Reginald Yorke Tyrwhitt, First Baronet

Tyrwhitt as a Rear-Admiral
© National Portrait Gallery, London.

Admiral of the Fleet SIR Reginald Yorke Tyrwhitt, First Baronet, G.C.B., D.S.O., D.C.L., Royal Navy (10 May, 1870 – 30 May, 1951) was an officer of the Royal Navy during the First World War.

Early Life & Career

He was educated for a year at Burney's at Gosport, and passed into the Britannia on his second attempt, thirty-third out of thirty-four.

He was confirmed in the rank of Sub-Lieutenant dated 14 March, 1890.

He was appointed to the first class protected cruiser Blake on 2 February, 1892, but was appointed to Pilot on 25 March.

On 1 July, 1892, he was appointed to the royal yacht Victoria and Albert II along with David Beatty.

Tyrwhitt was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 25 August, 1892. and was appointed to Cleopatra on 21 September, 1892.

He was promoted to the rank of Commander dated 1 January, 1903. On 24 February he married Sarah Angela Mary Margaret, daughter of Matthew Corbally, J.P., of Rathbeale Hall, Swords, County Dublin; they had one son and two daughters.

In 1904, Tyrwhitt was informed that he had misinterpreted regulations and that this had precipitated, in part, a collision between Arun and T.B. 87, but that no blame was to be attached to him. However, on 13 August, 1904, Arun again collided, this time sinking the destroyer Decoy during night exercises off the Scilly Islands, killing one of Decoy's crew in the process. A Court Martial found that Tyrwhitt had hazarded the two vessels and he was reprimanded in the affair.

On 30 June, 1908, Tyrwhitt was promoted to the rank of Captain.

He was placed in command of Topaze as Captain (D) of the Fourth Destroyer Flotilla on 10 August, 1909. Superseded in her on 5 August, 1910, he took a Signal Course and then was appointed in command of Bacchante as Flag Captain in the Mediterranean on 26 September, 1910. He would stay there until 27 February, 1912.

Directly from Bacchante, he was appointed as Flag Captain for Sixth Cruiser Squadron in Good Hope, ending on 10 August, 1912, when he became Captain (D) of Second Destroyer Flotilla, flying his flag in Bellona.

On 1 December, 1913 Tyrwhitt succeeded Commodore Lambert as Captain (T) in command of the destroyer flotillas of the First Fleet, taking command of the third class protected cruiser Amethyst.

On 28 April, 1914 he was appointed Commodore, Second Class.

Great War

In August 1914, Tyrwhitt was placed in command of the light cruiser Arethusa.

In the April Supplement to the Monthly Navy List, Tyrwhitt's command is described for the first time as the "Harwich Striking Force," composed of the Third and Tenth Destroyer Flotillas and the Eighth Submarine Flotilla. In May he was assigned two completing light cruisers, which with the two under his authority would give him the command of the Fifth Light Cruiser Squadron.

He was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (D.S.O.) on 3 June, 1916.

On 15 July, 1917, Tyrwhitt was appointed an Additional Member of the Second Class, or Knight Commander, in the Order of the Bath (K.C.B.). He was not, as Temple Patterson claims, only the second Post Captain to receive this accolade and the first in seventy-eight years. Two recent examples had been the knighting of Captain Robert Molyneux in 1885 and Captain Colin Keppel in 1908.

On 8 January, 1918, Tyrwhitt was appointed Acting Rear-Admiral.

Post-War & Retirement

On 5 July, 1919, Tyrwhitt was appointed Senior Officer, Gibraltar, taking command on the 10th.

On 2 December, 1919 Tyrwhitt was confirmed in the rank of Rear-Admiral, vice Heaton-Ellis. He was given the baronetcy of Terschelling and of the City of Oxford on 13 December, 1919, and received a grant from Parliament of £10,000 (over £180,000 in early-2000s terms). He received many foreign decorations and an honorary degree of D.C.L. from Oxford (1919).

Tyrwhitt was promoted to the rank of Vice-Admiral on 18 January, 1925, vice Pelly.

Tyrwhitt was promoted to the rank of Admiral on 27 February, 1929, vice Webb.

He was promoted to the rank of Admiral of the Fleet on 31 July, 1934, vice Brock.

He was placed on the Retired List on 31 July, 1939.

As the result of the King approving that Admirals of the Fleet should in future be borne on the Active List of the Royal Navy for life, on 4 March, 1940, Tyrwhitt was replaced on the Active List with seniority of 31 July, 1934.

Tyrwhitt died at Ellenden, Sandhurst, Kent, on 30 May, 1951, from perforation of the duodenum causing peritonitis.

Tyrwhitt's papers were last known to be in the possession of his son's widow, Lady Nancy Agnew, who died in 2010.

Bibliography

• "Adm. of the Fleet Sir Reginald Tyrwhitt" (Obituaries). The Times. Thursday, 31 May, 1951. Issue 52015, col G, p. 8.
• "Admiral of the Fleet Sir Reginald Tyrwhitt" (Obituaries). The Times. Wednesday, 27 June, 1951. Issue 52038, col F, p. 8.
• Temple Patterson, Alfred (1973). Tyrwhitt of the Harwich Force: The Life of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Reginald Tyrwhitt. London: Macdonald and Jane's. ISBN 0-356-04530-7.

