David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty
First Sea Lord (1919–27) Grand Fleet (1916–18) Battle Cruiser Fleet (1915) 1st Battlecruiser Squadron (1913–16) HMS Queen HMS Suffolk HMS Arrogant HMS Juno | |
---|---|
Battles/wars | Mahdist War
First World War
|
Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Distinguished Service Order |
Family and childhood
Beatty was born into an Anglo-Irish family at Howbeck Lodge in the parish of Stapeley, near Nantwich, Cheshire, on 17 January 1871.[1] He was the second son of five children born to Captain David Longfield Beatty and Katherine (or Katrine) Edith Beatty (née Sadleir), both from Ireland: David Longfield had been an officer in the Fourth Hussars where he formed a relationship with Katrine, the wife of another officer.[2]
After the affair between David Longfield and Katrine became known, David Longfield's father (Beatty's grandfather), David Vandeleur Beatty (1815–1881), arranged for his son to be posted to India in the hope that the scandalous relationship might end. David Longfield resigned from the regiment on 21 November 1865, with the honorary rank of
Beatty's early education concentrated on horsemanship, hunting and learning to be a gentleman. Beatty had a close relationship with his elder brother Charles, who became his ally against their oppressive and overbearing father. They remained close throughout life, so much so that the only time Beatty felt despair was at his brother's death. Beatty later wrote to his wife about Charles, we lived together, played together, rode together, fought together.[5] His brothers would later join the British Army, but early on young David developed an interest in ships and the sea and expressed a desire to join the Royal Navy. In 1881 Beatty's grandfather died and David Longfield succeeded to the 18th century mansion, 'Borodale', outside Enniscorthy, in County Wexford. After retiring from the army David Longfield established a business training horses first in Cheshire and then at 'The Mount', near Rugby, Warwickshire. On inheriting and following the death of his wife at 'The Mount', David Longfield returned to Ireland abandoning the training business.[6]
Beatty was educated at Kilkenny College and in 1882 entered Burney's Naval Academy at Gosport, which was a 'crammer' for boys wishing to take the entrance examinations for the Royal Navy.[7]
Early career
Beatty joined the Royal Navy as a cadet passing into the training ship HMS Britannia tenth out of ninety-nine candidates in January 1884.[8] During his two years at Britannia, moored at Dartmouth, he was beaten three times for various infractions. He passed out of Britannia eighteenth out of the thirty-three remaining cadets at the end of 1885.[8] Beatty's letters home made no complaint about the poor living conditions in Britannia, and generally he was extrovert, even aggressive, and resented discipline. However, he understood how far he could transgress without serious consequences, and this approach continued throughout his career.[9]
Beatty was given orders to join the
Beatty left HMS Alexandra in March 1889 and joined the
Beatty joined the Royal Yacht Victoria and Albert in July 1892 while Queen Victoria was holidaying in the Mediterranean: Victoria was in mourning for her grandson, Albert Duke of Clarence, who had died January 1892.[16] Promoted to lieutenant on 25 August 1892,[17] he rejoined HMS Ruby in August 1892 and then transferred to the battleship HMS Camperdown in September 1893 (which had only recently been involved in the fleet accident where she had rammed and sunk the battleship HMS Victoria).[2] He transferred to the battleship HMS Trafalgar in September 1895.[2]
Sudan Campaign
Beatty gained recognition during the Mahdist War for his actions in the campaign to recapture the Sudan. Stanley Colville was placed in command of the gunboats attached to the British expeditionary force in Egypt and as Beatty's former commander in HMS Trafalgar and superior in HMS Alexandra he requested that Beatty join him. Control of the river Nile was considered vitally important for any expedition into Egypt and the Sudan. Beatty was seconded to the Egyptian government on 3 June 1896 and appointed second in command of the river flotilla.[2] Colville was wounded during the operation, leaving Beatty in command of the gunboats for the successful attack on Dongola.[2] The campaign halted at Dongola to regroup and Beatty returned to Britain on leave. He was commended by Kitchener for his part in the campaign and as a result was awarded the Distinguished Service Order.[18]
Beatty was again seconded to the Egyptian government for the next phase of the campaign. This was now at
Boxer Rebellion
Beatty was appointed executive officer of the small battleship
In the summer of 1900 the rebellion reached
