Douglas Nicholson
Sir Douglas Nicholson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 4 March 1867 |
| Died | 8 February 1946 (aged 78) |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service |  Royal Navy |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Commands | HMS Hyacinth HMS Hermes HMS St Vincent HMS Conqueror Flag Officer, Royal Yachts HMS Agincourt 3rd Battle Squadron Reserve Fleet |
| Battles / wars | Anglo-Egyptian War World War I |
| Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order |
Admiral Sir Douglas Romilly Lothian Nicholson, KCMG, KCVO (4 March 1867 – 8 February 1946) was a senior Royal Navy officer who commanded the Reserve Fleet.
Naval career
[edit]Born the son of Sir Lothian Nicholson, a former Governor of Gibraltar, and Mary Romilly, Nicholson served in the Anglo-Egyptian War of 1882.[1] He was appointed in command of the destroyer HMS Spiteful on 11 January 1901,[2] as she was serving in home waters, and was in charge when she ran aground near the Isle of Wight the following month and during a collision with sister ship HMS Peterel in October. After a year with the Spiteful, he was appointed in command of HMS Dove on 24 February 1902,[3] serving in the Channel Fleet as part of the Portsmouth instructional flotilla. In May 1902, the ship hit a rock off Kildorney, and had to be towed by her sister ship HMS Bullfinch to Queenstown,[4] and later back to Portsmouth for repairs.[5] Douglas and the crew transferred to the recently completed torpedo boat destroyer HMS Success, which was commissioned at Portsmouth on 9 June.[6] The following day, the navy held a court-martial where he was tried for negligence during the Kildorney incident. He was acquitted of negligence, but severely reprimanded for being in error of judgment.[7]
In December 1902, Nicholson was appointed to the seagoing training ship HMS Northampton, to serve in command of HMS Calliope, tender to the larger Northampton.[8]
Nicholson became commanding officer of the cruiser HMS Hyacinth in August 1905, of the cruiser HMS Hermes in December 1905 and of the battleship HMS St Vincent in 1910.[9] He went on to be commanding officer of the battleship HMS Conqueror in 1912 and Commodore of His Majesty's Yachts in 1913.[1] He served in World War I as commanding officer of HMS Agincourt in the Grand Fleet from 1914.[9] He continued his war service as Second-in-Command of the 3rd Battle Squadron from March 1917, as Second-in-Command of the 4th Battle Squadron from September 1917 and as Commander of the 3rd Battle Squadron from 1918.[10]
He became Rear-Admiral, Reserve Fleet at Portland in 1919 and Vice-Admiral commanding the Reserve Fleet in 1922 before retiring in 1926.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Nicholson, Douglas". Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36340. London. 1 January 1901. p. 12.
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36691. London. 14 February 1902. p. 9.
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36774. London. 22 May 1902. p. 8.
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36777. London. 26 May 1902. p. 7.
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36790. London. 10 June 1902. p. 12.
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36791. London. 11 June 1902. p. 13.
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36951. London. 15 December 1902. p. 6.
- ^ a b Captains Commanding Royal Navy Warships Archived 14 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Senior Royal Navy Appointments Archived 15 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine