Difference between revisions of "Stanley Cecil James Colville"

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Admiral THE HONOURABLE SIR Stanley Cecil James Colville, G.C.B., G.C.M.G., G.C.V.O., Royal Navy (21 February, 1861 – 9 April, 1939) was an officer of the Royal Navy.

Early Life & Career

Colville was born in London 21 February, 1861, the second son of Charles John Colville, Tenth Lord and First Viscount Colville of Culross, chamberlain to Queen Alexandra both as Princess of Wales and as Queen (1873–1903). He was grandson of General Sir Charles Colville. His mother was Cecile Katherine Mary, only child by his first wife of Robert John Carrington, Second Baron Carrington. After a short time at Marlborough, he entered the training ship Britannia as a naval cadet in 1874 and in 1876 was appointed as midshipman to the Sultan in the Mediterranean under Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, and remained with the Duke when in 1878 he transferred to the Black Prince in the Channel Squadron and afterwards on the North America and West Indies Station. Next year he was sent to the Boadicea, wearing the broad pennant of Commodore (afterwards Admiral Sir) F. W. Richards, at the Cape, and served on shore in the Zulu war. Promoted Sub-Lieutenant in 1880, he underwent the usual examinations at Portsmouth. In July, 1882 he joined the Alexandra, flagship of Sir F. B. P. Seymour (afterwards Lord Alcester) in the Mediterranean, being promoted Lieutenant in November: thus he was present at the bombardment of Alexandria (11 July) and took part in the subsequent land operations. In 1883 he was appointed to the Canada, North America station, in which Prince George (afterwards King George V) was midshipman. From 1884 to 1885 Colville was again in the Mediterranean for service with the Nile flotilla during the Gordon relief expedition, and after a short spell at home in the royal yacht Osborne, resumed his service for three years under the Duke of Edinburgh, now Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, with his flag in the Alexandra. From 1889 to 1892 he was First Lieutenant of the royal yacht Victoria and Albert and thus earned his promotion to Commander (August, 1892).

After three years as Commander of Admiral (Sir) Compton Domvile's flagship Trafalgar in the Mediterranean, Colville was at the Sirdar's request lent to the Egyptian government for operations on the Nile, and while in command of the flotilla in the Dongola campaign (1896) was severely wounded. For this service he was specially promoted Captain in October, and appointed C.B. In 1897–1898 he filled his only office appointment in London as naval adviser to the inspector-general of fortifications at the War Office, and then went as Flag Captain to Admiral Penrose Fitzgerald, in the Barfleur, in China for eighteen months. Next he was Flag Captain to Sir Frederick Bedford, in the Crescent, on the North America station for two years, followed by three more as Chief of the Staff to Domvile in the Bulwark, Mediterranean Fleet. For one year (1906) he had his only independent captain's command in the Hindustan, Atlantic Fleet, and reached Flag Rank in November at the early age of forty-five. In 1908 he hoisted his flag in the Bulwark as Rear-Admiral of the Nore division of the recently formed Home Fleet under Sir Francis Bridgeman. A year later he was appointed to the First Cruiser Squadron, then part of the Channel Fleet under Lord Charles Beresford just before that great officer's dispute with Sir John Fisher ended in his being ordered to haul down his flag.

Colville's squadron and the rest of the Channel Fleet was then absorbed into the expanded Home Fleet under Sir William May, and he soon found himself in charge of the first three great battle cruisers of the Dreadnought era, with his flag in the Indomitable. He completed two years in that command, and was promoted to the rank of Vice-Admiral on 12 April, 1911.^[1] A year later went to sea again as Vice-Admiral commanding the First Battle Squadron, Home Fleet. He completed the usual two-year term in June, 1914, and thus was ashore on half-pay when war broke out.

