Archibald Berkeley Milne

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Rear-Admiral Sir Archibald Berkeley Milne

Sir Archibald Berkeley Milne, 2nd Baronet (2 June 1855 – 4 July 1938) was an admiral of the Royal Navy who commanded the British Mediterranean Fleet at the outbreak of the First World War.

Milne was the son of distinguished admiral, Sir Alexander Milne, 1st Baronet, and a friend of Queen Alexandra, who called him "Arky-Barky". For ten years he served on the royal yachts, commanding H.M. Yachts from 1903 to 1905 as Flag Officer, and being made a Rear Admiral in 1904. His next posting was as second in command of the Atlantic Fleet until 1906. From 1908 to 1910 Milne commanded the 2nd Division of the Home Fleet. Milne was made a full Admiral in 1911 and given command of the Mediterranean Fleet in November 1912. At the outset of World War I, the Fleet was twenty-seven ships strong.

[edit] The pursuit of Goeben and Breslau

On August 4, 1914, after Germany had declared war on Russia and France but before Great Britain had declared war on Germany, he sent his two strongest battle cruisers, the HMS Indomitable and Indefatigable, to seek out (as ordered) Germany's only two ships in the Mediterranean, the SMS Goeben and Breslau, under the command of Admiral Wilhelm Souchon. The ships met as the Germans were steaming back to Messina, Italy, to refuel after bombarding the French colonial ports of Philippeville and Bône, Algeria.

The German ships steamed out of Messina harbour at midnight, August 5, precisely as Britain officially went to war with Germany. They were headed for Turkey, to attempt to convince it to enter the war on Germany's side, by force if necessary. The heading surprised Admiral Milne who had expected them to steam west to the Straits of Gibraltar. He had only one ship, the light cruiser HMS Gloucester, in a position to follow them. The next morning (August 7), the Gloucester closed in and opened fire on the Breslau, which returned fire. Breslau was slightly damaged in the exchange receiving one hit at the waterline. Near the western coast of Greece, the pursuit of the Goeben and the Breslau was taken up by four more British ships, led by Milne's second-in-command, Admiral Sir Ernest Charles Thomas Troubridge. Troubridge's ships were smaller and slower than the Goeben, they were also outgunned and had to maintain their distance lest they be picked off at leisure before they could ever get close enough to attack.

Souchon's ships made it to Constantinople and were admitted into the harbour by the Turks. The German diplomats reminded the Turks that Great Britain had recently broken a contract to supply two new battleships to the Turkish government (which the British Admiralty had decided to keep for its own use as war loomed), and offered to sell them the Goeben and the Breslau. The Turks agreed on August 16 and eventually joined Germany's side on October 30, 1914. The ships were renamed the Yavuz Sultan Selim and the Midili, retaining their German crews; Souchon was made commander-in-chief of the Turkish Navy.

The escape of the Goeben and the Breslau effectively ended the careers of British admirals Milne and Troubridge. Milne served out the rest of the war without commission on half-pay, while Troubridge was assigned to land-based duties below his rank for the remainder of the war. Only the captain of the Gloucester received commendation, for having at least exchanged gun fire with the fleeing Germans.