Rhoderick McGrigor

Sir Rhoderick Robert McGrigor
Sir Rhoderick Robert McGrigor
	Vice Admiral McGrigor on the deck of his flagship HMS Norfolk, June 1945
Born	12 April 1893; York, England
Died	3 December 1959 (aged 66); Tarland, Scotland
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1910–1955
Rank	Admiral of the Fleet
Commands held	First Sea Lord; Plymouth Command; Commander-in-Chief Home Fleet; 1st Cruiser Squadron; Home Fleet aircraft carriers; Flag Officer, Taranto and Adriatic; Flag Officer, Sicily; Force B at Pantellaria and Sicily; 4th Destroyer Flotilla; HMS Versatile
Battles/wars	First World War Gallipoli Campaign; Jutland; Second World War Malta Convoys; Arctic Convoys;
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath; Mentioned in Despatches; Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St Olav

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Rhoderick Robert McGrigor GCB (12 April 1893 – 3 December 1959) was a senior Royal Navy officer. He fought in the First World War and saw action during the Gallipoli Campaign and then the Battle of Jutland. He also served in the Second World War, taking part in the sinking of the Bismarck in May 1941, carrying out the office of Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Weapons) and commanding the 1st Cruiser Squadron during operations off the Norwegian coast and convoys to North Russia. He served as First Sea Lord in the early 1950s and is most remembered as a leading proponent of carrier-based air power.

Naval career

Early career

Born the son of Major General Charles Rhoderic Robert McGrigor CB, CMG, late of the King's Royal Rifle Corps and Ada Rosamond McGrigor (née Bower),[1] McGrigor spent his childhood in South Africa before returning to England in early 1906 for his education at the Royal Naval College, Osborne, and then the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth.[2] Promoted to midshipman on 15 September 1910, McGrigor was posted to the battleship HMS Formidable in the Atlantic Fleet in April 1911.[2] He transferred to the battleship HMS Africa in the Home Fleet in May 1912 and, having been promoted to sub-lieutenant on 15 January 1913, moved to the battleship HMS Agamemnon in the Home Fleet in October 1913 and then on to the destroyer HMS Foxhound in the Mediterranean Fleet in March 1914.[3]

During the First World War, following his promotion to lieutenant on 15 October 1914, McGrigor saw action during the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915 and then transferred to the battleship HMS Malaya in the Grand Fleet in which he saw action at the Battle of Jutland.[3]

McGrigor was posted to the cruiser HMS Highflyer in June 1919 and, having been promoted to lieutenant commander on 15 October 1922,[4] he attended the War Staff Course at the Royal Naval Staff College in late 1923.[3] After qualifying as a torpedo specialist, he became flotilla torpedo officer for the First Destroyer Flotilla in the Mediterranean Fleet in February 1925.[3] Promoted to commander on 31 December 1927,[5] he joined the staff of the Tactical School at Portsmouth and then became Staff Officer (Operations) to the Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet in August 1930.[3] He became commanding officer of the destroyer HMS Versatile in the Home Fleet in August 1932 and, having been promoted to captain on 31 December 1933,[6] he joined the Training and Staff Duties Division of the Admiralty in August 1934.[3]

McGrigor was appointed Captain (D), 4th Destroyer Flotilla (aboard HMS Campbell and then HMS Kempenfelt), with the Home Fleet in September 1936.[3] On 26 August 1938, he became Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief China Station[3] (first on HMS Kent,[3] then HMS Tamar, the RN base at Hong Kong) with promotion to commodore 2nd class.[3]

Second World War

The battleship HMS Renown, in which McGrigor took part in the sinking of the Bismarck

