Admiral Sir Alexander Edward Bethell GCMG KCB (28 August 1855 – 13 June 1932) was a British naval officer who served as Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth of the Royal Navy.
Sir Alexander Bethell | |
|---|---|
 1917 portrait by Francis Dodd | |
| Born | 28 August 1855 London, England |
| Died | 13 June 1932 (aged 76) London, England |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service | Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1869–1918 |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Commands | HMS Arethusa HMS Naiad HMS Hindustan East Indies Station Royal Naval College, Greenwich Plymouth Command Coastguards and Reserves |
| Battles / wars | World War I |
| Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath |
| Relations | Richard Bethell, 3rd Baron Westbury, brother |
Naval career
editBorn the second son of Richard Augustus Bethell, 2nd Baron Westbury,[1] Bethell joined the Royal Navy in 1869.[2] In July–August 1899 he commanded the Arethusa, which was commissioned for the annual manoeuvres.[3] He was given command of the cruiser HMS Naiad serving in the Mediterranean Fleet in March 1901, and landed the Somaliland Field Force in East Africa[1] before returning to the United Kingdom to become assistant director of torpedoes.[2] He was given command of the battleship HMS Hindustan in 1908.[1] He was appointed Director of Naval Intelligence in 1909.[2]
In that capacity he attended the famous CID meeting on 23 August, at which the government rejected the Royal Navy's proposal that 5 divisions guard Britain whilst one land on the Baltic coast in the event of war with Germany. Instead the Army's plan, to send an Expeditionary Force of between four and six divisions to France, was adopted.[4] He was appointed Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station in 1912.[2] He was appointed Officer Commanding the Royal Navy War College at Portsmouth in 1913.[2]
He served in World War I as Commander, Battleships for the 3rd Fleet.[2] He was President of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, from 1914 to 1915 and was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth, in 1916 and Admiral commanding the Coastguards and Reserves in 1918.[2] He retired later that year.[2]
He lived at Wadeford House in Combe St Nicholas in Somerset.[1] He died in a London nursing home on 13 June 1932.[5]
Family
editIn 1890 he married Hilda Huntsman; they had two sons and a daughter.[1] Both his sons were killed in World War I.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f "The Bethell Family and Wadeford House" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 March 2010. Retrieved 14 August 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
- ^ Jeffery 2006, p96-7
- ^ Admiral Sir Alexander Bethell" (Obituaries). The Times. Wednesday, 15 June 1932. Issue 46160, col C, p. 9.
Books
edit- Jeffery, Keith (2006). Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson: A Political Soldier. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-820358-2.