| Sir Herbert Richmond | |
|---|---|
| Born | 15 September 1871 Beavor Lodge, Hammersmith |
| Died | 15 December 1946 Cambridge, England |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/branch | Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1885 - 1931 |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Commands held | East Indies Station |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
| Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath |
Admiral Sir Herbert William Richmond KCB (15 September 1871 – 15 December 1946) was a prominent naval officer, who also served as Vere Harmsworth Professor of Imperial and Naval History at Cambridge University and Master of Downing College, Cambridge. He was married to Florence Elsa, daughter of SirThomas Hugh Bell and half sister of Gertrude Bell.[1]
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The grandson of the portrait painter George Richmond and son of another artist, Sir William Blake Richmond the Slade Professor at Oxford University, Herbert Richmond joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in 1885. He served on the Australian Station and in the Hydrographic Service before qualifying as a torpedo officer in 1897. He began to develop a serious interest in naval history while serving in HMS Empress of India in 1897-98, HMS Ramillies in 1899, and HMS Canopus in 1899-1900.
In 1900-1903, Richmond served in the flagship of the Channel Fleet HMS Majestic. Promoted to commander in 1903, he became first officer in HMS Crescent, flagship of the Cape of Good Hope Station. He was assigned to the Admiralty in 1906-08, where he served briefly as naval assistant to Admiral John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher. Inspired by the work of the naval historian Julian Corbett, Richmond began to research the naval aspects of the War of the Austrian Succession, which he completed in 1914, but which was not published until 1920.
Promoted to captain, Richmond commanded HMS Dreadnought from 1909 to 1911, then, in 1911-12, the Torpedo School training ships HMS Furious and HMS Vindictive.[2] In 1912, he founded the Naval Review (magazine), in order to promote innovative thought within the Royal Navy. Richmond became assistant director of operations on the Naval Staff from 1913 to 1915 and liaison officer to the Italian Fleet in 1915.[2] From those assignments, he went on to command HMS Commonwealth (part of a pre-dreadnought battle squadron at the Nore) from 1916 to 1917, and HMS Conqueror in the Grand Fleet (1917–18), served as director of staff duties and training in 1918, and commanded HMS Erin in 1919.[2]
Promoted to Rear-Admiral, he became admiral president of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich in 1920.[2] In October 1923, he was assigned as commander-in-chief, East Indies Squadron.[2] Promoted to Vice-Admiral in 1925, he was created knight commander of the Order of the Bath in 1926. Returning to London in 1927, he became Commandant of the Imperial Defence College.[2] In 1929, he was promoted to Admiral and served as president of the International Conference on the Safety of Life at Sea. Following his retirement from the Royal Navy in 1931,[2] Cambridge University appointed him Vere Harmsworth Professor of Imperial and Naval History, an academic chair he held from 1934 to 1936.[2] In 1934, he was also elected master of Downing College, Cambridge, a post he held until his death in 1946. While Master of Downing College, he delivered the Ford Lectures in English History at Oxford University in 1943 (for the academic year 1943/4.)
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir Lewis Clinton-Baker |
Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station 1923–1925 |
Succeeded by Walter Ellerton |
| New title College founded
|
Commandant of the Imperial Defence College 1926–1929 |
Succeeded by W H Bartholomew |
| Academic offices | ||
| Preceded by Albert Charles Seward |
Master of Downing College, Cambridge 1936–1947 |
Succeeded by Lionel Ernest Howard Whitby |