Richard Phillimore

Admiral Sir Richard Fortescue Phillimore GCB KCMG MVO (23 December 1864 – 8 November 1940) was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth.

Sir Richard Phillimore
1917 portrait by Francis Dodd
Born	23 December 1864 Boconnoc, Cornwall
Died	8 November 1940 (1940-11-09) (aged 75) Botley, Hampshire
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1878–1929
Rank	Admiral
Commands held	HMS Mohawk HMS Juno HMS Aboukir HMS Inflexible 2nd Battle Cruiser Squadron 1st Battle Cruiser Squadron Reserve Fleet Plymouth Command
Battles/wars	Boxer Rebellion World War I
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Member of the Royal Victorian Order

Naval career

Phillimore was born the son of Admiral Sir Augustus Phillimore, and educated at Westminster School.[1] He joined the Royal Navy in 1878,[2] was promoted to lieutenant on 20 August 1886,[3] and to commander on 1 January 1899.[4] He was posted to HMS Goliath on 27 March 1900,[5] her first commission, and joined her to the China Station where she took part in the response to the Boxer Rebellion later in 1900.[1] He was given command of HMS Mohawk in 1903 and then led the Naval Brigade Machine Guns in Somaliland the next year.[2] He was then given command of HMS Juno in 1907, HMS Aboukir in 1909 and the battlecruiser HMS Inflexible in 1911.[2]

He served in World War I as Commander of the 2nd Battle Cruiser Squadron and then as Principal Beach Master for the landings at Cape Helles in the Dardanelles in April 1915.[2] He went on to be liaison officer to the Imperial Russian Headquarters in 1915 and Commander of the 1st Battle Cruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet in 1916.[2] He was then made Admiral commanding the Aircraft of the Grand Fleet in 1917[2] and took part in Second Battle of Heligoland Bight in November 1917.[1]

After the war, he was appointed President of the Postwar Questions Committee and then commanded the Reserve Fleet from 1920.[2] He was made Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth in 1923.[1] He was First and Principal Naval Aide-de-Camp to King George V from 1928[1] and retired in 1929.[2]

He is buried at Shedfield in Hampshire.[1]

Family

In 1905 he married Violet Turton; they had three sons and one daughter.[1]

References

1. Sir Richard Phillimore at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
2. Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
3. "No. 25620". The London Gazette. 27 August 1886. p. 4176.
4. "No. 27040". The London Gazette. 6 January 1899. p. 84.
5. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36083). London. 7 March 1900. p. 10.

External links

• The Dreadnought Project: Richard Phillimore

Military offices
Preceded by J de M Hutchison	Officer Commanding HMS Juno May 1907 - May 1909	Succeeded by H J O Millar
Preceded by Sir Henry Oliver	Commander-in-Chief, Reserve Fleet 1920–1922	Succeeded by Sir Douglas Nicholson
Preceded by Sir Montague Browning	Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth 1923–1926	Succeeded by Sir Rudolph Bentinck
Honorary titles
Preceded by Sir Arthur Leveson	First and Principal Naval Aide-de-Camp 1928–1929	Succeeded by Sir William Goodenough