In early 1941, McGrigor was, briefly, Flag Captain, HMS Renown, flagship of Sir James Somerville[3] and was involved in the Malta Convoys and other operations in the Atlantic and Mediterranean including the Bombardment of Genoa in February 1941 and the sinking of the Bismarck in May 1941.[7] He was promoted to rear admiral on 8 July 1941.[3] Between 9 September 1941 and early 1943, he was Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Weapons).[3] In late 1943, he commanded the Naval Force (Force B) covering the capture of the Italian island of Pantelleria (Operation Corkscrew) and the subsequent Invasion of Sicily[8] for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order.[3] He served as Flag Officer, Sicily, where he was wounded, for three months[9] before being redeployed as Flag Officer, Taranto and Adriatic (based at the shore establishment HMS Nile in Alexandria) until the end of 1943.[10]

Appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 1944 New Year Honours, McGrigor briefly commanded Home Fleet aircraft carriers at the start of the year.[10] From 27 March 1944 he was Rear Admiral commanding 1st Cruiser Squadron (with HMS Kent and then HMS Norfolk as his flagship) participating in operations off the Norwegian coast and convoys to North Russia.[11] He was mentioned in despatches for Operation Counterblast (the destruction of enemy shipping off the south-west coast of Norway in November 1944).[12] From 8 April 1945 he also held the post of Second-in-Command Home Fleet, receiving promotion to vice admiral on 15 April 1945.[11] The final air-raid of the war in Europe, Operation Judgement, took place in North Norway under McGrigor's command on 4 May 1945.[1] On 7 June 1945 with the 1st Cruiser Squadron he conveyed King Haakon to Oslo on his return to Norway after five years in Britain, for which he was awarded the honour of Commander of the Norwegian Order of St. Olav.[10] He was advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1945 Birthday Honours.[13]

Post-war service

McGrigor being piped on board the cruiser HMS Liverpool at Valletta, Malta, in 1952

From 1945 onwards, McGrigor was appointed to a number of influential shore posts. He became Vice Chief of the Naval Staff in October 1945 and, having been promoted to full admiral on 2 September 1948,[14] he became Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet in January 1949.[11] McGrigor also commanded Exercise Verity, a major multi-lateral naval exercise for the Western Union Defense Organization (WUDO), in 1949[15] and went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth in March 1950.[11] He was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the 1951 New Year Honours.[16]

McGrigor became First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff on 20 December 1951[11] and, having attended the funeral of King George VI in February 1952,[17] he was appointed First and Principal Naval Aide-de-Camp to Queen Elizabeth II on 1 April 1952.[1] He also attended the coronation of The Queen in June 1953.[18] As First Sea Lord he was a leading proponent of carrier-based air power and revived the title of Fleet Air Arm (which had been renamed "Naval Aviation" in 1946).[11] He was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 1 May 1953 and retired in April 1955.[11]

McGrigor received honorary degrees of LLD from the University of St Andrews in 1953 and the University of Aberdeen in 1955; he was Rector of the University of Aberdeen from 1954 to 1957.[1] In retirement his interests included shooting and fishing at his home at Tarland in Aberdeenshire.[1] He died following an operation in Aberdeen on 3 December 1959.[11]

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References

"Sir Rhoderick McGrigor". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
Heathcote, p. 160
Heathcote, p. 161
"No. 32757". The London Gazette. 20 October 1922. p. 7371.
"No. 33342". The London Gazette. 30 December 1927. p. 8369.
"No. 34011". The London Gazette. 2 January 1934. p. 52.
"No. 38098". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 October 1947. p. 4856.
"No. 38895". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 April 1950. p. 2086.
"No. 38937". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 June 1950. p. 2887.
"Royal Navy Officers 1939–1945". Unit histories. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
Heathcote, p. 162
"No. 36914". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 January 1945. p. 636.
"No. 37119". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 June 1945. p. 2935.
"No. 38416". The London Gazette. 28 September 1948. p. 5198.
"WESTERN UNION: Exercise Verity". TIME. 1 July 1949. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
"No. 39104". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1951. p. 2.
"No. 39575". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 June 1952. p. 3351.
"No. 40020". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 November 1953. p. 6230.

Sources

Heathcote, Tony (2002). The British Admirals of the Fleet 1734 – 1995. Pen & Sword Ltd. ISBN 0-85052-835-6.

