Douglas Nicholson
Sir Douglas Nicholson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 4 March 1867 |
| Died | 8 February 1946 (aged 78) |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/ |  Royal Navy |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Commands held | HMS Hyacinth HMS Hermes HMS St Vincent HMS Conqueror His Majesty's Yachts HMS Agincourt 3rd Battle Squadron Reserve Fleet |
| Battles/wars | Anglo-Egyptian War World War I |
| Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Member of the Royal Victorian Order |
Admiral Sir Douglas Romilly Lothian Nicholson, KCB, MVO (4 March 1867 – 8 February 1946) was a senior Royal Navy officer who commanded the Reserve Fleet.
Nicholson served in the Anglo-Egyptian War of 1882.[1] He was appointed in command of the destroyer HMS Dove on 24 February 1902,[2] serving in the Channel Fleet as part of the Portsmouth instructional flotilla. In May 1902, the ship hit a rock off Kildorney, and had to be towed by her sister ship HMS Bullfinch to Queenstown,[3] and later back to Portsmouth for repairs.[4] Douglas and the crew transferred to the recently completed torpedo boat destroyer HMS Success, which was commissioned at Portsmouth on 9 June.[5] The following day, the navy held a Court-martial where he was tried for negligence during the Kildorney incident. He was acquitted of negligence, but severely reprimanded for being in error of judgment.[6]
Nicholson became commanding officer of the cruiser HMS Hyacinth in August 1905, of the cruiser HMS Hermes in December 1905 and of the battleship HMS St Vincent in 1910.[7] He went on to be commanding officer of the battleship HMS Conqueror in 1912 and Commodore of His Majesty's Yachts in 1913.[1] He served in World War I as commanding officer of HMS Agincourt in the Grand Fleet from 1914.[7] He continued his war service as Second-in-Command of the 3rd Battle Squadron from March 1917, as Second-in-Command of the 4th Battle Squadron from September 1917 and as Commander of the 3rd Battle Squadron from 1918.[8]
He became Rear-Admiral, Reserve Fleet at Portland in 1919 and Vice-Admiral commanding the Reserve Fleet in 1922 before retiring in 1926.[1]
References
- ^ a b c Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36691. London. 14 February 1902. p. 9. template uses deprecated parameter(s) (help)
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36774. London. 22 May 1902. p. 8. template uses deprecated parameter(s) (help)
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36777. London. 26 May 1902. p. 7. template uses deprecated parameter(s) (help)
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36790. London. 10 June 1902. p. 12. template uses deprecated parameter(s) (help)
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36791. London. 11 June 1902. p. 13. template uses deprecated parameter(s) (help)
- ^ a b Captains Commanding Royal Navy Warships
- ^ Senior Royal Navy Appointments