Arthur Wilson (Royal Navy officer)
| Sir Arthur Knyvet Wilson | |
|---|---|
 Admiral Sir Arthur Wilson |
|
| Nickname | Tug, Old 'Ard 'Art |
| Born | 4 March 1842 Swaffham, Norfolk, England |
| Died | 25 May 1921 (aged 79) Swaffham |
| Buried at | St Peter and St Paul's Churchyard, Swaffham |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/branch |  Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1855-1911 |
| Rank | Admiral of the Fleet |
| Commands held | HMS Vernon HMS Hecla Channel Squadron First Sea Lord |
| Battles/wars | Crimean War Second Opium War 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War Mahdist War |
| Awards | Victoria Cross Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Order of Merit Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Order of the Medjidieh (Ottoman Empire) Order of the Dannebrog (Denmark) Order of the Netherlands Lion |
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur Knyvet Wilson VC, GCB, OM, GCVO (4 March 1842 – 25 May 1921) was an English Admiral and briefly First Sea Lord who was awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry during the war in Sudan. An early expert on torpedoes, he twice commanded HMS Vernon, and he was an early proponent of submarines in the Royal Navy.[1][2]
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[edit] Early life
He was born on 4 March 1842 in Swaffham in Norfolk, the son of Rear-Admiral George Knyvet Wilson. He was the nephew of Major-General Sir Archdale Wilson of Delhi.
[edit] Early career
He entered the Royal Navy in 1855 and served as a midshipman aboard HMS Algiers[3] during the Crimean War (1855) followed by the Second Opium War (1858).[3] In 1870 he became a member of the committee investigating the effectiveness of the Whitehead torpedo,[3] and in 1876 became commander of the new torpedo school HMS Vernon, where his duties included rewriting torpedo manuals, inventing aiming apparatus and developing mine warfare.
[edit] El Teb
As a result of being appointed to command the torpedo boat depot ship HMS Hecla, Wilson became involved in both the 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War and the Mahdist War in 1884.[3] As a captain in the Naval Brigade, during the Sudan Campaign the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
On 29 February 1884, at the Battle of El Teb, Captain Wilson of HMS Hecla attached himself, during the advance, to the right half-battery, Naval Brigade, in place of a lieutenant who was mortally wounded. As the troops closed on the enemy battery, the Arabs charged out on the detachment which was dragging one of the guns, whereupon Captain Wilson sprang to the front and engaged in single combat with some of the enemy, and so protected the detachment until men of the 1st Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment, came to his assistance.[4]
[edit] Admiralty and Fleet Command
He was called to the Admiralty in 1897 as Third Naval Lord and Controller of the Navy.[3]
From 1901 to 1903 he was in command of the Channel Squadron. "Known as 'Old 'Ard 'Art' for his refusal to consider the cares and comforts of officers and men, no one expected more of his captains and officers than Wilson."[5] From 1903 he became Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet.[6] In 1906 HMS Montagu ran aground. Highly embarrassed but lacking anyone with salvage expertise, the Admiralty appointed a civilian, Frederick Young of the Liverpool Salvage Company to assist but not take command of the operation. This disastrous arrangement saw Wilson blamed by Young for the loss of the ship but led to the establishment of an independent salvage arm under Young.
