Robert Keith Arbuthnot, Fourth Baronet

Rear-Admiral Sir Robert Keith Arbuthnot, Fourth Baronet, K.C.B., M.V.O. (23 March, 1864 – 31 May, 1916) was an officer of the Royal Navy.

Early Life and Career

Arbuthnot was born in Alderminster, Worcs. on 23 March, 1864, the eldest son of Sir William Wedderburn Arbuthnot, Third Baronet (1831–1889) and major, 18th hussars, and his wife, Alice Margaret (d. 1889), fourth daughter of the Reverend Matthew Carrier Tompson, rural dean and vicar of Alderminster, Worcestershire. He entered the navy as a cadet in 1877 at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, and was promoted to Sub-Lieutenant in 1883, Lieutenant in 1885, and Commander in 1897. He succeeded his father as Fourth Baronet on 5 June, 1889 and in 1897 married Lina (d. 1935), only daughter of Colonel A. C. Macleay, Seaforth Highlanders. They had one daughter.

Arbuthnot was in the Naval Intelligence Department (1897–8) and badly injured in a gun accident in November, 1901. Promoted to Captain on 26 June, 1902, he served as Flag Captain (1903–4) to Admiral Sir John Fisher when the latter was Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth. While there, he had a revealing conversation with Fisher which he committed to paper, and left as a letter to be delivered to Fisher in the event of Arbuthnot dying before him. In 1910, when captain of the battleship Lord Nelson, certain of his injudicious remarks about the German menace appeared in the press and were the subject of a formal German protest. On his first day as First Sea Lord, Arthur K. Wilson, sent for Arbuthnot and told him: "Captain Arbuthnot, I much regret that my first duty as First Sea lord is to relieve you of your command. Good morning."¹ Hoewever, he was soon appointed to the Admiralty submarine committee (March–December) and then Commodore of the Third Destroyer Flotilla, a position he held from 1910 to 1912. Lieutenant Bruce Fraser joined the flagship Boadicea soon after Arbuthnot's appointment, and recorded:

In those days we had to wear a stiff shirt all day, regardless of working conditions. Then we took to wearing what-do-you-call-'ems, dickies; but Sir Robert came out one day, looked at the first officer he saw - he was the Commander, too - and he went up to him, pulled out the dicky and threw it away over the side. No more dickies!²

On another occasion Fraser observed two facets of Arbuthnot's character:

One day we'd sighted something about 50 miles off; and when it was reported Sir Robert said "Why do you take this lying down - he doesn't know what he's talking about!" So I retired hastily. But the next thing I knew, Sir Robert came up to me and said "I'm very sorry, you were quite right."

At this time I had a friend called Coltart, a very humourous young chap. Every month we had to walk 20 miles and sign a chit to prove we'd done it; and this young chap went to a dance instead, which Sir Robert went to as well. So he came down early to get off to the ship. He found the Admiral's barge waiting there, and said "The Admiral's still dancing; will you give me a lift off?" So they took him off, and when they came back they found that Sir Robert had run down, only to find no barge waiting. When he came off - I was officer of the watch - he said to me "Put this young man under arrest!" And he was put under arrest. Sir Robert let him off the next morning.³

He was aide-de-camp to the king (1911–12) and was promoted to Rear-Admiral in July, 1912. In September, 1913 Arbuthnot became second in command in Vice-Admiral Warrender's Second Battle Squadron with his flag in the dreadnought Orion.

Arbuthnot had an awesome reputation as one of the great characters of the Royal Navy, feared by many if not most, but also given grudging admiration and respect. He is generally described as a martinet who insisted on following regulations to the letter without deviation and his harsh discipline on a few occasions got him in trouble with the Admiralty. His publication A Commander's Order Book for a Mediterranean Battleship (1900), over 300 pages in length, became notorious. Nevertheless officers with distinguished careers ahead of them, such as Ernle Chatfield and Andrew Cunningham, came to respect him and the former found him a good friend. Much of this respect was due to the fact that Arbuthnot would not ask anything of anyone that he was not prepared to do himself. He was probably best remembered for his passion—some would say obsession—with physical fitness, which many thought was carried to seemingly grotesque lengths. When commander in a cruiser on the South American station he had midshipmen as part of a seven-point daily exercise run over the mast-head while he timed them with a stop-watch. As commodore in the destroyer flotilla he required ships' companies to land under arms and cover 5 miles in a set period of time. He excelled in a variety of sports and was also a passionate devotee of motorcycling. In 1908, having been given leave by the Navy, he became the first private owner to enter the Isle of Man Open Tourist Trophy ("TT"), coming in third place on a 3½ hp Triumph single. The same race was notable in being the first where an average speed of 40 mph was attained. Arbuthnot himself finished the race in 4:07.57.0 with an average speed of 38.26 mph.⁴ He asserted that only men with "guts", a quick eye and a clear mind could compete successfully in motorcycle trials⁵ - he himself competed in hillclimbing and won awards for it.

