John Michael de Robeck, First Baronet

Admiral SIR John Michael de Robeck, First Baronet, G.C.B., G.C.M.G., G.C.V.O., Royal Navy (10 June, 1862 – 20 January, 1928) was an officer of the Royal Navy during the First World War. He is perhaps most notable for his command of the Eastern Mediterranean Squadron during the abortive attempts to force the Dardanelles in 1915. He later commanded a Battle Squadron in the Grand Fleet, and after the war ended held the commands of the Mediterranean and Atlantic Fleets.

Early Life & Career

He struck his flag in the Aboukir at Chatham on 26 July, 1914.

Great War

De Robeck was, however, an officer whose services could not be dispensed with, and on the mobilization of the naval forces he was immediately chosen to command the ninth cruiser squadron, which was commissioned from the reserve. He hoisted his flag in the Amphitrite. His command of Cruiser Force I was dated 1 August. This squadron was ordered to patrol one of the mid-Atlantic areas, with its base at Finisterre. The new admiral's special duty was to protect British merchant ships and to harry those of the enemy. During his period of duty on that station he captured first the North German Lloyd liner Schlesien and then the Græcia.

As soon as the decision of the War Cabinet to send a naval expedition to the Dardanelles was communicated to the Admiralty early in 1915, De Robeck was appointed as second-in-command to Vice-Admiral (Sir) Sackville Carden [q.v.] , to whom this difficult enterprise had been confided. He hoisted his flag in the battleship Vengeance in time to take part in the bombardment of the outer forts of the Dardanelles, an operation which was made in the middle of February and lasted several days. The bombardment was quite ineffective, as has since been revealed, but plans for further naval operations were immediately drawn up. The two officers co-operated with conspicuous success in this task, and when Carden had to return home in March owing to ill-health De Robeck, with the full concurrence of Vice-Admiral Rosslyn Wemyss, who was also on the station and was his senior, was chosen to take over the command of all the naval forces engaged in the operations against the Dardanelles. So complete had been the confidence between Carden and De Robeck that when the former had gone home, the latter expressed himself well satisfied with Carden's plans for the reduction of the forts at the Narrows. This movement was carried out on 18 March. Owing to the prolonged opportunity for mine-laying which the enemy had enjoyed, the three battleships Irresistible, Ocean, and Bouvet (French) were sunk, and little progress was made towards the admiral's objective. The ill success of this plan was not without its effect on the mind of De Robeck, who, with a clear appreciation of the situation, resisted strenuously the proposal that a further attempt should be made to force the Straits with naval forces, unsupported by the army which had been assembled under General Sir Ian Hamilton. Events had convinced him that military co-operation was essential. Unfortunately a month elapsed before the joint operation could be carried out (25 April). The military expedition, which was placed under the command of General Sir Charles Carmichael Monro [q.v.] , proved a failure in spite of the loyal co-operation of the fleet; and its ill success was subsequently the matter of a controversy in which, however, De Robeck, who had shown marked ability as a leader, was in no way involved. His work and that of the forces under his command was in fact highly praised, and by none more unreservedly than by Sir Ian Hamilton, who wrote in his first dispatch (20 May 1915): ‘Throughout the events I have chronicled, the Royal Navy has been father and mother to the Army. Not one of us but realizes how much he owes to Vice-Admiral de Robeck; to the warships, French and British; to the destroyers, mine-sweepers, picket-boats, and to all their dauntless crews, who took no thought of themselves, but risked everything to give their soldier comrades a fair run in at the enemy.’ De Robeck was indeed fortunate in winning the approval of all who were in any way associated with the disastrous attempt to force the Dardanelles, and when the withdrawal of the army was decided upon he retained the supreme command of the Allied naval forces which carried out on the night of 8–9 January 1916, with consummate success and with relatively small loss of life, this most difficult operation. On 1 January, 1916, he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (K.C.B.).

The abandonment of the Dardanelles coincided with a number of changes in the command of the grand fleet, owing to the recall of Admiral Sir John Jellicoe to the Admiralty as first sea lord and his relief by Admiral Sir David Beatty, who had hitherto commanded the battle-cruiser fleet. This reorganization of the high command in the North Sea offered an opportunity of giving De Robeck further employment, and he was made vice-admiral commanding the second battle squadron, hoisting his flag in the George V on 3 December 1916. He retained his command on being promoted to the substantive rank of vice-admiral in 1917, and his association with the grand fleet continued until May 1919, when it ceased to exist as a unified command.

Post-War & Retirement

De Robeck was one of the senior officers who subsequently received the special thanks of parliament for his war services, being given a grant of £10,000 and created a baronet in 1919, besides being gazetted G.C.M.G. (1919) and G.C.B. (1921). In 1919 De Robeck was chosen as commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean fleet, hoisting his flag in the Iron Duke, which had been the flagship of Admiral Jellicoe at the battle of Jutland. It was an appropriate appointment, for no one of his rank was better qualified to act as high commissioner at Constantinople, the additional duty which was assigned to him pending the conclusion of a separate treaty of peace with Turkey. On 24 March, 1920, he had been promoted to the rank of Admiral, vice Grant. His period of duty in the Mediterranean was otherwise uneventful. On relinquishing this command in April 1922 he was appointed in August commander-in-chief of the Atlantic fleet, his flagship being the Queen Elizabeth, which had been Admiral Beatty's flagship when he took over the command of the grand fleet.

De Robeck's resignation of this command in 1924 marked the end of his sea career, although he remained on the active list and was promoted to admiral of the fleet in November 1925. On coming ashore De Robeck was able once more to take part in sport of all kinds. He was a keen follower of hounds, as well as a good shot, and owing to his sustained interest in cricket he was elected president of the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1925, being the first naval officer to hold that position.

De Robeck married in 1922 Hilda Maud, daughter of Colonel Augustus Henry Macdonald-Moreton, Coldstream Guards, of Hillgrove, Bembridge, Isle of Wight, and widow of Colonel Sir Simon Macdonald Lockhart, fifth baronet. There were no children of the marriage, and the baronetcy became extinct on the death of De Robeck, which took place suddenly at his house in London on 20 January, 1928.

There is a portrait-drawing of de Robeck by Francis Dodd in the Imperial War Museum, South Kensington.

Bibliography

• "Sir John de Robeck" (Obituaries). The Times. Saturday, 21 January, 1928. Issue 44796, col B, pg. 12.

Papers

• Papers in the possession of Churchill College, Cambridge.

Service Records

• The National Archives. ADM 196/42.
• The National Archives. ADM 196/20.

Naval Offices
Preceded by New Position	Admiral of Patrols 1912 – 1914	Succeeded by George A. Ballard
Preceded by New Command	Rear-Admiral Commanding, Cruiser Force I 1914 – 1915	Succeeded by Sir A. Gordon H. W. Moore
Preceded by Sackville H. Carden	Vice-Admiral Commanding, Eastern Mediterranean Squadron 1915 – 1916	Succeeded by Sir Cecil F. Thursby
Preceded by Sir Edward E. Bradford	Vice-Admiral Commanding, Third Battle Squadron 1916	Succeeded by Herbert L. Heath
Preceded by Sir T. H. Martyn Jerram	Vice-Admiral Commanding, Second Battle Squadron 1916 – 1919	Succeeded by Sir Henry F. Oliver
Preceded by The Hon. Sir Somerset A. Gough-Calthorpe	Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean 1919 – 1922	Succeeded by Sir Osmond de B. Brock
Preceded by Sir Charles E. Madden, Bart.	Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet 1922 – 1924	Succeeded by Sir Henry F. Oliver