Herbert Heath
Admiral Sir Herbert Leopold Heath, KCB MVO (27 December 1861 – 22 October 1954) was Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel in the Royal Navy.
Sir Herbert Heath | |
|---|---|
 Heath in 1916 | |
| Born | 27 December 1861 |
| Died | 22 October 1954 (aged 92) |
| Allegiance |  |
| Service/ |  |
| Years of service | 1874–1922 |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Commands held | HMS Vulcan HMS Repulse HMS Lancaster HMS Superb Portsmouth Dockyard Second Cruiser Squadron Channel Fleet Coast of Scotland |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
| Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Member of the Royal Victorian Order |
Military career
Born the son of Vice Admiral Sir Leopold Heath and educated at Brighton College, Heath was commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1874.[1] In 1877 he took part in an engagement with the Peruvian rebel ship Huáscar.[2] He was on board the battleship, HMS Victoria, when it was involved in a collision with the battleship, HMS Camperdown, and sank in 1893 with the loss of 372 lives.[1]
He was promoted Captain on 1 January 1902,[3] and later that year appointed Assistant-Director of Naval Intelligence at the Admiralty. In 1904 he was made Commanding Officer of the torpedo boat depot ship, HMS Vulcan, in the Mediterranean.[1] Later he commanded the battleship, HMS Repulse, and the cruiser, HMS Lancaster.[1] In 1908 he became naval attaché in Berlin.[1] In 1910 he took command of the battleship, HMS Superb and around this time he was appointed the Naval Aide-de-Camp to the King.[4] In 1912 he was appointed Admiral-Superintendent of Portsmouth Dockyard remaining in that post until 1914.[1]
He served in World War I and in 1915 took command of the Second Cruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet and as such he was the senior admiral of the cruiser line at the Battle of Jutland in May 1916.[1] In November 1916 he was appointed to the command of the 3rd Battle Squadron.[5]
In 1917 he became Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel.[1] After the War he was made Commander-in-Chief, Coast of Scotland.[1] He retired in 1922.[1]
Family
In 1891 he married Elizabeth Catherine Simson and they went on to have two daughters.[1]
Honours and awards
- Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
- Member of the Royal Victorian Order
- Commander of the Legion of Honour (France)
- Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (Japan)
- Navy Distinguished Service Medal (United States)
References
- Obituary: Admiral Sir Herbert Heath
- Sea Fight Comedy The Argus, 22 December 1928
- "No. 27393". The London Gazette. 3 January 1902. p. 3.
- "No. 28534". The London Gazette. 26 September 1911. p. 7010.
- "Senior Royal Navy appointments" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
External links
- The Dreadnought Project: Herbert Heath
- Biography of Adm Sir Herbert Leopold Heath in the JJ Heath-Caldwell family history website
| Honorary titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Unknown |
Naval Aide-de-Camp to the King ? to 1911 |
Succeeded by J de M Hutchison |
| Military offices | ||
| Preceded by Sir Rosslyn Wemyss |
Second Sea Lord 1917–1919 |
Succeeded by Sir Montague Browning |
| Preceded by Sir Cecil Burney |
Commander-in-Chief, Coast of Scotland 1919–1922 |
Succeeded by Sir John Green |
| Heraldic offices | ||
| Preceded by Sir Arthur Paget |
King of Arms of the Order of the British Empire 1929–1947 |
Succeeded by Sir Roderick Carr |