Military offices
Preceded by Sir Edward Syfret	Vice Chief of the Naval Staff 1945–1947	Succeeded by Sir John Edelsten
Preceded by Sir Edward Syfret	Commander in Chief, Home Fleet 1948–1950	Succeeded by Sir Philip Vian
Preceded by Sir Robert Burnett	Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth 1950–1951	Succeeded by Sir Maurice Mansergh
Preceded by The Lord Fraser of North Cape	First Sea Lord 1951–1955	Succeeded by The Earl Mountbatten of Burma
Honorary titles
Preceded by Sir Arthur Power	First and Principal Naval Aide-de-Camp 1952–1953	Succeeded by Sir John Edelsten
Academic offices
Preceded by Jimmy Edwards	Rector of the University of Aberdeen 1954–1957	Succeeded by The Lord Bannerman of Kildonan

First Sea Lords of the Royal Navy
Senior Naval Lords (1689–1771)	Arthur Herbert Sir John Chicheley Edward Russell Henry Priestman Earl of Orford Sir George Rooke Sir John Leake Sir George Byng Sir John Leake Sir George Byng Matthew Aylmer Sir George Byng Sir John Jennings Sir John Norris Sir Charles Wager Lord Archibald Hamilton Lord Harry Powlett Lord Archibald Hamilton Lord Vere Beauclerk Lord Anson Sir William Rowley Edward Boscawen Sir William Rowley Edward Boscawen John Forbes Earl Howe Sir Charles Saunders Augustus Keppel Sir Peircy Brett Sir Francis Holburne
First Naval Lords (1771–1904)	Augustus Hervey Sir Hugh Palliser Robert Man George Darby Sir Robert Harland Sir Hugh Pigot John Leveson-Gower Lord Hood Sir Charles Middleton James Gambier Sir Thomas Troubridge James Gambier John Markham James Gambier Sir Richard Bickerton William Domett Sir Joseph Yorke Sir Graham Moore Sir William Johnstone Hope Sir George Cockburn Sir Thomas Hardy The Hon. George Dundas Charles Adam Sir George Cockburn Sir Charles Adam Sir George Cockburn Sir William Parker Sir Charles Adam Sir James Dundas The Hon. Maurice Berkeley Hyde Parker The Hon. Maurice Berkeley The Hon. Sir Richard Dundas William Martin The Hon. Sir Richard Dundas The Hon. Sir Frederick Grey Sir Alexander Milne Sir Sydney Dacres Sir Alexander Milne Sir Hastings Yelverton Sir George Wellesley Sir Astley Key Sir Arthur Hood Lord John Hay Sir Arthur Hood Sir Richard Hamilton Sir Anthony Hoskins Sir Frederick Richards Lord Walter Kerr
First Sea Lords (1904–present)	Sir John Fisher Sir Arthur Wilson Sir Francis Bridgeman Prince Louis of Battenberg The Lord Fisher Sir Henry Jackson Sir John Jellicoe Sir Rosslyn Wemyss The Earl Beatty Sir Charles Madden, Bt Sir Frederick Field The Lord Chatfield Sir Roger Backhouse Sir Dudley Pound The Lord Cunningham of Hyndhope Sir John Cunningham The Lord Fraser of North Cape Sir Rhoderick McGrigor The Earl Mountbatten of Burma Sir Charles Lambe Sir Caspar John Sir David Luce Sir Varyl Begg Sir Michael Le Fanu Sir Peter Hill-Norton Sir Michael Pollock Sir Edward Ashmore Sir Terence Lewin Sir Henry Leach Sir John Fieldhouse Sir William Staveley Sir Julian Oswald Sir Benjamin Bathurst Sir Jock Slater Sir Michael Boyce Sir Nigel Essenhigh Sir Alan West Sir Jonathon Band Sir Mark Stanhope Sir George Zambellas Sir Philip Jones Tony Radakin