Angus Cunninghame Graham, who served in Orion as a Sub-Lieutenant, later recalled of Arbuthnot;

Robert Arbuthnott, [sic] who had been a destroyer man, was one of the strictest disciplinarians among our senior officers. All ratings dress had to be correct to the smallest detail and officers had to wear stiff-fronted shirts and cuffs which we found to be an annoying imposition, but fortunately laundries would do them at a reasonable price in those days. Although one had to watch one's step when he was about, he was a genuine, courageous, dedicated officer who had the respect of everyone. He set great store on physical fitness, taking exercise on every occasion and inviting the midshipmen to his cabin to box with him. I was thankful to be a sub-lieutenant as boxing has never been one of my pursuits.⁶

In the same passage Cunninghame Graham also wrote of Arbuthnot's Flag Captain, Frederic Dreyer: "He was obviously scared of his Admiral and seemed unwilling to assert his rights as a captain of his own ship in which Sir Robert was only a rather formidable lodger.⁷

First World War

On 16 December, 1914 Arbuthnot was in a position where initiative might have achieved important results; but his rigid adherence to discipline stifled his naturally aggressive instincts and a rare opportunity was lost. The Admiralty knew from intelligence that German battle cruisers would raid the north-east coast and they attempted to spring a trap with Admiral Beatty's battle cruisers and Rear-Admiral Goodenough's light-cruiser squadron supported by Warrender's dreadnought squadron. However, the Admiralty's intelligence was incomplete for they failed to realize that the high sea fleet would also be out in support and at one point the six dreadnoughts of Warrender and Arbuthnot were perilously close to fourteen dreadnoughts and eight pre-dreadnoughts. Fortunately, the Germans in the squally weather and poor visibility turned away after clashing with Warrender's advance screen of destroyers, convinced that this was the entire Grand Fleet. Warrender's squadron might have intercepted one group of German light cruisers and destroyers returning from the raid. Arbuthnot reported them in sight but, despite the entreaties of his flag captain Frederic Dreyer, who had trained their turrets on the leading German cruiser, refused to open fire until he had received orders from Warrender to do so. Warrender, however, merely reported the sighting and sent three armoured cruisers in pursuit. The Germans escaped and Dreyer believed from his subsequent silence over the incident that Arbuthnot regretted his rigid adherence to orders.

In January 1915 Arbuthnot received command of the First Cruiser Squadron, four large but now obsolete armoured cruisers. After several months Jellicoe noted in a letter to the First Sea Lord, Henry Jackson:

There is trouble in the 1st Cruiser Squadron. I put Burney on to investigate for the day. Arbuthnot is one of the finest fellows in the world, but somehow can't run a squadron. His ideals are too high and he can't leave people alone. He would be invaluable when there is fighting. I have the highest opinion of him.⁸

At the Battle of Jutland on 31 May, 1916 Arbuthnot, flying his flag in Defence, showed that this time he was not lacking in initiative, but his judgement was questionable and the results were tragic. Arbuthnot's squadron had been screening the starboard half of the Grand Fleet's front and, while the fleet was deploying and Beatty's battle cruisers and the Fifth Battle Squadron were in the process of rejoining Jellicoe after their initial engagement with the German battle cruisers, Arbuthnot moved out into the space between the major fleets with three cruisers to engage the advancing German light cruisers. Unfortunately he came into close contact with the German battle cruisers and dreadnoughts, who poured a devastating fire into his cruisers. Defence blew up and sank with all hands, Warrior survived badly damaged but later sank while under tow. Exactly what Arbuthnot had been trying to accomplish has been a matter of debate ever since. Much has been made of an earlier conversation with Chatfield (then captain of the Lion) in which Arbuthnot declared his intention in battle of taking up his assigned position at the rear of the battle fleet by proceeding down the engaged rather than disengaged side, but Jellicoe's deployment to port would have eliminated the need to do this since Arbuthnot's squadron would have been close to its assigned position. He may have thought that his duty was to assist Beatty although he actually disturbed the latter's movements by interrupting his fire and causing a near collision with the Lion. He was apparently concentrating his fire on the crippled light cruiser Wiesbaden when the heavy German ships appeared. Arbuthnot's end was spectacular and, while none can deny his great gallantry, the sacrifice of his life and over a thousand of his men was unnecessary.

