Andrew Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope
First Sea Lord | |
---|---|
Battles/wars |
|
Awards | Viscountcy of Hyndhope |
Cunningham was born in
In the Second World War, as
Childhood
Cunningham was born at Rathmines, County Dublin, on 7 January 1883,[3] the third of five children born to Professor Daniel John Cunningham and Elizabeth Cumming Browne, both born in Scotland.[4] General Sir Alan Cunningham was his younger brother.[5] His parents were described as having a "strong intellectual and clerical tradition," both grandfathers having been in the clergy. His father was a Professor of Anatomy at Trinity College Dublin,[4] whilst his mother stayed at home. Elizabeth Browne, with the aid of servants and governesses, oversaw much of his upbringing; as a result he reportedly had a "warm and close" relationship with her.[6]
After a short introduction to schooling in Dublin he was sent to
Along with 64 other boys Cunningham joined the
His first service was as a
First World War
Cunningham was a highly decorated officer during the First World War, receiving the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) and two bars. In 1911 he was given command of the destroyer HMS Scorpion, which he commanded throughout the war. In 1914, Scorpion was involved in the shadowing of the German battlecruiser and cruiser Goeben and Breslau. This operation was intended to find and destroy the Goeben and the Breslau but the German warships evaded the British fleet,[14] and passed through the Dardanelles to reach Constantinople. Their arrival contributed to the Ottoman Empire joining the Central Powers in November 1914.[14] Although a bloodless "battle", the failure of the British pursuit had enormous political and military ramifications; in the words of Winston Churchill, they brought "more slaughter, more misery and more ruin than has ever before been borne within the compass of a ship."[15]
Cunningham stayed on in the Mediterranean and in 1915 Scorpion was involved in the attack on the
Interwar years
Association with Cowan
Cunningham saw much action in the interwar years. In 1919, he commanded the
Throughout several potentially problematic encounters with German forces trying to undermine the Latvian independence movement, Cunningham exhibited "good self control and judgement". Cowan was quoted as saying "Commander Cunningham has on one occasion after another acted with unfailing promptitude and decision, and has proved himself an Officer of exceptional valour and unerring resolution."[25]
He was promoted to the rank of
The late 1920s found Cunningham back in the UK participating in courses at the Army's Senior Officers' School at Sheerness, as well as at the Imperial Defence College.[30] While Cunningham was at the Imperial Defence College, in 1929, he married Nona Byatt (daughter of Horace Byatt, MA; the couple had no children). After a year at the College, Cunningham was given command of his first big ship; the battleship Rodney.[13] Eighteen months later, he was appointed commodore of HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Barracks, Chatham.[31]
Promoted to flag rank
In September 1932, Cunningham was promoted to
On his promotion to
He retained command until September 1938, when he was appointed to the
Second World War
Cunningham described the command of the Mediterranean Fleet as "The finest command the Royal Navy has to offer"
French Surrender (June 1940)
In his role as Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, Cunningham had to negotiate with the French Admiral
Just as an agreement seemed imminent Godfroy heard of the British action against the French at Mers el Kebir and, for a while, Cunningham feared a battle between French and British warships in the confines of Alexandria harbour. The deadline was overrun but negotiations ended well, after Cunningham put them on a more personal level and had the British ships appeal to their French opposite numbers.[40]
Cunningham's negotiations succeeded and the French emptied their fuel bunkers and removed the firing mechanisms from their guns. Cunningham in turn promised to repatriate the ships' crews.[41]
Battle of Taranto (November 1940)
Although the threat from the French Fleet had been neutralised, Cunningham was still aware of the threat posed by the Italian Fleet to British
The attack started at 21:00, 11 November 1940, when the first of two waves of
Cunningham's official reaction at the time was memorably terse. After landing the last of the attacking aircraft, Illustrious signalled "Operation Judgement executed". After seeing aerial reconnaissance photographs the next day which showed several Italian ships sunk or out of action, Cunningham replied with the two-letter code group which signified, "Manoeuvre well executed".[43]