Wilson reached the rank of Admiral of the Fleet in 1907,[7] and became First Sea Lord in 1910. Wilson "was abrasive, inarticulate, and autocratic. He was selected as Fisher's successor because he was the potential protector of his legacy; Wilson's seniority would enable him to control the twelve full admirals on the active list, at least five of whom belonged to the 'syndicate of discontent' committed to dismantling Fisher's reforms if given the opportunity. But by 1910 Wilson had been retired three years. Furthermore, although his reputation had been gained at sea rather than in the corridors of the Admiralty, he had never commanded Dreadnoughts.[Note 1] Wilson survived for even less time than was intended by the stopgap nature of his appointment. His successor in November 1911, Sir Francis Bridgeman also got the job by default."[8] "The combination of frequent change and weak appointees [Wilson, Bridgeman and Battenberg] ensured that the professional leadership of the Royal Navy lost its direction in the four years preceding the war."[8] Wilson retired in 1911,[8] and received the Order of Merit in 1912.[7]
He died in Swaffham and is buried in the churchyard of St Peter and St Paul's. His VC was donated to the Royal Naval Museum, Portsmouth.[3]
[edit] Medal list
His full medal list runs as follows:
- Victoria Cross
- Knight Grand Cross, The Most Honourable Order of the Bath (GCB)
- Order of Merit (OM)
- Grand Officer, Légion d'honneur (France)
- Knight Grand Cross, The Royal Victorian Order (GCVO)
- Crimea Medal - (1854–56) clasp "Sebastopol"
- 2nd China War Medal - (1857–60) clasps "Canton 1857", "Taku Forts 1858"
- Egypt Medal - (1882–89) with clasps for "Alexandria 11 July", "Suakin 1884", "El Teb"
- Queen Victoria Golden Jubilee Medal 1897
- King Edward VII Coronation Medal 1902
- King George V Coronation Medal 1911
- Order of the Medjidieh: 3rd Class (Turkey )
- Order of Naval Merit: Grand Cross (Spain)
- Khedive's Star 1882 (Egypt)
- Turkish Crimean War medal - (1855–56)
- Order of the Dannebrog: Grand Cross (Denmark)
- Order of the Netherlands Lion: Knight Grand Cross (The Netherlands)
[edit] Nickname
Admiral Wilson's nickname of 'Tug' reputedly comes from an incident when he repeatedly ordered a battleship to try to come alongside, and in exasperation offered her Captain a 'Tug' to assist,[9] subsequently a number of people with the surname Wilson have been given this nickname, e.g. Ebin 'Tug' Wilson, George Archer 'Tug' Wilson, Kenneth Leon 'Tug' Wilson, Lester Wilbur 'Tug' Wilson, Thomas Harold "Tom" 'Tug' Wilson, and Captain Roi Edgerton 'Tug' Wilson
[edit] Notes
- ^ It should be pointed out that one of Wilson's successors, Prince Louis of Battenberg, commanded dreadnoughts for a month in 1912 before becoming First Sea Lord.
[edit] References
- ^ Hore. The Habit of Victory. pp. 312-313.
- ^ Lambert. ed. The Submarine Service, 1900-1918. p. x.
- ^ a b c d e f "Biography: Arthur Wilson VC". Royal Navy Museum. http://www.royalnavalmuseum.org/info_sheets_arthur_wilson.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
- ^ London Gazette: no. 25356. p. 2277. 21 May 1884. Retrieved 2010-08-08.
- ^ Lambert, Andrew, Admirals, pub Faber and Faber, 2008, ISBN 978-0-571-23156-0, p. 343.
- ^ Heathcote, T. A. (2002). The British Admirals of the Fleet 1734 - 1995. Pen & Sword Ltd. ISBN 0-85052-835-6, p. 267.
- ^ a b A.K. Wilson online biography
- ^ a b c Strachan, Hew, The First World War, Volume I: To Arms, pub Oxford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-19-820877-4, p. 380.
- Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
- The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
[edit] External links
- Burial location of Arthur Wilson "Norfolk"
- Location of Arthur Wilson's Victoria Cross "Royal Naval Museum"
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir Jackie Fisher |
Third Naval Lord and Controller of the Navy 1897–1901 |
Succeeded by Sir William May |
| Preceded by Sir Harry Rawson |
Commander-in-Chief, Channel Fleet 1901–1903 |
Succeeded by Lord Charles Beresford |
| Preceded by Lord Charles Beresford |
Commander-in-Chief, Channel Fleet 1905–1907 |
Succeeded by Lord Charles Beresford |
| Preceded by Lord Fisher |
First Sea Lord 1910–1911 |
Succeeded by Sir Francis Bridgeman |
- First Sea Lords
- Lords of the Admiralty
- Royal Navy admirals of the fleet
- Royal Navy personnel of the Crimean War
- British military personnel of the Second Opium War
- Royal Navy personnel of the 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War
- Royal Navy personnel of the Mahdist War
- British recipients of the Victoria Cross
- Royal Navy recipients of the Victoria Cross
- Members of the Order of Merit
- Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
- Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion
- Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
- People from Swaffham
- 1842 births
- 1921 deaths
- Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur
- Recipients of the Order of the Medjidieh
- Grand Crosses of the Order of the Dannebrog
