Arthur David Torlesse

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Arthur David Torlesse
Officer of the Legion of Merit
(United States)

nuclear weapons test
.

Early life and career

Arthur David Torlesse was born in

First World War.[2]

Torlesse was commissioned as a

Lieutenant Colonel Duncan Darroch, 6th of Gourock, a retired Army officer of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, on 29 April 1933.[3] They two sons, Charles David and Anthony John, and a daughter, Susan.[7]

After attending the staff course at the

HM Dockyard, Portsmouth, in 1936, he was served on the battlecruiser HMS Hood. This was followed by a posting to the Far East as the operations officer on the staff of Commodore, Malaya, based at the Singapore Naval Base, and for a time he was also the Naval Attaché to Thailand in Bangkok.[2]

Second World War

Returning to Britain, Torlesse became executive officer of the

Admiralty. He was promoted to captain on 30 June. On 1 February 1943, he became the Deputy Director of Naval Air Warfare and Flying Training Division at the Admiralty.[2]

Torlesse's first command came on 10 November 1944, when he became captain of the

Companion of the Distinguished Service Order on 28 December.[10]

Korea

HMS Triumph underway off Subic Bay, Philippines, during exercises on 8 March 1950. Aircraft on her deck include Supermarine Seafires, forward, and Fairey Fireflys aft.

Torlesse returned to the Admiralty, where he became Director of the Airfields and Carrier Requirements Department on 1 March 1946, and then Director of the Air Equipment Department on 17 May 1948. On 7 December 1949, he became captain of the

mentioned in despatches on 30 January 1951,[12] and was made an Officer of the American Legion of Merit on 13 August 1954.[13]

Operation Hurricane and after

Promoted to

Monte Bello Islands in Australia, where the test would take place.[16] It took Campania and Plym eight weeks to make the voyage, as for security reasons they sailed around the Cape of Good Hope instead of traversing the Suez Canal.[17] The Monte Bello Islands were reached on 8 August.[18]

The bomb was successfully detonated on board Plym on 3 October 1952.

Companion of the Order of the Bath on 30 December.[20] His final posting was as Flag Officer, Ground Training. He retired on 16 December 1954.[2] He served for a time as a regional director of civil defence.[21]

Torlesse died in Lymington, Hampshire, on 19 July 1995.[2]

Notes

  1. ^ a b "Rear Adm Arthur David Torlesse". Geni. 24 January 1902. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Royal Navy (RN) Officers 1939–1945". World War II Unit Histories and Officers. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  3. ^ a b "Rear Admiral Arthur David Torlesse DSO RN [1756]". The King's Candlesticks. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  4. ^ "No. 32705". The London Gazette. 19 May 1922. p. 3873.
  5. ^ "No. 32869". The London Gazette. 9 October 1923. p. 6753.
  6. ^ "No. 33746". The London Gazette. 21 August 1931. p. 5469.
  7. ^ "Person Page – 34383". The Peerage. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  8. ^ "No. 34238". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1935. p. 16.
  9. ^ "A History of HMS Hunter". Royal Navy Research. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  10. ^ "No. 37407". The London Gazette. 28 December 1945. p. 75.
  11. ^ O'Toole, Tony. "The Forgotten Cruise: HMS Triumph and the 13th Carrier Air Group. The First Royal Navy Carrier Force in the Korean War June- September 1950". Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  12. ^ "No. 39138". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 January 1951. p. 600.
  13. ^ "No. 40253". The London Gazette. 13 August 1954. p. 4684.
  14. ^ "No. 39293". The London Gazette. 24 July 1951. p. 3993.
  15. ^ Cathcart 1995, pp. 161–162.
  16. ^ Gowing & Arnold 1974, pp. 471–473.
  17. ^ Gowing & Arnold 1974, pp. 480–485.
  18. ^ Gowing & Arnold 1974, p. 487.
  19. ^ Cathcart 1995, p. 253.
  20. ^ "No. 39732". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1952. p. 3.
  21. ^ "Regional Directors (Hansard, 3 November 1955)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 3 November 1955. Retrieved 1 March 2017.

References

  • Cathcart, Brian (1995). Test of Greatness: Britain's Struggle for the Atom Bomb. London: John Murray.
    OCLC 31241690
    .
  • OCLC 946341039
    .
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