Henry Blagrove
Encyclopedia
Rear-Admiral Henry Evelyn Charles Blagrove (26 April 1887 – 14 October 1939) was the first British Royal Navy
officer of flag rank to be killed in the Second World War
. An experienced staff officer and veteran of several actions of the First World War
aboard the battlecruiser
HMS Tiger
, Blagrove had only just received his appointment as commander of the Second Battleship Division of the Home Fleet when he was killed in the destruction of his flagship by a German U-boat
.
of the 13th Hussars and Alice Evelyn Blagrove neé Boothby at Harbledown
, Kent
in April 1887. In 1901 aged 14 he entered naval service and trained at , joining as a midshipman
in 1903 aged 17. Three years later Blagrove departed the ship as a sub-lieutenant
and over the next three years earned promotion to full lieutenant
aboard several ships, including , and , the latter being the first of many appointments aboard capital ships.
, where the outbreak of the First World War found him. At the conclusion of his studies in October 1914, Blagrove received appointment aboard , a newly completed ship in the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron under Admiral David Beatty
. Tiger was commissioned only days before Blagrove joined her and due to recruitment shortages she had a poor crew made up by deserters from other ships.
Three months after joining Tiger Blagrove saw his first action, as Tiger joined her sister ships in the Battle of Dogger Bank
. Tiger fired several hundred shells during the action, but her overall performance was poor, scoring few hits and suffering the loss of ten men to German counter fire. Nevertheless, Tiger was involved in the battle's final moments as the stricken German battle cruiser heeled over and sank with nearly 800 lives. In late May 1916, a much improved Tiger became involved in the war's largest naval action, the Battle of Jutland
. Tiger was engaged in the action from start to finish and despite the loss of three of her compatriots to German fire, Tiger escaped mortal damage, taking at least 15 hits and losing "Q" turret but only suffering 24 fatalities. The battle as a whole was a confusing affair without a clear victor but within 24 hours Tiger had recovered sufficiently from her damage to be able to return to active service, something few German ships could boast.
In November 1917, Blagrove was transferred to the , a fast battleship which had spent much of the war in the Mediterranean. Unlike the battlecruisers in Rosyth
, Queen Elizabeth was stationed in Scapa Flow
in the Orkney Islands
and it was there that Blagrove met his future wife Edith Lowe, who was serving as a Wren. The couple would be married in 1921 and later have two daughters. Aboard Queen Elizabeth, Blagrove served out the war, being present at the surrender of the German High Seas Fleet
and their subsequent scuttle in Scapa Flow. During the war he was promoted first to lieutenant-commander and later to full commander
in 1919. Blagrove was also awarded the Italian Silver Medal for Valour in 1917. He departed Queen Elizabeth in 1920 and joined HMS President
during which he saw staff appointments at Cambridge University and in the office of the Second Sea Lord.
, HMS President and HMS Pembroke
before being given command of in 1927 and promoted to captain
. In 1932, after several staff appointments, Blagrove was briefly placed in command of HMS Norfolk
and was then returned to shore duties at the Admiralty
in 1934.
In 1937, Blagrove spent a year commanding and in 1938 was given the promotion to rear-admiral and placed on the staff of the Admiral Superintendent at Chatham Dockyard
after a period as Naval Aide-de-Camp
to King George VI
. In January 1939 with war impending, Blagrove was given command of the Second Battleship Squadron, consisting of the battleships and stationed at Scapa Flow. Training and preparing his force in the run up to and opening weeks of the Second World War, Blagrove proved himself a capable and efficient officer, despite some doubts regarding his quiet personality and consequent suitability for service in a sea-going command.
had been disappointed to find that a recent order from Admiral Charles Forbes to clear Scapa Flow in case of air attack had denuded the harbour of targets. The largest remaining warship, retained because she carried a large battery of anti-aircraft guns, was Royal Oak. Prien's first shots failed to find the target, only scoring a glancing blow on the bow and causing a minor alarm to be sounded on the battleship. The alarm was taken however to mean that Royal Oak was in danger of a potential internal explosion, and once this was proven to be unlikely, many of her crew returned to their bunks. Thus when Prien returned shortly afterwards with his torpedo tubes reloaded, Royal Oak was unprepared for attack. Three torpedoes struck her amidships, causing a huge explosion and resulting in the battleship listing dangerously to starboard. Prien used the confusion in Scapa Flow to make good his escape.
As the crew scrambled to leave the stricken vessel, rescue boats set out from the shore and nearby ships responded. However the darkness, oil slick and low water temperature meant that many of those who did escape the ship drowned in the harbour before they could be rescued. 15 minutes after Royal Oak had been struck, the battleship rolled over and sank, taking 833 men with her. 386 were rescued. Blagrove was not among the survivors, his body not recovered and the manner of his death unknown. Blagrove's family heard of the sinking of Royal Oak from newspaper billboards in Edinburgh
the following day but were not overly concerned for his safety until they were notified of his death 24 hours later.
at Bletchley Park
, and his family have made several visits to the Islands to commemorate their father's memory.
