William Whitworth (Royal Navy officer)

Admiral Sir William Jock Whitworth, KCB, DSO (29 June 1884 – 25 October 1973) was a senior Royal Navy officer who served as Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel from 1941 to 1944.

Sir William Whitworth
Vice Admiral Whitworth coming ashore after inspecting HMS Vanessa at the port of Liverpool
Born(1884-06-29)29 June 1884
Chatham, Kent
Died25 October 1973(1973-10-25) (aged 89)
Bognor Regis, West Sussex
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchRoyal Navy
Years of service1899–1946
RankAdmiral
Commands heldRosyth (1944–46)
Second Sea Lord (1941–44)
Battlecruiser Squadron (1939–41)
HMS Rodney (1936)
2nd Destroyer Flotilla (1928–31)
HMS Stuart (1928–31)
HMS Valkyrie (1924–25)
HMS Wryneck (1923–24)
Battles/warsFirst World War
Second World War
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Distinguished Service Order
Mentioned in Despatches
Order of St. Olav (Norway)

Whitworth joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in 1899,[1] and was on 15 January 1901 posted to the battleship HMS Ocean,[2] as she was sent to the China station during the Boxer Rebellion.[3]

He served in the First World War, commanding the destroyers HMS Cockatrice, HMS Orestes and HMS Vidette.[4] He then became commanding officer at the Physical and Recreational Training School in Portsmouth in 1926.[1] He was given command of HMS Stuart and the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla of the Mediterranean Fleet in 1928.[1]

In 1933 Whitworth was appointed Captain of the Fleet to the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet and in 1936 he took command of the battleship HMS Rodney.[1] He was made Naval Secretary in 1937.[1]

Whitworth served in the Second World War and commanded the Battlecruiser Squadron in 1939.[1] He participated in the Norwegian Campaign and in 1940, with his flag flying in the battleship HMS Warspite, he led the Royal Navy to victory at the second Battle of Narvik off Norway.[5][1] Later in 1940 he returned to the Battlecruiser Squadron.[5] He was made Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel in 1941 and Commander-in-Chief, Rosyth in 1944.[1] He retired in 1946.[1]

Family
Whitworth's wife, daughter and daughter's fiancé in March 1945

In 1910 Whitworth married Marguerite MacLean.[5]

References
  1. "Whitworth, William". Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. Archived from the original on 25 September 2012. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  2. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36348. London. 10 January 1901. p. 8.
  3. "HMS Ocean". The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser. 7 March 1901. p. 12. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  4. "Naval Secretary to the First Sea Lord". The Times. No. 47627. 8 March 1937. p. 14.
  5. Biography of Admiral Sir William Jock Whitworth HMS Hood Association
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