In seeking to explain Arbuthnot's actions in the Battle of Jutland, his friend Ernle Chatfield wrote in his memoirs:

Many have wondered why the gallant Arbuthnot so manœuvred his squadron of armoured cruisers. The truth, I think, is this: He was an old friend of mine, we had not lost touch since my midshipman's days in the "Warspite" and had played together in the United Service Rugby team for two years. He had been Commander in the "Royal Sovereign" in the Mediterranean Fleet when I was in the "Cæsar", and Captain of the "Lord Nelson" when I was in the "Venerable". In the spring of 1916 I had lunched with him on board the "Defence" at Scapa, and had confided in him, as I had often done, my thoughts on gunnery matters. After lunch we had gone for a walk on the mainland and it was during this walk he told me how he intended to manœuvre his squadron in action.

He was stationed on one of the wings of the Battle Fleet during the "approach", as is called the period before the deployment into line of battle. But after his deployment, his squadron was stationed in rear of the battle-line. Should, therefore, the Battle Fleet deply towards the wing on which he was stationed, it would be necessary for him to move his squadron to the opposite flank, a distance of about five miles. He could, he said, either do this by passing down the disengaged side of the Battle Fleet, which would, he felt, be a dull performance, or he could pass down on the engaged side between the two opposing Fleets. I said I thought he should go down the disengaged side. If he went between the Fleets he might find himself in a highly dangerous position, but what was even more, his smoke might well interfere with the fire of our Battle Fleet at a critical time. He was inclined to pooh-pooh both these objections, and I realised he was determined to go down between the two Fleets, which he said could only take a few minutes. He was a gallant soul; at sea and in sport nothing daunted him. He was one of those very special types that the Navy produces. He was accomplished at all games. He captained the Navy at Rugby and cricket, was a great runner and unbeatable in his prime over an obstacle course. An advocate of physical training, which he was largely responsible for introducing into the Navy; a strict disciplinarian, and difficult to serve; yet a staunch friend and without serious thought outside his duty.

When I saw the First Cruiser Squadron steaming across my bows, I recalled this conversation. His fate I had not foreseen.⁹

He was posthumously made K.C.B. in the Jutland honours.

Legacy

Lady Lina Arbuthnot passed away after a long illness on 29 May 1935 at Hindhead, leaving one daughter, Mrs. Anthony John Anson.¹⁰ Due to a lack of entrants in 1937 the Auto-Cycle Union was forced to discontinue the Arbuthnot Trophy Trial.¹¹

Notes

1. Gardiner. British Admiralty, pp. 313-314.
2. Humble. Fraser of North Cape, p. 23.
3. ibid.
4. Isle of Man Weekly Times, 29 September, 1908, p. 4.
5. "Correspondence". The Naval Review XIV (No. 1), p. 208.
6. Cunninghame Graham. "Random Naval Recollections", p. 22.
7. ibid.
8. Quoted in Marder. Dreadnought to Scapa Flow II, p. 442.
9. Chatfield. "Navy and Defence", pp. 145-146.
10. "Obituaries". The Times, Thursday, 30 May, 1935; p. 18; Issue 47077; col D.
11. "Royal Navy". The Times, Wednesday, 28 July, 1937; p. 19; Issue 47748; col D.

Bibliography

• Anon (February 1926). "Correspondence". The Naval Review XIV (No. 1): pp. 208–209.
• Chatfield, Admiral of the Fleet Alfred Ernle Montacute (1942). The Navy and Defence: The Autobiography of the Lord Chatfield Vol. I. London: William Heinemann Ltd.
• Dreyer, Admiral Sir Frederic Charles (1955). The Sea Heritage. London: Museum Press.
• Gardiner, Leslie (1968). The British Admiralty. London: William Blackwood & Sons Ltd.
• Humble, Richard (1983). Fraser of North Cape. London: Routledge.
• Marder, Arthur Jacob (1965). From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow, The Royal Navy in the Fisher Era, 1904–1919: 1917: The War Years to the Eve of Jutland. Volume IV. London: Oxford University Press.
• "R.F.P.", "S.D.S." (February 1935). "Rear-Admiral Sir Robert Keith Arbuthnot, Bart., K.C.B., M.V.O.". The Naval Review XXIII (No. 1): pp. 107–119.

External Links

• Captain Arbuthnot's Memory Lives On.

Naval Office
Preceded by Sir A.G.H.W. Moore	Rear-Admiral, First Cruiser Squadron 1915 – 1916	Succeeded by Command destroyed