Sackville Hamilton Carden
Admiral SIR Sackville Hamilton Carden, K.C.M.G., Royal Navy (3 May, 1857 – 6 May, 1930) was an officer of the Royal Navy. He is chiefly remembered today as Vice-Admiral Commanding the Eastern Mediterranean Squadron in the run-up to the Dardanelles Campaign.
Early Life & Career
Carden was promoted to the rank of Commander on 1 January, 1894.[1]
He was promoted to the rank of Captain on 31 December, 1899.[2]
Great War
On 27 August, 1914, Carden was promoted to the rank of Vice-Admiral, vice Fisher.[3] That month, Carden was forced into the forefront of the struggle by the circumstances which followed upon the escape of the German battle-cruiser Goeben from the Mediterranean into Turkish waters. Although Admiral Sir Berkeley Milne, the commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean, was held to have been blameless for this untoward incident, his continued presence in southern waters was incompatible, owing to his seniority, with the assumption by the French of the command of all the allied naval forces in the Mediterranean in accordance with a naval convention concluded between the Allies soon after the outbreak of the War. Carden, who had just attained the rank of Vice-Admiral, was thereupon chosen (20 September 1914) for the command of the British battle squadron which was associated with the French forces.
Following the closing of the Dardanelles by the Turks (27 September), war had been declared between Great Britain and Turkey on 5 November, and simultaneously French and British warships, under the command of Admiral Carden, had carried out a preliminary bombardment of the outer forts of the Straits. In a 23 December letter to Fisher, now First Sea Lord, Churchill scathingly noted, "As for Carden, he has never commanded a cruiser squadron, and I am not aware of anything that he has done which is in any way remarkable."[4] This ignores the fact that Carden had at least commanded a division of battleships as Rear-Admiral in the Atlantic Fleet, which was certainly more sea-going experience than Limpus had.
On 16 March he relinquished command and went on the Sick List, being succeeded by Rear-Admiral de Robeck. On that day Fisher noted in a letter to Jellicoe, "Who expected Carden to be in command of a big fleet? He was made Admiral Superintendent of Malta to shelve him!"[5]
From April until June, 1915 Carden was appointed to the Admiralty on special service, and on 1 September, 1917 he was promoted to the rank of Admiral, and placed on the retired list at his own request on 23 October.[6] He died at Lymington 6 May, 1930.
Carden, who was created K.C.M.G. in 1916, married twice: first, in 1879 Maria Louisa, daughter of Captain Loftus J. Nunn, of the 99th Foot; secondly, in 1909 Henrietta, daughter of William English Harrison, K.C., of Hitchin, Hertfordshire. He had one daughter, by his first marriage.
Footnotes
- ↑ London Gazette: no. 26471. p. 7581. 29 December, 1893.
- ↑ London Gazette: no. 27150. p. 3. 2 January, 1900.
- ↑ London Gazette: no. 28881. p. 6794. 28 August, 1914.
- ↑ Quoted in Marder. From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow. II. p. 231.
- ↑ Fear God and Dread Nought. III. p. 166.
- ↑ London Gazette: no. 30369. p. 11474. 6 November, 1917.
Bibliography
- "Admiral Sir Sackville Carden" (Obituaries). The Times. Thursday, 8 May, 1930. Issue 45507, col C, pg. 18.
- Template:BibFGDNIII
Service Records
- The National Archives. ADM 196/38.
- The National Archives. ADM 196/20.
| Naval Offices | ||
| Preceded by Sir Colin R. Keppel |
Rear-Admiral in the Admiral Fleet 1910 – 1911 |
Succeeded by Christopher G. F. M. Cradock |
| Preceded by Ernest A. Simons |
Admiral Superintendent of Malta Dockyard 1912 – 1914 |
Succeeded by George A. Ballard |
| Preceded by Sir A. Berkeley Milne, Bart. |
Vice-Admiral Commanding, Eastern Mediterranean Squadron 1914 – 1915 |
Succeeded by Sir John M. de Robeck |
