| Sir Arthur Knyvet Wilson | |
|---|---|
| 4 March 1842 – 25 May 1921 | |
 Admiral Sir Arthur Wilson |
|
| Place of birth | Swaffham, Norfolk, England |
| Place of death | Swaffham |
| Resting place | St Peter and St Paul's Churchyard, Swaffham |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/branch |  Royal Navy |
| Rank | Admiral of the Fleet |
| Commands held | First Sea Lord |
| Battles/wars | Crimean War China War Egyptian Campaign Sudan Campaign |
| Awards | Victoria Cross Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Order of Merit Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order |
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur Knyvet Wilson VC, GCB, OM, GCVO (4 March 1842 – 25 May 1921), was an English Admiral and briefly First Sea Lord who was awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry during the war in Sudan. An early expert on torpedos, he twice commanded HMS Vernon but his statement that submarines were "underhand, unfair and damned un-English" may have needlessly delayed their UK development. His suggestion that in war time, their crew should be hanged as pirates led to UK submarines flying the Jolly Roger.
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Early life
He was born on 4 March 1842 in Swaffham in Norfolk, the son of Rear-Admiral George Knyvet Wilson. He was the nephew of Major-General Sir Archdale Wilson of Delhi.
He entered the Royal Navy in 1855 and served as a midshipman aboard HMS Algiers [1] during the Crimean War followed by the China War (1858), the Egyptian Campaign (1882) and the Sudan Campaign (1884). In 1870 he became a member of the committee investigating the effectiveness of the Whitehead torpedo and in 1876 became commander of the new torpedo school HMS Vernon rewriting torpedo manuals, inventing aiming apparatus and developing submarine mine warfare.
He was 41 years old, and a captain in the Naval Brigade, during the Sudan Campaign when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
On 29 February 1884 at the Battle of El Teb, Sudan, Captain Wilson of HMS Hecla attached himself, during the advance, to the right half-battery, Naval Brigade, in place of a lieutenant who was mortally wounded. As the troops closed on the enemy battery, the Arabs charged out on the detachment which was dragging one of the guns, whereupon Captain Wilson sprang to the front and engaged in single combat with some of the enemy, and so protected the detachment until men of the 1st Bn, York and Lancaster Regiment came to his assistance.
He was called to the Admiralty in 1897 as Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty and Controller of the Navy.
From 1901 to 1903 he was in command of the Channel Squadron. "Known as 'Old 'Ard 'Art' for his refusal to consider the cares and comforts of officers and men, no one expected more of his captains and officers than Wilson."[2] From 1903 he was Commander-in-Chief of the Home and Channel Fleets. In 1906 HMS Montagu ran aground and it has been suggested that Wilson's alleged ineffective personal direction of her salvage prevented a far more competent attempt being made.
Wilson reached the rank of Admiral of the Fleet in 1907,[3] and became First Sea Lord in 1910. Wilson "was abrasive, inarticulate, and autocratic. He was selected as Fisher's successor because he was the potential protector of his legacy; Wilson's seniority would enable him to control the twelve full admirals on the active list, at least five of whom belonged to the 'syndicate of discontent' committed to dismantling Fisher's reforms if given the opportunity. But by 1910 Wilson had been retired three years. Furthermore, although his reputation had been gained at sea rather than in the corridors of the Admiralty, he had never commanded Dreadnoughts.[Note 1] Wilson survived for even less time than was intended by the stopgap nature of his appointment. His successor in November 1911, Sir Francis Bridgeman also got the job by default."[4] "The combination of frequent change and weak appointees [Wilson, Bridgeman and Battenberg] ensured that the professional leadership of the Royal Navy lost its direction in the four years preceding the war."[4]
Wilson retired in 1911,[4] and received the Order of Merit in 1912.[3]
He died in Swaffham and is buried in the churchyard of St Peter and St Paul's. His VC was donated to the Royal Naval Museum, Portsmouth.[1]
Medal list
His full medal list runs as follows:
- Victoria Cross
- Knight Grand Cross, The Most Honourable Order of the Bath (GCB)
- Order of Merit (OM)
- Grand Officer, Légion d'honneur (France)
- Knight Grand Cross, The Royal Victorian Order (GCVO)
- Crimea Medal - (1854-56) clasp "Sebastopol"
- 2nd China War Medal - (1857-60) clasps "Canton 1857", "Taku Forts 1858"
- Egypt Medal - (1882-89) with clasps for "Alexandria 11 July", "Suakin 1884", "El Teb"
- Queen Victoria Golden Jubilee Medal 1897
- King Edward VII Coronation Medal 1902
- King George V Coronation Medal 1911
- Order of the Medjidieh: 3rd Class (Turkey )
- Order of Naval Merit: Grand Cross (Spain)
- Khedive's Star 1882 (Egypt)
- Turkish Crimean War medal - (1855-56)
- Order of the Dannebrog: Grand Cross (Denmark)
- Order of the Netherlands Lion: Knight Grand Cross (The Netherlands)
Notes
- ^ It should be pointed out that one of Wilson's successors, Prince Louis of Battenberg, commanded dreadnoughts for a month in 1912 before becoming First Sea Lord.
References
- ^ a b "Biography: Arthur Wilson VC". Royal Navy Museum. http://www.royalnavalmuseum.org/info_sheets_arthur_wilson.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
- ^ Lambert, Andrew, Admirals, pub Faber and Faber, 2008, ISBN 978-0-571-23156-0 page 343.
- ^ a b A.K. Wilson online biography
- ^ a b c Strachan, Hew, The First World War, Volume I: To Arms, pub Oxford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-19-820877-4 page 380.
- Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
- The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
External links
- Burial location of Arthur Wilson "Norfolk"
- Location of Arthur Wilson's Victoria Cross "Royal Naval Museum"
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Lord Fisher |
First Sea Lord 1910–1911 |
Succeeded by Sir Francis Bridgeman |
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