Walter Talbot Kerr

Admiral of the Fleet Lord Walter Talbot Kerr, G.C.B. (28 September, 1839 – 12 May, 1927) was an officer of the Royal Navy.

Early Life & Career

Kerr was born at Newbattle Abbey, Midlothian, on 28 September 1839, the fourth son of John William Robert Kerr, seventh marquess of Lothian (1794–1841), and his wife, Lady Cecil Chetwynd Talbot (1808–1877) [see Kerr, Cecil Chetwynd], daughter of Charles Chetwynd, second Earl Talbot. Their second son was Schomberg Henry Kerr, ninth marquess of Lothian. Kerr was educated at Radley College from 1851 to 1853, when he joined the Prince Regent as a naval cadet. During the Baltic operations of the Crimean War (1854–5) he served in the Neptune and Cornwallis and was promoted midshipman in August 1855. The next year he was appointed to the steam frigate Shannon (50 guns, Captain William Peel) on the China station. On the outbreak of the Indian mutiny in 1857 the Shannon was ordered to Calcutta, and Peel landed with most of his ship's company as a naval brigade. Kerr served with it throughout the mutiny, was wounded in an action near Cawnpore, and was given an independent command at the siege and capture of Lucknow. For this service he was specially rated mate for the rest of the Shannon's commission, and in the following year served for a few months in the same rank in the royal yacht Victoria and Albert, and was promoted lieutenant in September 1859. In 1860 he was appointed to the Emerald for three years' service in the channel, and in 1864 he went to the Princess Royal, flagship on the East Indies and Cape station, for another three years. He was promoted commander in 1868 and served in the Hercules, channel squadron, until 1871, and afterwards in the Lord Warden, Mediterranean flagship—an appointment John Fisher wanted—until promotion to captain in November 1872. While in the Hercules he was awarded the Royal Humane Society's silver medal for jumping overboard from a height of 30 feet into the Tagus to rescue a man who had fallen from the rigging.

Kerr married in 1873 Lady Amabel Cowper (d. 15 Oct 1906), the youngest daughter of George Augustus Frederick, sixth Earl Cowper, and sister of Francis Thomas De Grey, seventh Earl Cowper. They had four sons and two daughters. On the seventh earl's death in 1905 Lady Amabel succeeded to the properties of Brocket Hall, Hertfordshire, and Melbourne Hall, Derbyshire, and became coheir, with Lady Desborough and Lord Lucas, of the barony of Butler.

During his first eleven years on the captains' list, four of them on half pay, Kerr's principal commands were as flag-captain to Sir Beauchamp Seymour (afterwards Lord Alcester) in the channel squadron (1874–7), and in the Mediterranean (1880–81). In September 1880 he was sent by Seymour (who commanded the combined fleet of the five naval powers assembled to enforce, under the terms of the treaty of Berlin, the surrender of Dulcigno to Montenegro by Turkey) on a special mission to Rıza Pasha, the Turkish governor of Albania. He then had a shore appointment as captain of the Medway steam reserve until 1885, when Lord George Hamilton, on becoming first lord of the Admiralty in Lord Salisbury's Conservative government, appointed him his naval private secretary.