Great War Service

He naturally wished for a new command afloat but, nothing being available, he was offered the shore command of vice-admiral, Orkneys and Shetlands. During August Admiral Sir John Jellicoe had found the detailed work of arranging for the protection of the undefended base at Scapa Flow, where the main Grand Fleet was stationed, too great a burden and asked for the appointment of a senior flag-officer who should be responsible for the general defences of the islands and base, and for the control of patrol vessels and minesweepers and the placing of obstacles to prevent the entry of enemy submarines. Colville in accepting the post asked that he should be treated as junior in rank to Jellicoe to whom he was senior in the flag-list by five months. The chief peril which he had to face was the entry of German submarines into the anchorage and his measures were so successful that, although there were several reports of such intrusion, in fact none did get in, but one of Colville's patrol vessels rammed and sank one outside the Hoxa entrance. Colville was promoted to the rank of Admiral dated 11 September, 1914.^[2] On 9 July, 1915, Colville was promoted to Knight Grand Cross in the Royal Victoria Order (G.C.V.O.).^[3]

In 1916 Jellicoe reported in a dispatch that it was largely due to Colville that the work at the northern base was so cheerfully and energetically carried out, and official appreciation of the Admiralty was duly expressed. In February 1916 he succeeded Sir Hedworth Meux as commander-in-chief at Portsmouth, having been promoted admiral soon after going to Scapa in September 1914. He held that important post for the rest of the war, and finally hauled down his flag in March 1919. He was appointed First and Principal Aide-de-Camp to the King on 31 July, 1919,^[4] and was placed on the Retired List on 4 April, 1922.^[5]

Retirement

In 1927 Colville was appointed rear-admiral of the United Kingdom and in 1929 vice-admiral of the United Kingdom and lieutenant of the Admiralty, ancient offices which had fallen into desuetude but were revived in 1901 by King Edward VII as high court appointments, corresponding to the military Silver Stick and Gold Stick in Waiting. He died at Crawley Down, Sussex, 9 April 1939.

Colville was a fine type of the ‘salt horse’ naval officer: without any pretensions to brilliance or scientific eminence he had a thorough knowledge of his profession, and possessed the complete confidence of his seniors. His lifelong energy and activity in everything concerned with the welfare of the navy were greatly appreciated by all ranks. He made no mistakes and was popular and trusted throughout the service. Although owing something no doubt to his association with the royal family, he well deserved his fortunate career in the Royal Navy.

Colville was appointed C.V.O. in 1902, K.C.B. in 1912, and G.C.V.O. on the occasion of the King's visit to Scapa in July 1915, G.C.M.G. in 1919, and G.C.B. in 1921. Of foreign honours he received the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun, the Russian Order of St. Stanislaus, and the Order of the Crown of Siam, and he was a grand officer of the Legion of Honour. He married in 1902 Lady Adelaide Jane, youngest daughter of Admiral of the Fleet Richard James Meade, fourth Earl of Clanwilliam , and had four sons.

An oil portrait of Colville, painted by Sir William Llewellyn (1927), is in private possession. A tinted charcoal drawing of him by Francis Dodd is in the Imperial War Museum.

Assessment

In The Rules of the Game, when idly speculating as to who would make a better Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet in succession Callaghan, Gordon writes:

My choice for C-in-C Grand Fleet? Sir Stanley Colville, after leaving Callaghan to serve his full term. Why? 1) Colville had commanded the 1st BS in the Home Fleet from 1912-1914; 2) Like Beatty he was well accustomed to working with Callaghan's less formal standing orders (and had, incidentally, been a friend and career-sponsor of young Beatty in the 1890s); 3) He was senior to Jellicoe and slightly younger. In my view he was well positioned to succeed Callaghan in wartime, and his appointment ashore as C-in-C Orkneys (1914-1916) was a waste.^[6]

Addressing these points: 1) Jellicoe had commanded the Second Division which became the Second Battle Squadron in the Home Fleet and later in the First Fleet of the Home Fleets. 2) The comparison with Beatty is irrelevant. Callaghan's standing orders are also irrelevant. The orders which Colville would have drawn up are more important. 3) Jellicoe was five months junior in seniority and under two years older than Colville. Considering that Jellicoe had been "groomed" as Commander-in-Chief in time of war for years, both seniority and age are irrelevant.

Colville probably was "well positioned" to succeed Callaghan, but that certainly doesn't mean that he was well-suited to do so. It is unfortunate, perhaps, that his tenure in command of the First Battle Squadron was not extended by another year, but there were many other candidates for high command on the Flag List, none of them as unsuitable as Gordon might imply. Patently, he wasn't "C-in-C Orkneys" as is claimed in The Rules of the Game. — SIMON HARLEY, Co-editor.

Footnotes

Bibliography

Service Records