Papers

• See main text.

Service Records

• The National Archives. ADM 196/89.
• The National Archives. ADM 196/43.

Naval Appointments
Preceded by New Command	Captain of H.M.S. Hart 14 Jan, 1896 – 18 Aug, 1896	Succeeded by Hastings F. Shakespear
Preceded by ?	Captain of H.M.S. Ranger 18 Aug, 1896 – 18 Nov, 1896	Succeeded by Ernest K. Loring
Preceded by Sydney S. Hall	Captain of H.M.S. Gipsy 12 Jan, 1904 – 10 Feb, 1904	Succeeded by Cecil F. Lambert
Preceded by Walter J. C. Lake	Captain of H.M.S. Sprightly 11 Feb, 1904 – 13 Apr, 1904	Succeeded by Ernest S. Carey
Preceded by ?	Captain of H.M.S. Arun 13 Apr, 1904 – 29 Aug, 1904	Succeeded by Charles La P. Lewin
Preceded by Harold G. Grenfell	Captain of H.M.S. Waveney 29 Aug, 1904 – 12 Jan, 1906	Succeeded by John G. de O. Coke
Preceded by ?	Captain of H.M.S. Attentive 12 Jan, 1906 – 2 Jan, 1907	Succeeded by Lewis Bayly
Preceded by Walter H. Cowan	Captain of H.M.S. Skirmisher 2 Jan, 1907 – 2 Jan, 1908	Succeeded by Edward Reeves
Preceded by John Nicholas	Captain of H.M.S. Hecla 6 Aug, 1908 – 10 Aug, 1909	Succeeded by Francis M. Leake
Preceded by Francis M. Leake	Captain of H.M.S. Topaze 10 Aug, 1909 – 5 Aug, 1910	Succeeded by Mortimer L'E. Silver
Preceded by ?	Captain (D), Fourth Destroyer Flotilla 10 Aug, 1909 – 5 Aug, 1910	Succeeded by Mortimer L'E. Silver
Preceded by William G. E. Ruck-Keene	Captain of H.M.S. Bacchante 26 Sep, 1910 – 27 Feb, 1912	Succeeded by Charles D. Carpendale
Preceded by Charles D. Carpendale	Captain of H.M.S. Good Hope 27 Feb, 1912 – 1 Jun, 1912	Succeeded by Richard F. Phillimore
Preceded by The Hon. Hubert G. Brand	Captain of H.M.S. Bellona 10 Aug, 1912 – 5 Jul, 1913	Succeeded by Percy M. R. Royds
Preceded by The Hon. Hubert G. Brand	Captain (D), Second Destroyer Flotilla 10 Aug, 1912 – 1 Dec, 1913	Succeeded by James U. Farie
Preceded by Harry L. d'E. Skipwith	Captain of H.M.S. Blake 5 Jul, 1913 – 28 Aug, 1913	Succeeded by John B. Sparks
Preceded by Gerald T. F. Pike	Captain of H.M.S. Adventure 28 Aug, 1913 – 1 Dec, 1913	Succeeded by James U. Farie
Preceded by Cecil F. Lambert	Captain of H.M.S. Amethyst 1 Dec, 1913 – Aug, 1914	Succeeded by Bertram S. Thesiger
Preceded by New Command	Rear-Admiral Commanding, Harwich Force 27 Apr, 1914 – 1 May, 1919	Succeeded by George H. Borrett
Preceded by Sir Heathcoat S. Grant	Senior Officer, Gibraltar 5 Jul, 1919	Succeeded by Henry B. Pelly as Rear-Admiral in Charge, Gibraltar
Preceded by Sir George P. W. Hope as Vice-Admiral Commanding, Third Light Cruiser Squadron	Rear-Admiral Commanding, Third Light Cruiser Squadron 19 Jan, 1921 – 11 Dec, 1922	Succeeded by Sir Alfred Ernle Montacute Chatfield
Preceded by Sir John F. E. Green	Admiral Superintendent of Rosyth Dockyard 1 Apr, 1922 – 1923	Succeeded by Sir Walter H. Cowan
Preceded by Sir John F. E. Green	Commander-in-Chief, Coast of Scotland ? – 30 Jun, 1925	Succeeded by Sir Walter H. Cowan
Preceded by Sir Edwyn S. Alexander-Sinclair	Commander-in-Chief, China Station 8 Nov, 1926 – 13 Nov, 1928	Succeeded by Sir Arthur K. Waistell
Preceded by Sir Edwyn S. Alexander-Sinclair	Commander-in-Chief at the Nore 16 May, 1930 – 16 May, 1933	Succeeded by Sir Hugh J. Tweedie
Court Appointments
Preceded by The Hon. Sir Hubert G. Brand	First and Principal Naval Aide-de-Camp 10 Oct, 1932	Succeeded by ?