Kerr retained this appointment at the Admiralty until nearly a year after his promotion to rear-admiral in January 1889. He then hoisted his flag in the Trafalgar, as second in command in the Mediterranean until 1892, when he returned to the Admiralty as junior naval lord: the fifth Earl Spencer (first lord of the Admiralty in Gladstone's fourth government), on taking office, included him in his board for the duties of fourth naval lord, although he was senior to John Fisher, third naval lord and controller. In November 1893 Kerr became second naval lord. The naval lords, led by Sir Frederick Richards (first lord, 1893–9), pressed for a large shipbuilding programme to counter the Franco-Russian threat. Spencer agreed, but Gladstone and Harcourt opposed it. Late in 1893 the naval lords threatened resignation; as Fisher wrote, ‘We got the ships and Mr. Gladstone went’ (Mackay, 210). Promoted vice-admiral in February 1894, in May 1895 Kerr was appointed vice-admiral commanding the channel squadron, with his flag in the Majestic, for two years. In June 1895 he took part with his squadron in the celebration of the opening of the Kiel Canal. In May 1899 G. J. Goschen (Unionist first lord, 1895–1900) brought him back to his former post on the Board of Admiralty, preparatory to succeeding Sir Frederick Richards as first naval lord the following August: Fisher was bitterly disappointed not to be chosen. In 1901 Custance (director of naval intelligence) and in 1902 H. O. Arnold-Forster warned against the German naval threat but Lord Selborne (Unionist first lord, 1900–05) and Kerr considered the Franco-Russian threat the more important, and rejected any immediate anti-German naval redistribution. Kerr continued as first naval lord and was promoted to the rank of Admiral on 21 March 1900; by a special order in council he was then promoted admiral of the fleet in June 1904, until Trafalgar day (21 October) of that year, when Selborne brought Fisher back from Portsmouth to succeed him. He remained on half pay until he retired on account of age in September 1909.

Kerr's early promotions made him a senior captain when he came to the Admiralty as private secretary, but although some naval members of the board were his juniors, he did not presume on his seniority to take a too prominent part in the administration, while his high rank enabled him to be of good service to the first lord in difficulties with members of the board, notably with the disagreement between Lord Charles Beresford, junior or fourth naval lord, and Sir Arthur Hood, senior or first naval lord. By temperament Kerr was unassuming and not opinionative and therefore got on well with his colleagues, naval and civilian, while his moderation and judgement ensured respect for his opinions. He was a thorough seaman with a great love of the service, and was conservative and resistant to change. He was not a man to initiate reform, but when he recognized its necessity he adopted and supported it. His sound common sense and knowledge of the service were of great help to Lord George Hamilton in carrying out the programme of the Naval Defence Act of 1889. Again, as fourth naval lord and second naval lord from 1892 to 1895, his moderation and firmness were of much help to Lord Spencer, when confronted with cabinet difficulties in the carrying out of the second shipbuilding programme.

Senior Naval Lord

On 19 August, 1899 Kerr succeeded Sir Frederick Richards as Senior Naval Lord.

In a 1901 letter to Arnold-Forster, Lord Selborne stated that he believed Kerr's views on current strategy to be, "quite as good as Fisher's and Beresford's."

In 1905, Selborne informed the Prime Minister that he placed Kerr "in the same flight" as Fisher, Wilson and Beresford.

Submarines

In March, 1900, Kerr wrote, "The matter of submarine boats cannot be ignored and must be taken up by us. Our first want is a design." He recognised the limited potential of the early submarines and the inherent difficulty in obtaining funds for such an unknown quantity. He minuted on 26 October that the submarine had "a very limited sphere of usefulness", and suggested that they be used "for any purpose to which they can be adapted" and that "it is desirable to word the letter to give the impression that the sphere of usefulness of these vessels may be very wide if found to be a success."

On 20 January, 1901, Kerr minuted:

In doing this I think that we have not only adopted the best course that was open to us, but also done all that we can prudently do … While we are bound to follow up the development of the submarine boats and thus have at our disposal whatever advantages they may possess, it is not desirable to plunge too heavily as it must first be in the dark, nor until experience points us in the direction in which we should work.

Taking note of the French exercises in which submarines were pitted against forces representing a British close blockade, Kerr went on to write that the French submarines, "have achieved considerable success and a blockade must in consequence be maintained at a greater distance from their ports than formerly, thus affording greater facilities for their ships to evade an enemy."

On 5 July, 1902 Kerr vetoed Captain Bacon's request that his submarines be named, noting that, "The names … suggested by Captain Bacon are rather formidable." The Hollands were to be named Discosaurus, Piscosaurus, Nothosaurus, Pleisiosaurus and Somosaurus. A1 was to be called Icthyosaurus.