Battle of Cape Matapan (March 1941)
At the end of March 1941, Hitler wanted the convoys supplying the British Expeditionary force in Greece stopped, and the Italian Navy was the only force able to attempt this.[44] Cunningham stated in his biography: "I myself was inclined to think that the Italians would not try anything. I bet Commander Power, the Staff Officer, Operations, the sum of ten shillings that we would see nothing of the enemy."[44]
Under pressure from Germany, the Italian Fleet planned to launch an attack on the British Fleet on 28 March 1941. The Italian commander, Admiral Angelo Iachino, intended to carry out a surprise attack on the British Cruiser Squadron in the area (commanded by Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Pridham-Wippell), executing a pincer movement with the battleship Vittorio Veneto.[45] Cunningham though, was aware of Italian naval activity through intercepts of Italian Enigma messages. Although Italian intentions were unclear, Cunningham's staff believed an attack upon British troop convoys was likely and orders were issued to spoil the enemy plan and, if possible, intercept their fleet. Cunningham wished, however, to disguise his own activity and arranged for a game of golf and a fictitious evening gathering to mislead enemy agents (he was, in fact, overheard by the local Japanese Consul).[46]
After sunset, he boarded HMS Warspite and left Alexandria. Cunningham, realising that an air attack could weaken the Italians,[45] ordered an attack by the Formidable's Albacore torpedo-bombers. A hit on the Vittorio Veneto slowed her temporarily[47] and Iachino, realising his fleet was vulnerable without air cover, ordered his forces to retire. Cunningham gave the order to pursue the Italian Fleet.[44]
An air attack from the Formidable had disabled the cruiser Pola, and Iachino, unaware of Cunningham's pursuing battlefleet, ordered a squadron of cruisers and destroyers to return and protect the Pola. Cunningham, meanwhile, was joining up with Pridham-Wippell's cruiser squadron.[45] Throughout the day several chases and sorties occurred with no overall victor.[45] None of the Italian ships were equipped for night fighting, and when night fell, they made to return to Taranto.[44] The British battlefleet equipped with radar detected the Italians shortly after 22:00. In a pivotal[45] moment in naval warfare during the Second World War, the battleships Barham, Valiant and Warspite opened fire on two Italian cruisers at only 3,800 yards (3.5 km), destroying them in only five minutes.[44]
Although the Vittorio Veneto escaped from the battle by returning to Taranto, there were many accolades given to Cunningham for continuing the pursuit at night, against the advice of his staff.[45] After the previous defeat at Taranto, the defeat at Cape Matapan dealt another strategic blow to the Italian Navy. Five ships—three heavy cruisers and two destroyers—were sunk, and around 2,400 Italian sailors were killed, missing or captured.[48] The British lost only three aircrew when one torpedo bomber was shot down. Cunningham had lost his bet with Commander Power but he had won a strategic victory in the war in the Mediterranean.[45] The defeats at Taranto and Cape Matapan meant that the Italian Navy did not intervene[48] in the heavily contested evacuations of Greece and Crete, later in 1941. It also ensured that, for the remainder of the war, the Regia Marina conceded the Eastern Mediterranean to the Allied Fleet, and did not leave port for the remainder of the war.[48]
Battle of Crete (May 1941)
On the morning of 20 May 1941, Nazi Germany launched an airborne invasion of Crete, under the code-name Unternehmen Merkur (Operation Mercury). Despite initial heavy casualties,[49] Maleme airfield in western Crete fell to the Germans and enabled them to fly in heavy reinforcements and overwhelm the Allied forces.[49]
After a week of heavy fighting, British commanders decided that the situation was hopeless and ordered a withdrawal from Sfakia.[49] During the next four nights, 16,000 troops were evacuated to Egypt by ships (including HMS Ajax[49] of Battle of the River Plate fame). A smaller number of ships were to withdraw troops on a separate mission from Heraklion, but these ships were attacked en route by Luftwaffe dive bombers. Without air cover, Cunningham's ships suffered serious losses. Cunningham was determined, though, that the "navy must not let the army down", and when army generals feared he would lose too many ships, Cunningham said,
