Royal Navy Admiral of the Fleet (1849-1930)
Admiral of the Fleet
Sir William Henry May
GCB
GCVO
DL
(31 July 1849 ? 7 October 1930) was a
Royal Navy
Officer. As a junior officer he took part an expedition to rescue Commander
Albert Markham
who had got into difficulty trying to reach the North Pole via Smith Sound, the sea passage between
Greenland
and Canada's northernmost island,
Ellesmere Island
.
May went on to higher command and served as
Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy
before becoming Commander-in-Chief,
Atlantic Fleet
. He held the office of
Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel
and in that capacity threatened to resign if the
Liberal Government
cut the naval estimates any further. Later he became
Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet
, in which capacity he encouraged innovative ways of organising his huge fleet including the deployment of cruising formations, the use of fast squadrons and tactical command at squadron level rather than fleet level, and then became
Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth
. He served in the
First World War
purely in an administrative capacity.
Early career
[
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]
Born the son of Job William Seaburne May and Anne Jane May (nee Freckleton), May was educated at the
Royal Institution School
in
Liverpool
and
Eastman's Royal Naval Academy
and then joined the Royal Navy as a
cadet
in the training ship
HMS
Britannia
on 9 June 1863.
[1]
He joined the
first-rate
HMS
Victoria
, flagship of the
Mediterranean Fleet
in 1864 and, having been promoted to
midshipman
, he transferred to the
frigate
HMS
Liffey
in 1867.
[2]
Promoted to
sub-lieutenant
on 29 March 1869, he joined the
battleship
HMS
Hercules
in the
Channel Fleet
and then transferred to the Royal Yacht
HMY
Victoria and Albert
(1855)
in June 1871.
[2]
Promoted to
lieutenant
on 7 September 1871,
[3]
he briefly rejoined HMS
Hercules
in April 1872 before attending the gunnery school
HMS
Excellent
at
Portsmouth
.
[2]
He joined the frigate
HMS
Newcastle
at
Sheerness
in September 1874 and then became navigating officer in the
sloop
HMS
Alert
on her Arctic expedition of 1875 and 1876.
[2]
He took part in an expedition to rescue Commander
Albert Markham
, who had got into difficulty trying to reach the North Pole via Smith Sound, the sea passage between
Greenland
and Canada's northernmost island,
Ellesmere Island
.
[1]
May joined the torpedo school
HMS
Vernon
in 1877, where he was involved in the development of the
Whitehead torpedo
, and then transferred to the frigate
HMS
Inconstant
in the Mediterranean Fleet in 1880.
[2]
Promoted to
commander
on 9 March 1881,
[4]
he became commanding officer of the
torpedo ram
HMS
Polyphemus
later that year and then returned to the Royal Yacht HMY
Victoria and Albert II
, this time as second in command, in 1884.
[2]
Promoted to
captain
on 9 May 1887,
[5]
he became flag captain to the Commander-in-Chief,
China Station
in the
armored cruiser
HMS
Imperieuse
in March 1888.
[2]
En route to the Far East he took possession of
Christmas Island
following the recent discovery of
phosphate
deposits there.
[2]
He then served successively as naval
attache
in
Berlin
, naval attache in
Paris
and naval attache in
Saint Petersburg
.
[2]
He went on to be Assistant Director of Torpedoes at the
Admiralty
in 1893,
flag captain
to the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet in the battleship
HMS
Ramillies
in January 1895 and flag captain to the
Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth
in early 1897.
[2]
In the latter role he acted as chief of staff for the Diamond Jubilee Review of the Fleet at
Spithead
in June 1897 for which he was appointed a
Member of the Royal Victorian Order
later that year.
[1]
He then became commanding officer of the gunnery school HMS
Excellent
later that year
[2]
and was appointed a naval
aide-de-camp
to
the Queen
on 7 May 1899.
[6]
Senior command
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]
May became Director of Naval Ordnance and Torpedoes at the Admiralty in January 1901 and, having been promoted to
rear admiral
on 28 March 1901,
[7]
he became
Third Naval Lord and Controller of the Navy
in April 1901.
[2]
He was advanced to
Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
on 30 December 1904.
[8]
He went on to be Commander-in-Chief,
Atlantic Fleet
, with his flag in the battleship
HMS
King Edward VII
, in February 1905.
[2]
Promoted to
vice admiral
on 29 June 1905,
[9]
he was appointed a Grand Officer of the French
Legion of Honour
on 5 September 1905
[10]
and a
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
on 29 June 1906.
[11]
May became
Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel
in 1907 and in that capacity threatened to resign if the
Liberal Government
cut the naval estimates any further.
[2]
In the event he did not have to resign but nevertheless he was cast out of the inner circle of
First Sea Lord
Sir John Fisher
's confidantes.
[1]
Promoted to full
admiral
on 5 November 1908,
[12]
he became Commander-in-Chief,
Home Fleet
, with his flag in the battleship
HMS
Dreadnought
, in March 1909.
[13]
In that capacity he encouraged innovative ways of organising his huge fleet including the deployment of cruising formations, the use of fast squadrons and tactical command at squadron level rather than fleet level.
[1]
He was advanced to
Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
on 31 July 1909.
[14]
He went on to be
Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth
in April 1911 and was advanced to
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
on 19 June 1911.
[15]
He was promoted to
Admiral of the Fleet
on 20 March 1913.
[16]
May served in the
First World War
in an administrative capacity, as a member of the
Dardanelles Commission
tasked with examining the failure of
Gallipoli campaign
, as a member of the Reconstruction Committee tasked with considering post-war expenditure reductions and as a member of a fisheries committee.
[13]
He retired in 1919 and died on 7 October 1930 at his home, Bughtrig House in
Coldstream
in
Berwickshire
.
[13]
Family
[
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]
In 1878 May married Kinbarra Marrow: they had two sons.
[2]
References
[
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]
Sources
[
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]
- Heathcote, Tony (2002).
The British Admirals of the Fleet 1734 ? 1995
. Pen & Sword Ltd.
ISBN
0-85052-835-6
.
External links
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]