Rear-Admiral Henry Blagrove was an efficient, able and popular officer whose service record contains few blemishes and many commendations. His untimely death ended a promising and successful career. One of his commanding officers, on recommending him for captain in 1927, indicated his character with the assessment:
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
officer of flag rank to be killed in the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. An experienced staff officer and veteran of several actions of the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
aboard the battlecruiser
Battlecruiser
Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...
HMS Tiger
HMS Tiger (1913)
The 11th HMS Tiger was a battlecruiser of the Royal Navy, built by John Brown and Company, Clydebank, Scotland, and launched in 1913. Tiger was the most heavily armoured battlecruiser of the Royal Navy at the start of the First World War although she was still being finished when the war began...
, Blagrove had only just received his appointment as commander of the Second Battleship Division of the Home Fleet when he was killed in the destruction of his flagship by a German U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
.
Early life
Henry Blagrove was born to Colonel Henry John Blagrove, CBOrder of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
of the 13th Hussars and Alice Evelyn Blagrove neé Boothby at Harbledown
Harbledown
Harbledown is a village to the west of Canterbury, Kent in England, now contiguous with the city, although still a separate village. It forms part of the civil parish of Harbledown and Rough Common. The High Street is a conservation area with many fascinating colloquial buildings either side of a...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
in April 1887. In 1901 aged 14 he entered naval service and trained at , joining as a midshipman
Midshipman
A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...
in 1903 aged 17. Three years later Blagrove departed the ship as a sub-lieutenant
Sub-Lieutenant
Sub-lieutenant is a military rank. It is normally a junior officer rank.In many navies, a sub-lieutenant is a naval commissioned or subordinate officer, ranking below a lieutenant. In the Royal Navy the rank of sub-lieutenant is equivalent to the rank of lieutenant in the British Army and of...
and over the next three years earned promotion to full lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
aboard several ships, including , and , the latter being the first of many appointments aboard capital ships.
First World War
Following promotion to lieutenant in 1909, Blagrove saw brief service aboard , and the battleship , before taking a course ashore at Dartmouth CollegeDartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
, where the outbreak of the First World War found him. At the conclusion of his studies in October 1914, Blagrove received appointment aboard , a newly completed ship in the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron under Admiral David Beatty
David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty
Admiral of the Fleet David Richard Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty, GCB, OM, GCVO, DSO was an admiral in the Royal Navy...
. Tiger was commissioned only days before Blagrove joined her and due to recruitment shortages she had a poor crew made up by deserters from other ships.
Three months after joining Tiger Blagrove saw his first action, as Tiger joined her sister ships in the Battle of Dogger Bank
Battle of Dogger Bank (1915)
The Battle of Dogger Bank was a naval battle fought near the Dogger Bank in the North Sea on 24 January 1915, during the First World War, between squadrons of the British Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet....
. Tiger fired several hundred shells during the action, but her overall performance was poor, scoring few hits and suffering the loss of ten men to German counter fire. Nevertheless, Tiger was involved in the battle's final moments as the stricken German battle cruiser heeled over and sank with nearly 800 lives. In late May 1916, a much improved Tiger became involved in the war's largest naval action, the Battle of Jutland
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...
. Tiger was engaged in the action from start to finish and despite the loss of three of her compatriots to German fire, Tiger escaped mortal damage, taking at least 15 hits and losing "Q" turret but only suffering 24 fatalities. The battle as a whole was a confusing affair without a clear victor but within 24 hours Tiger had recovered sufficiently from her damage to be able to return to active service, something few German ships could boast.
In November 1917, Blagrove was transferred to the , a fast battleship which had spent much of the war in the Mediterranean. Unlike the battlecruisers in Rosyth
Rosyth
Rosyth is a town located on the Firth of Forth, three miles south of the centre of Dunfermline. According to an estimate taken in 2008, the town has a population of 12,790....
, Queen Elizabeth was stationed in Scapa Flow
Scapa Flow
right|thumb|Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about...
in the Orkney Islands
Orkney Islands
Orkney also known as the Orkney Islands , is an archipelago in northern Scotland, situated north of the coast of Caithness...
and it was there that Blagrove met his future wife Edith Lowe, who was serving as a Wren. The couple would be married in 1921 and later have two daughters. Aboard Queen Elizabeth, Blagrove served out the war, being present at the surrender of the German High Seas Fleet
High Seas Fleet
The High Seas Fleet was the battle fleet of the German Empire and saw action during World War I. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet was renamed as the High Seas Fleet. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz was the architect of the fleet; he envisioned a force powerful enough to...
and their subsequent scuttle in Scapa Flow. During the war he was promoted first to lieutenant-commander and later to full commander
Commander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
in 1919. Blagrove was also awarded the Italian Silver Medal for Valour in 1917. He departed Queen Elizabeth in 1920 and joined HMS President
HMS President (shore establishment)
HMS President is a stone frigate, or shore establishment of the Royal Naval Reserve; on the northern bank of the River Thames near Tower Bridge in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.-Present day:...
during which he saw staff appointments at Cambridge University and in the office of the Second Sea Lord.