In 1904, Kerr put forward the case that the submarine was no longer an instrument of coast defence, writing on 6 January, "In no case can the submarine, in my opinion, be classified as 'fixed defences'. They are free to move, up to the extent of their limitations."

The relationship between Kerr and Fisher was inherently difficult. Fisher at first feared that Kerr's elevation to senior naval lord doomed his own chances, as he might be too old to succeed Kerr when the latter stepped down. Fisher ‘unceasingly harassed’ (Boyce, 108) and irritated Kerr by his correspondence demanding strengthening of the Mediterranean Fleet, and Kerr rightly believed that Fisher fed information to ‘Navy Leaguers and kindred spirits’ (ibid., 138). Kerr was scathing in some of his minutes on Fisher's proposals, describing them as based on impulse rather than calm and deliberate judgement. Kerr asserted they ‘had a right to expect something better than a demand for impossibilities from an officer holding the position of the C. in C. in the Mediterranean’ (Marder, 400). Kerr advised Selborne against appointing Fisher second and first naval lord, alleging the latter appointment would be ‘universally condemned’ (Boyce, 137). Fisher, in turn, worked to undermine Kerr's reputation, suggesting that the Board of Admiralty was more concerned with the details of uniforms—‘Kerr is humbugging about the oak leaves on the admirals' full-dress coat, etc’ (Bennett, 243)—than what he regarded as the dangerous situation in the Mediterranean. Kerr, however, could be equally critical of Fisher's future rival Beresford, then second in command in the Mediterranean, remarking that Beresford's ‘impetuosity leads him to launch forth reckless condemnations on insufficient and ill-thought out grounds’ (Bennett, 237). Kerr was described as ‘politely neutral’ in 1903 on the Fisher question and in 1904 he welcomed the prospect of freedom from ‘this unpleasant job’ (Mackay, 211, 308). During Fisher's absence as commander-in-chief at Portsmouth (1903–4) the implementation of the new scheme rested largely with Kerr, and it was owing to his firmness that things proceeded well until Fisher returned as first sea lord.

Supersession

After Fisher was announced as Kerr's successor, Cyprian Bridge wrote to Gerard Noel, "I look with dismay upon the loss of W. Kerr's honesty and straightforwardness in a place where both are much wanted."

In Lord George Hamilton's words, he might well be termed the preux chevalier of the navy. He was created KCB in 1896 and GCB in 1902.

Soon after Kerr entered the navy his widowed mother became, with her younger children, Roman Catholic, and Kerr was thenceforth a devoted Catholic. His religion made him widely suspect in the navy. Fisher wrote in 1901 that Kerr was ‘a slave to the Roman Catholic hierarchy … he is a pervert and has all the antagonism of the pervert to the faith he has left’ (Hough, 132). He was president of the Catholic Union of Great Britain from 1917 to 1921. After his retirement Kerr resided at Melbourne Hall, Derby, and died there on 12 May 1927. A funeral service was held on 17 May at St David's, Dalkeith.

Wealth at death; £79,988 0s. 11d.: Probate; 22 October, 1927.

Bibliography

• "Admiral of the Fleet Lord Walter Kerr" (Obituaries). The Times. Friday, 13 May, 1927. Issue 44580, col A, pg. 11.

Service Records

• The National Archives. ADM 196/36.
• The National Archives. ADM 196/14.
• The National Archives. ADM 196/70.

Naval Offices
Preceded by Frederick G. D. Bedford	Junior Naval Lord 1892 – 1893	Succeeded by Gerard H. U. Noel
Preceded by Sir Frederick W. Richards	Second Naval Lord 1893 – 1895	Succeeded by Sir Frederick G. D. Bedford
Preceded by Robert O'B. FitzRoy	Senior Officer in Command of the Channel Squadron 1895 – 1897	Succeeded by Sir Henry F. Stephenson
Preceded by Sir Frederick G. D. Bedford	Second Naval Lord 1898 – 1899	Succeeded by Archibald L. Douglas
Preceded by Sir Frederick W. Richards	First Naval Lord 1899 – 1904	Succeeded by Sir John A. Fisher