Herbert Fitzherbert

Sir Herbert Fitzherbert
Born	10 August 1885 Kingswear, Totnes, Devon
Died	30 October 1958 (aged 73)
Allegiance	United Kingdom India
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1900–1943
Rank	Admiral
Commands held	HMS Coventry (1926) HMS Victory (1932) HMS Devonshire (1934) Flag Officer Commanding, Royal Indian Navy (1937) Flag Officer-in-Charge, Tunisia (1943)
Battles/wars	First World War Second World War
Awards	KCIE (1941) CB (1937) CMG (1919)

Admiral Sir Herbert Fitzherbert, KCIE, CB, CMG (10 August 1885 – 30 October 1958) was a Royal Navy admiral who served as the third Flag Officer Commanding, Royal Indian Navy, from 1937 to 1943.

Life and career

Fitzherbert was born at Kingswear, Totnes, Devon, the son of Samuel Wyndham Fitzherbert. He joined the Royal Navy in 1900 and was educated aboard the cadet training ship HMS Britannia.^[1] He was commissioned as an acting Sub-Lieutenant in 1905, and was confirmed as a Sub-Lieutenant the following year. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1907. During the First World War, he served as a Flag Lieutenant to Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Jellicoe (later the Earl Jellicoe) at the Battle of Jutland, for which he was appointed a CMG in 1919.^[2] He was also awarded the Legion d'Honneur and the Russian Order of St. Anne for his service during the battle. Fitzherbert was promoted to Commander in 1917 and to Captain in 1924.

From 1926 to 1928, he commanded the cruiser HMS Coventry, also serving as the Chief Staff Officer to the Rear-Admiral (Destroyers) Commanding Destroyer Flotillas of the Mediterranean Fleet. He then served as the Naval Assistant to the First Sea Lord, Sir Frederick Field, from 1929 to 1930. From 1931 to 1932, he took the Imperial Defense Course at the Imperial Defence College, and was then appointed as Commanding Officer of the Signal School at Portsmouth aboard HMS Victory, holding the position until 1934.^[1] He then commanded the cruiser HMS Devonshire in the Mediterranean until 1936, when he received a promotion to Rear-Admiral. Fitzherbert was appointed a CB in the 1937 Coronation Honours^[3] and after attending the Senior Officers' War Course at Greenwich, was appointed Flag Officer Commanding, Royal Indian Navy in November of that year.

He was promoted to Vice-Admiral in 1939, was knighted with the KCIE in 1941^[4] and retired in 1943. He was subsequently appointed as the Flag Officer in Charge, Tunisia and served there until 1944. In 1946, he was promoted to Admiral on the retired list and died in 1958, aged 73.

He married Rachel Hanbury, and the couple had two sons, Nicholas and William (Bill), who followed their father into the Navy, the former rose to the rank of Lieutenant, and died unmarried in 1946, while the latter married Belinda Batt and had four children.

References

1. "World War II unit histories & officers". Unithistories.com. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
2. "Viewing Page 9107 of Issue 31461". London-gazette.co.uk. 1919-07-15. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
3. "Viewing Page 3078 of Issue 34396". London-gazette.co.uk. 1937-05-11. Retrieved 2013-08-18.
4. "Viewing Page 3736 of Issue 35204". London-gazette.co.uk. 1941-06-27. Retrieved 2013-08-18.