Walter Talbot Kerr

Lord Walter Kerr, First Naval Lord of the Admiralty, in the study of his Cromwell Road residence in 1901.
Photograph: Navy & Army Illustrated.

Admiral of the Fleet THE RIGHT HONOURABLE 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 promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 5 September, 1859.

Kerr was promoted to Commander on 3 April, 1868.

On 30 November, 1872 he was promoted Captain.

On 5 February, 1880, Kerr was appointed Flag Captain to Sir F. Beauchamp P. Seymour, Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, in the Alexandra.

Flag Rank

Admiral Lord Walter Kerr and staff on board H.M.S. Majestic in 1896.
Photograph: Navy & Army Illustrated.

Lord George Hamilton, First Lord of the Admiralty from 1886 to 1892, later wrote of Kerr:

Kerr was the embodiment of accuracy, moderation and reliability. During the latter part of his career, when at the top of his profession, his decision or ruling upon any disputed question, either personal, disciplinary or administrative, was accepted without cavil by the whole Service. Cautious in making changes or reforms, he never went back upon his work nor stultified his previous utterance by pyrotechnic capitulations. For five years he was my head Naval Secretary and a rock upon whom to rest. He was as good afloat as he was in Council, a splendid specimen of disinterested loyalty and devotion to the highest demands of duty.

Kerr was promoted to the rank of Vice-Admiral on 20 February, 1895, vice Hunt-Grubbe, and in May, 1895 he was appointed Vice-admiral commanding the channel squadron, with his flag in the Majestic, for two years.

On the occasion of the Queen's birthday he was appointed an Ordinary Member of the Second Class, or Knight Commander, in the Military Division of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (K.C.B.) on 20 May, 1896.

First Naval Lord

On 19 August, 1899 Kerr succeeded Sir Frederick Richards as Senior Naval Lord. He was promoted to the rank of Admiral on 21 March, 1900, vice Fairfax.

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."

Kerr was appointed an Ordinary Member of the First Class, or Knight Grand Cross, in the Military Division of the Order of the Bath (G.C.B.) on 26 June, 1902.

On 16 June, 1904, Kerr was promoted to the rank of Admiral of the Fleet by Order in Council, "in recognition of his distinguished services."

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."

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 Sir Robert O'B. FitzRoy	Senior Officer in Command of the Channel Squadron 1895 – 1897	Succeeded by 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