy's main force as the trek north to Jellicoe's Battle Fleet was made. The cause of this delay is not entirely clear, but seems to have turned on the signal having been hoisted in a timely manner, but not hauled down when intended. The pregnant minutes in which the hoisted signal was on display but not hauled down caused Rear-Admiral Hugh Evan-Thomas to slavishly wait and wait for the moment he should turn. The result, of course, was to provide the German fleet with an ever-improving target during the Run to the North when no German ship had anything else to do but fire away in an untroubled fashion. Once again, clear details of what caused this problem are hard to come by, but it is hard to imagine that they were not either caused by Seymour directly, or by his failure to ensure the efficient performance of his subordinate signalling numbers.

The aftermath of Jutland was rich with spin and finger-pointing, both within the service and toward the public. It is clear that Seymour was not a great signal officer, but the greatest obscurant of his failings was his master, Vice-Admiral Beatty, who was never eager to admit than anything had gone wrong whatsoever.

The deficiencies of the Battle Cruiser Fleet would eventually become an unavoidable topic of debate, and Seymour would become a natural target of blame who enjoyed little political clout by which he might defend himself.

Playout

On 30 June 1917, after years of glowing testimonials from Beatty, now Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet, Seymour was promoted to the rank of Commander, when he automatically became merely a member of the staff. On 2 August Beatty requested that "Cdr Seymour['s] name may [be] added to list of officers qualified for W/S duties in view of the actual experience gained & the ability he has displayed in the performance of such duties." Accordingly Seymour's name was added to the list of War Staff officers on 3 August, and he joined Beatty's staff in this capacity.

In recognition of his services during the war he was appointed an Additional Member of the Third Class, or Companion, in the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (C.M.G.) on 5 April, 1919. That month the Grand Fleet was dissolved. Beatty wrote on Seymour's S.206 form:

This officer has served with me for 6 years & 1 month. His responsible duties have at all times been carried out with great skill & attention to duty. Much of the success of arrangements to facilitate manœuvring the Grand Fleet is due to this Officer, who has a good insight into tactics & knowledge as to their application. Strongly rec^d for early promotion.

On 3 November Seymour became Additional Naval Assistant to Beatty, now First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff. On 22 March, 1920, he was appointed to President to assist Chatfield, now Assistant Chief of Naval Staff, in the Tactical Section. Chatfield wrote in April 1921:

Has had exceptional bar [war] experience & makes good use of it. Has considerable ability both practically & on paper. Has sound judgement & is not afraid to use it. With further experience as 2^nd in command should make an excellent Captain.

In December 1920 Seymour had been appointed to the Royal Yacht Victoria and Albert. On 26 June, 1921, after King George V and Queen Mary had been transported to Belfast for the opening of the Northern Ireland Parliament on 22 June, he was admitted to the naval hospital at Portland with psychasthenia, then transferred to Haslar on 20 June. On 15 July he was surveyed at Haslar and was recommended three months' sick leave. Just 12 days later, on 27 July, he was re-admitted, having had a relapse. Such accountings in Service Records are not uncommon, but in this instance, Seymour was deeply distressed. On 2 August he was certified as a "Dangerous Lunatic", and placed on the Retired List on that date, medically unfit. This was cancelled on 25 August.

On 9 August 1921 he was transferred to the Navy's lunatic asylum at Great Yarmouth. On 29 April, 1922, the hospital reported "His last suicidal attempt was on 15.10.21. Since then he has slowly improved, & I have relaxed supervision. Recommend 3 months leave of absence to care of mother." On 9 May he was discharged from Great Yarmouth to 3 months probation to care of his friends". He was formally discharged from Great Yarmouth on 7 September, the same day he was placed on the Retired List as medically unfit, to be accorded a step in rank on reaching the age of 45 in 1931. He was gone within the month, however. One of his Service Records mentioned that he'd, "Died suddenly 4th October 1922 at Brighton", but his death was ruled on 6 October to have been a suicide. His body had been found at the foot of Black Rock cliffs in Brighton.

Appraisal

Seymour's service as signal officer to David Beatty through major actions resulted in serial errors of omission and commission that receive considerable attention in historical analyses. Beatty's faithfulness to his flag lieutenant was belatedly replaced by reproach and blame-laying. Tellingly, this turn occurred when Beatty's own performance fell under scrutiny. No matter how one may assign the balance of fault in the events, Beatty's spurning of his subordinate must have been keenly felt. Because Seymour's downturn, at least as paper records might indicate, occurred in mid-1921 when he was ensconced in comfortable employment in proximity to royal entertainment, invites supposition that he was vexed by loss of favour from his mentor and master or ancillary romantic impediments that might have also frustrated his intentions toward the niece of Beatty's wife.

Bibliography

• Gordon, Andrew (2005). The Rules of the Game: Jutland and British Naval Command. London: John Murray (Publishers). ISBN 0719561310. (on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk).
• Roskill, Captain Stephen Wentworth (1980). Admiral of the Fleet Earl Beatty: The Last Naval Hero: An Intimate Biography. London: Collins. ISBN 0-689-11119-3. (on Bookfinder.com).
• Seymour, Lady (1926). Commander Ralph Seymour, R.N. Printed for private circulation.

See Also

• Wikipedia

Service Records

• The National Archives. ADM 196/143/616.
• The National Archives. ADM 196/126/207.
• The National Archives. ADM 196/50/51.

Naval Appointments
Preceded by Hamnet H. Share	Additional Naval Assistant to the First Sea Lord 3 Nov, 1919 – 22 Mar, 1920	Succeeded by ?