It takes the Navy three years to build a ship. It will take three hundred years to build a new tradition. The evacuation will continue.[50]
The "never say die" attitude of Cunningham and the men under his command meant that of 22,000 men on Crete, 16,500 were rescued but at the loss of three cruisers and six destroyers. Fifteen other major warships were damaged.[51]
Allied Expeditionary Force (1942–43)
Cunningham became a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB), "in recognition of the recent successful combined operations in the Middle East", in March 1941[52] and was created a baronet, of Bishop's Waltham in the County of Southampton, in July 1942.[53] From late 1942 to early 1943, he served under General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who made him Naval Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force. In this role Cunningham commanded the large fleet that covered the Anglo-American landings in North Africa (Operation Torch). General Eisenhower said of him in his diary:
Admiral Sir Andrew Browne Cunningham. He remains in my opinion at the top of my subordinates in absolute selflessness, energy, devotion to duty, knowledge of his task, and in understanding of the requirements of allied operations. My opinions as to his superior qualifications have never wavered for a second.[54]
On 21 January 1943, Cunningham was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet.[55] February 1943 saw him return to his post as Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet. Three months later, when Axis forces in North Africa were on the verge of surrender, he ordered that none should be allowed to escape.[56] Entirely in keeping with his fiery character he signalled the fleet "Sink, burn and destroy: Let nothing pass".[56] He oversaw the naval forces used in the joint Anglo-American amphibious invasions of Sicily, during Operation Husky, Operation Baytown and Operation Avalanche. On the morning of 11 September 1943, Cunningham was present at Malta when the Italian Fleet surrendered. Cunningham informed the Admiralty with a telegram; "Be pleased to inform their Lordships that the Italian battle fleet now lies at anchor under the guns of the fortress of Malta."[57]
First Sea Lord (1943-46)
In October 1943, Cunningham became
While the port of Antwerp was vital for the Allies after D-Day, Admirals Cunningham and Ramsay warned SHAEF and Montgomery that the port was of no use while the Germans held the approaches. But Montgomery postponed the Battle of the Scheldt, and the delay in opening the port was a grave blow to the Allied build-up before winter approached.[59]
Retirement
In January 1945 Cunningham was appointed a
In October 1945, he was elected Rector of the University of Edinburgh.[64] He was made Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope, of Kirkhope in the County of Selkirk, in the 1946 New Year Honours,[65] and appointed to the Order of Merit in June of that year.[66] At the end of May 1946, after overseeing the transition through to peacetime, Cunningham retired from his post as First Sea Lord.[67] Cunningham retreated to the "little house in the country", 'Palace House', at Bishop's Waltham in Hampshire, which he and Lady Cunningham had acquired before the war. They both had a busy retirement.[67] He attended the House of Lords irregularly and occasionally lent his name to press statements about the Royal Navy, particularly those relating to Admiral Dudley North, who had been relieved of his command of Gibraltar in 1940. Cunningham, and several of the surviving admirals of the fleet, set about securing justice for North, and they succeeded with a partial vindication in 1957.[67]
He busied himself with various appointments; he was
A bust of Cunningham by Franta Belsky was unveiled in Trafalgar Square in London on 2 April 1967 by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.[73]
The April 2010 UK naval operation to ship British military personnel and air passengers stranded in continental Europe by the air travel disruption after the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption back to the UK was named Operation Cunningham after him.[74]
Arms
|
Notes
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/32665. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ a b c d e "Taranto 1940". Royal Navy. 13 June 2007. Archived from the original on 8 January 2007. Retrieved 13 June 2007.
- ^ Michael Simpson p. 1
- ^ a b "D Cunningham Household Census Return, 1901". Retrieved 18 March 2011.
