Frederic Wake-Walker

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Sir Frederic Wake-Walker
24 March 1888 – 24 September 1945
Place of death London, England
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Navy
Years of service 1903–1945
Rank Admiral
Battles/wars Battle of the Denmark Strait
Last battle of the battleship Bismarck
Operation Dynamo

Admiral Sir Frederic Wake-Walker CB CBE (24 March 1888–24 September 1945) was a British admiral who served in the Royal Navy during World War I and World War II, taking a leading part in the destruction of the German battleship Bismarck, and in Operation Dynamo, the evacuation at Dunkirk.

Born William Frederic Wake-Walker, he was the son of Frederic George Arthur Wake-Walker and Mary Eleanor Forster, and the grandson of Baldwin Wake Walker, Surveyor of the Navy from 1848 to 1861.

Wake-Walker entered the Royal Naval College as a cadet in 1903, and went to sea the following year as midshipman aboard HMS Good Hope, the flagship of the 1st Cruiser Squadron.

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[edit] World War I

By the start of the World War I he had risen to the rank of lieutenant, and served as torpedo lieutenant on the HMS Cochrane from 1913–1915. He was promoted to lieutenant-commander in July 1916 and after training at HMS Vernon, was appointed to the new battleship HMS Ramillies, serving in her until the end of the war.

Wake-Walker was promoted to commander in June 1920, serving aboard HMS Coventry from 1919–1921. Between 1921–1925 he served at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, on the naval staff, and then at the Tactical School, Portsmouth. He returned to sea as executive officer of HMS Royal Oak from 1925–1927.

He was promoted to captain in 1927, and commanded HMS Castor from 1928–1930 on the Mediterranean and China stations, HMS Dragon from 1932–1935 on the America and West Indies station, and HMS Revenge from 1938–1939 in the Home Fleet.

From 1930–1943 he was Deputy Director of the Training and Staff Duties Division of the Admiralty naval staff. From 1935–1938 he was also Director of Torpedoes and Mining at the Admiralty.

[edit] World War II

He achieved flag rank on 10 January 1939. His first appointment, in September 1939, was rear-admiral commanding the 12th Cruiser Squadron. This appointment lasted only a short time as he soon returned to the Admiralty as head of a special group created to develop magnetic mine countermeasures.

In May 1940 Wake-Walker was appointed Rear-admiral, Dover in command of all ships and vessels off the Franco-Belgian coast for the evacuation of Dunkirk. Wake-Walker reached Dunkirk in the minesweeper HMS Hebe on 30 May. On 1 June his flagship, the destroyer HMS Keith, was sunk by Ju 87 Stukas, and he thereafter directed operations from a motor boat in the harbour. For his role in the evacuation he was appointed Companion of the Bath.

From June to December 1940 he commanded the 1st Mine Laying Squadron, responsible for setting up the east coast mine barrier, and after a brief time as commander of Force K, flying his flag in the aircraft carrier HMS Formidable, he was made commander of the 1st Cruiser Squadron.

[edit] Sinking the Bismarck

In May 1941, two heavy cruisers – HMS Suffolk and Norfolk, Wake-Walker's flagship - were positioned north west of Iceland to intercept the Bismarck if she attempted to break out into the Atlantic.

On 23 May 1941 at 7.22 pm the Suffolk sighted the Bismarck, in company with the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen. After a brief exchange of fire, the out-gunned British ships took cover in nearby fog and tracked the enemy by radar. They maintained contact with the two German ships through the night, despite appalling weather, and guided the battleships HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales, towards them. The two forces came together in the battle of the Denmark Strait the next day.

During the battle Vice-Admiral Lancelot Holland was killed when HMS Hood was destroyed, which left Wake-Walker in command of the surviving ships, Norfolk, Suffolk and the damaged Prince of Wales. He decided not to risk continuing the battle and decided to continue to shadow the German ships, believing that Admiral John Tovey, with powerful elements of the Home Fleet, was approaching.

Wake-Walker stayed in the trail of the Bismarck, but radar contact was lost early on the 25 May. Wake-Walker sent Suffolk to search to the south west, and thus she played no further in the battle. However Norfolk turned east, and was present during the final part of the battle, the following day. For his part in the destruction of the Bismarck, Wake-Walker was awarded the CBE.

In April 1942 he was promoted to vice-admiral and was appointed Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy. His main task was the creation of the huge fleet of landing craft needed to carry out the amphibious landings that began with Operation Torch, and ended on D-Day.

On 8 May 1945 he was promoted to full admiral, and in September was appointed commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean, but on 24 September 1945 he died unexpectedly at his home in London.

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Persondata
NAME Sir Frederic Wake-Walker
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION British admiral
DATE OF BIRTH 24 March 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH 24 September 1945
PLACE OF DEATH London, England