Reginald Yorke Tyrwhitt, First Baronet

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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.[1]

He was confirmed in the rank of Sub-Lieutenant dated 14 March, 1890.[2]

Tyrwhitt was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 25 August, 1892.[3]

He was promoted to the rank of Commander dated 1 January, 1903.[4] 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.

On 30 June, 1908, Tyrwhitt was promoted to the rank of Captain.[5]

He was placed in command of Topaze as Captain (D) of the Fourth Destroyer Flotilla on 10 August, 1909,[6] though a secondary source indicates he was appointed in command of the armoured cruiser Bacchante in September 1910.[7]

For a brief time in 1912, he was appointed as captain of Good Hope,[8] ending on 10 August, 1912, when he became Captain (D) of Second Destroyer Flotilla, flying his flag in Bellona.[9]

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.[10] On 28 April, 1914 he was appointed Commodore, Second Class.[11]

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,"[12] 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.[13]

He was appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (D.S.O.) on 3 June, 1916.[14]

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.).[15] He was not, as Temple Patterson claims, only the second Post Captain to receive this accolade and the first in seventy-eight years.[16] 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.[17]

Post-War & Retirement

On 2 December, 1919 Tyrwhitt was confirmed in the rank of Rear-Admiral, vice Heaton-Ellis.[18] 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).[19] 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.[20]

Tyrwhitt was promoted to the rank of Admiral on 27 February, 1929, vice Webb.[21]

He was promoted to the rank of Admiral of the Fleet on 31 July, 1934, vice Brock.[22]

He was placed on the Retired List on 31 July, 1939.[23]

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.[24]

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.

Footnotes

  1. Temple Patterson. Tyrwhitt of the Harwhich Force. p. 5.
  2. The London Gazette: no. 26224. p. 5986. 17 November, 1891.
  3. The London Gazette: no. 26322. p. 5016. 2 September, 1892.
  4. The London Gazette: no. 27512. p. 4. 2 January, 1903.
  5. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 28151. p. 4644. 26 June, 1908.
  6. Tyrwhitt Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 125.
  7. Mackie, Colin. ROYAL NAVY WARSHIPS.
  8. Mackie, Colin. ROYAL NAVY WARSHIPS.
  9. "Naval and Military Intelligence" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Friday, 26 July, 1912. Issue 39961, col C, p. 12.
  10. The Navy List (April, 1914). p. 278.
  11. Tyrwhitt Service Record. p. 125.
  12. Supplement to the Monthly Navy List (April, 1915). p. 13.
  13. Supplement to the Monthly Navy List (May, 1915). p. 13.
  14. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 29608. p. 5563. 3 June, 1916.
  15. The London Gazette: no. 30186. p. 7125. 17 July, 1917.
  16. Temple Patterson. p. 190.
  17. Tyrwhitt Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. p. 125.
  18. The London Gazette: no. 27512. p. 15745. 19 December, 1919.
  19. Burke's Peerage and Baronetage. III. p. 3968.
  20. The London Gazette: no. 33015. p. 591. 27 January, 1925.
  21. The London Gazette: no. 33474. p. 1575. 5 March, 1929.
  22. The London Gazette: no. 34076. p. 5054. 7 August, 1934.
  23. The London Gazette: no. 34651. p. 5393. 4 August, 1939.
  24. The London Gazette: no. 34807. p. 1394. 8 March, 1940.

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


Naval Appointments
Preceded by
Sir John F. E. Green
Commanding Officer, Coast of Scotland and Admiral Superintendent of Rosyth Dockyard
1923 – 1925
Succeeded by
Sir Walter H. Cowan

Preceded by
Sir Edwyn S. Alexander-Sinclair
Commander-in-Chief on the China Station
1926 – 1929
Succeeded by
Sir Arthur K. Waistell

Preceded by
Sir Edwyn S. Alexander-Sinclair
Commander-in-Chief at the Nore
1930 – 1933
Succeeded by
Sir Hugh J. Tweedie

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