- ^ Cunningham, Andrew Chap.1
- ^ a b Andrew Cunningham pp. 9–14
- ^ Andrew Cunningham p. 13
- ^ "Cunningham of Hyndhope". Who Was Who. A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press. December 2007. Retrieved 1 December 2012.(subscription required)
- ^ a b "Cunningham biography". History of war. 11 June 2007. Retrieved 11 June 2007.
- ^ Michael Simpson pp. 2–3
- ^ a b c Michael Simpson Chap1 p .2
- ^ a b Dartmouth archives 1897–1899 cited by Michael Simpson in the "References" section, p.283
- ^ a b Moorehead, Alan pp. 11–28
- ^ Tuchman, Barbara p.154
- ^ "No. 29214". The London Gazette. 2 July 1915. p. 6438.
- ^ "No. 29507". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 March 1916. p. 2870.
- ^ "Gallipoli Campaign" (PDF). Imperial War Museum. 13 June 2007. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 June 2007. Retrieved 13 June 2007.
- ^ a b Michael Simpson p. 13
- ^ Michael Simpson p. 14
- ^ "History of Dover". Dover Information website. 13 June 2007. Archived from the original on 15 June 2007. Retrieved 13 June 2007.
- ^ "No. 13409". The Edinburgh Gazette. 25 February 1919. p. 1023.
- ^ Michael Simpson pp. 14–15
- ^ "Cowan biography". HMS Hood association. 11 June 2007. Retrieved 11 June 2007.
- ^ Simpson, Michael, Chap 3, Cowans Protege, pp. 17–18
- ^ "No. 13545". The Edinburgh Gazette. 1 January 1920. p. 7.
- ^ "No. 31811". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 March 1920. p. 2862.
- ^ Winton 1998, p. 72.
- ^ a b Andrew Cunningham p. 262
- ^ Simpson, Michael p. 25
- ^ Mackie, Gordon (June 2018). "Royal Navy Senior Appointments from 1865" (PDF). gulabin.com. G. Mackie, p. 121. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
- ^ a b Cunningham, Andrew p. 158
- ^ a b Andrew Cunningham ch.7
- ^ "Cunningham biography". HMS Hood association. 11 June 2007. Retrieved 11 June 2007.
- ^ "No. 15559". The Edinburgh Gazette. 6 January 1939. p. 11.
- ^ a b Michael Simpson|Chapter 5 p. 42
- ^ Michael Simpson p. 43
- ^ Michael Simpson p. 44
- ^ a b Oliver Warner p. 97
- ^ Oliver Warner p. 99
- ^ Oliver Warner p. 100
- ^ Stephen, Martin. Sea Battles in Close-up: World War 2 (Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan, 1988), p. 34.
- ISBN 0-7183-0193-5
- ^ a b c d e "Cape Matapan: battle". Royal Navy. 14 June 2007. Archived from the original on 10 June 2007. Retrieved 14 June 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f g Bernard Edwards, Chapter 11, Cape Matapan
- ISBN 0-7538-1130-8.
- ^ Smith, Gordon. "Campaign Summaries of World War 2". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 20 August 2007.
- ^ a b c "The Battle of Cape Matapan". Historynet. 14 June 2007. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 14 June 2007.
- ^ a b c d Long, Gavin (1953). Volume II – Greece, Crete and Syria. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. Archived from the original on 7 June 2007. Retrieved 13 June 2007.
- ^ Churchill, Winston; The Second World War Volume III, "The Grand Alliance", Chapter XVI Crete: The Battle. p. 265
- ^ Churchill, Winston (1949). The Second World War. Vol. 2, Their Finest Hour. Houghton Mifflin. p. 229.
- ^ "No. 35094". The London Gazette. 4 March 1941. p. 1303.
- ^ "No. 35586". The London Gazette. 5 June 1942. p. 2475.
- ^ General Dwight D. Eisenhower, diary entry (10th December 1942)
- ^ Paul Bevand (15 May 2008). "Biography of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Andrew Browne Cunningham". HMS Hood Association. Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. Retrieved 8 August 2008.