Inter-war service
In 1922, Blagrove joined HMS Excellent for a training course and then joined for his first posting aboard her, later being removed to as her temporary captain for a month and then returned to Cardiff as her executive officer until January 1925. Further staff and training appointments followed, Blagrove being stationed at HMS VictoryHMS Victory
HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, laid down in 1759 and launched in 1765. She is most famous as Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805....
, HMS President and HMS Pembroke
Chatham Dockyard
Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional...
before being given command of in 1927 and promoted to captain
Captain (Royal Navy)
Captain is a senior officer rank of the Royal Navy. It ranks above Commander and below Commodore and has a NATO ranking code of OF-5. The rank is equivalent to a Colonel in the British Army or Royal Marines and to a Group Captain in the Royal Air Force. The rank of Group Captain is based on the...
. In 1932, after several staff appointments, Blagrove was briefly placed in command of HMS Norfolk
HMS Norfolk (78)
HMS Norfolk was a County-class heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy; along with her sister ship , she was part of a planned four-ship subclass.She served throughout the Second World War....
and was then returned to shore duties at the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
in 1934.
In 1937, Blagrove spent a year commanding and in 1938 was given the promotion to rear-admiral and placed on the staff of the Admiral Superintendent at Chatham Dockyard
Chatham Dockyard
Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional...
after a period as Naval Aide-de-Camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
to King George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
. In January 1939 with war impending, Blagrove was given command of the Second Battleship Squadron, consisting of the battleships and stationed at Scapa Flow. Training and preparing his force in the run up to and opening weeks of the Second World War, Blagrove proved himself a capable and efficient officer, despite some doubts regarding his quiet personality and consequent suitability for service in a sea-going command.
Death on the Royal Oak
Disaster struck HMS Royal Oak in the late night of 13 October 1939, when stealthily bypassed the defences at the entrance to Scapa Flow and prepared to attack the berthed battleship. U-47s commander Günther PrienGünther Prien
Lieutenant Commander Günther Prien was one of the outstanding German U-boat aces of the first part of the Second World War, and the first U-boat commander to win the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Under Prien's command, the submarine sank over 30 Allied ships totaling about...
had been disappointed to find that a recent order from Admiral Charles Forbes to clear Scapa Flow in case of air attack had denuded the harbour of targets. The largest remaining warship, retained because she carried a large battery of anti-aircraft guns, was Royal Oak. Prien's first shots failed to find the target, only scoring a glancing blow on the bow and causing a minor alarm to be sounded on the battleship. The alarm was taken however to mean that Royal Oak was in danger of a potential internal explosion, and once this was proven to be unlikely, many of her crew returned to their bunks. Thus when Prien returned shortly afterwards with his torpedo tubes reloaded, Royal Oak was unprepared for attack. Three torpedoes struck her amidships, causing a huge explosion and resulting in the battleship listing dangerously to starboard. Prien used the confusion in Scapa Flow to make good his escape.
As the crew scrambled to leave the stricken vessel, rescue boats set out from the shore and nearby ships responded. However the darkness, oil slick and low water temperature meant that many of those who did escape the ship drowned in the harbour before they could be rescued. 15 minutes after Royal Oak had been struck, the battleship rolled over and sank, taking 833 men with her. 386 were rescued. Blagrove was not among the survivors, his body not recovered and the manner of his death unknown. Blagrove's family heard of the sinking of Royal Oak from newspaper billboards in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
the following day but were not overly concerned for his safety until they were notified of his death 24 hours later.
Commemoration
Blagrove's name is included on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial as his remains were never recovered. His actual gravesite, the wreck of Royal Oak, is a protected war grave and a memorial to all the men who died aboard her stands in St. Magnus Cathedral on the Orkney Islands. The islanders themselves also maintain the memory of those lost on the battleship and an annual ceremony remembers them at the site of the wreck. Blagrove's widow later worked on the efforts to break the codes of the German Enigma machineEnigma machine
An Enigma machine is any of a family of related electro-mechanical rotor cipher machines used for the encryption and decryption of secret messages. Enigma was invented by German engineer Arthur Scherbius at the end of World War I...
at Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park is an estate located in the town of Bletchley, in Buckinghamshire, England, which currently houses the National Museum of Computing...
, and his family have made several visits to the Islands to commemorate their father's memory.
Rear-Admiral Henry Blagrove was an efficient, able and popular officer whose service record contains few blemishes and many commendations. His untimely death ended a promising and successful career. One of his commanding officers, on recommending him for captain in 1927, indicated his character with the assessment:
Above average. An exceptionally good officer which has caused me to recommend him strongly for promotion. Very good powers of leadership - exhorts an excellent influence - is tactful & easy to deal with. Cheerful, energetic & frank personality. Physically fit – plays & is interested in all games. He has been a Rugger player of a high order & understands the game. Socially popular & much liked in the mess. He has extraordinary energy & organising capacity, and a brain capacity above the average. Recommended for further employment in a more responsible position.