- ^ a b c d "Viscount Cunningham". Royal Navy. 14 June 2007. Archived from the original on 10 June 2007. Retrieved 14 June 2007.
- ^ Churchill p. 102
- ^ Cunningham Papers p. 270
- ISBN 978-0-297-84497-6.
- ^ "No. 16193". The Edinburgh Gazette. 9 January 1945. p. 16.
- ^ "No. 37305". The London Gazette. 12 October 1945. p. 5026.
- ^ Michael Simpson p. 209
- ^ Michael Simpson pp. 209–213
- ^ "New Rector at Edinburgh. Lord Cunningham Elected". The Glasgow Herald. 31 October 1945. p. 6. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
- ^ "No. 37461". The London Gazette. 8 February 1946. p. 863.
- ^ "No. 37598". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 June 1946. p. 2759.
- ^ "No. 16739". The Edinburgh Gazette. 4 April 1950. p. 155.
- ^ "No. 16947". The Edinburgh Gazette. 18 March 1952. p. 161.
- ^ "No. 40020". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 November 1953. p. 6238.
- ^ Hans Houterman; Jeroen Koppes. "RN Officers service histories". Archived from the original on 21 September 2015. Retrieved 8 August 2007.
- ^ L. G. Pine, The New Extinct Peerage 1884–1971: Containing Extinct, Abeyant, Dormant and Suspended Peerages With Genealogies and Arms (London: Heraldry Today, 1972), p. 92.
- ^ "Bust of Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope by Franta Belsky". National Archives. Archived from the original on 24 February 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
- ^ "At Your Service: What Have HMS Bulwark & Albion Been Used For?". Forces.net. 6 October 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
- ^ Burke's Peerage. 1949.
References
- ISBN 0-14-144174-7.
- Cunningham, Andrew (1952). Admiral A.B. Cunningham, A Sailor's Odyssey. Hutchinson & Co, London. ASIN B0000CHWI2.
- Cunningham, Andrew & Simpson, Michael (1999). The Cunningham Papers: Selections from the Private and Official Correspondence of Admiral of the Fleet Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope. Naval Records Society. ISBN 1-84014-622-2.
- Edwards, Bernard (1999). Salvo! Classic Naval Gun Actions. Brockhampton Press. ISBN 1-86019-959-3.
- ISBN 1-85326-675-2.
- ISBN 0-00-216127-3.
- Simpson, Michael (2004). A Life of Admiral of the Fleet Andrew Cunningham: A Twentieth-century Naval Leader. ISBN 0-7146-5197-4.
- ISBN 0-333-69880-0.
- ISBN 0-7195-1714-1.
- Winton, John (1998). Cunningham: The Greatest Admiral since Nelson. John Murray. ISBN 0-7195-5765-8.
- Most of Cunningham's service record is in Document piece ADM 196/47 and can be downloaded as a pdf (fee required) from Documents Online. Retrieved 2008-08-05
Further reading
- ISBN 0-340-55190-9.
- Pack, S.W.C. (1974). Cunningham the Commander. B.T. Batsford Ltd. ISBN 0-7134-2788-4.
- Murfett, Malcolm (1995). The First Sea Lords from Fisher to Mountbatten. Westport. ISBN 0-275-94231-7.
- Heathcote, Tony (2002). The British Admirals of the Fleet 1734–1995. Pen & Sword Ltd. ISBN 0-85052-835-6.
- Simpson, Michael (2004). Cunningham, Andrew Browne, Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope (1883–1963), naval officer, in Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press.
External links
- Transcription of Official Service Records on www.admirals.org.uk
- Bio on HMS Hood memorial page
- 1943 bromide print Archived 10 February 2008 at the National Portrait Gallery, London
- The Dreadnought Project: Andrew Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope
- Newspaper clippings about Andrew Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW
- Papers of Viscount Cunningham held at Churchill Archives Centre