On 11 June 1900, Beatty and 150 men from HMS Barfleur landed as part of a force of 2,400 defending Tientsin from 15,000 Chinese troops plus Boxers. On 16 June 1900 the
Marriage
Beatty had returned from leave after the Sudan campaign, but finding life in Ireland at the family home not to his taste, stayed instead with his brother at Newmarket, Suffolk. The location allowed him good hunting, and access to aristocratic houses where his recent heroic reputation from the campaign made him an honoured guest. Out hunting one day he chanced to meet Ethel Tree, daughter of Chicago department store founder Marshall Field. Beatty was immediately taken with her, for her good looks and her ability to hunt. The immediate difficulty with the match was that Ethel was married already to Arthur Tree, with a son, Ronald Tree.[28]
After the Boxer Campaign, the couple had at first exchanged letters, which Beatty signed 'Jack', as Ethel was still a married woman and discretion was advised. Ethel became involved with another man and the exchange of letters ceased but on Beatty's return she sent him a telegram and letter inviting him to resume their friendship. Beatty did not respond until after surgery on his arm in September 1900 when he wrote, "I landed from China with my heart full of rage, and swore I did not care if I ever saw you again, or if I were killed or not. And now I have arrived with the firm determination not to see you at all in my own mind... Unfortunately I shall go on loving you to the bitter end... To me always a Queen, if not always mine, Good-bye."[29]
Despite this estrangement, the couple again met foxhunting and resumed a discreet relationship. Marshall Field was at first unimpressed by the impecunious Beatty as a future son-in-law, but was persuaded by his heroic reputation, impressive record of promotion and future prospects. There was the possibility that Field might revoke the settlement he had made on his daughter at the time of her first marriage and the new couple would have no means of support. Beatty's father was also unhappy about the match, fearing a repeat of the difficulties he had faced with his own relationship with a married woman, but with the added risk of publicity because both Beatty and Ethel were famous and the risk that Beatty's illegitimacy might be exposed. Beatty went so far as to consult a fortune teller, Mrs. Roberts, who predicted a fine outcome to the match. Ethel wrote to Arthur, telling him that it was her firm intention never to live with him again as his wife, though not naming any particular person or reason. Arthur agreed to co-operate, and filed for divorce in America on the grounds of desertion, which was granted 9 May 1901. Beatty and Ethel married on 22 May 1901 at the registry office, St. George's, Hanover Square, London with no family attending. Although Arthur Tree was himself from a wealthy American family, he now had to adjust to reduced circumstances without Ethel's support. He elected to remain in Britain and their son Ronald remained with him. Ronald and his mother were never reconciled from his perception that she had deserted his father, but he visited in later life and became friendly with Beatty. Ronald later became a member of parliament and, during the
The couple had two sons,
Advancement
In May 1902 Beatty was passed fit for sea duty and was appointed captain of the cruiser
Beatty took command of the cruiser
Beatty became Rear-Admiral Commanding the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron on 1 March 1913.[39] Beatty was late taking up his new post, choosing not to cut short a holiday in Monte Carlo. On his eventual arrival, he set about drafting standing orders regarding how the squadron was to operate. He noted, "Captains...to be successful must possess, in a marked degree, initiative, resource, determination, and no fear of accepting responsibility". He went on "...as a rule instructions will be of a very general character so as to avoid interfering with the judgement and initiative of captains...The admiral will rely on captains to use all the information at their disposal to grasp the situation quickly and anticipate his wishes, using their own discretion as to how to act in unforeseen circumstances..." The approach outlined by Beatty contradicted the views of many within the navy, who felt that ships should always be closely controlled by their commanding admiral, and harked back to reforms attempted by Admiral George Tryon. It is argued that Tryon had attempted to introduce greater independence and initiative amongst his captains, which he believed would be essential in the confusion of a real war situation, but had ironically been killed in an accident caused by captains rigorously obeying incorrect but precise orders issued by Tryon himself.[40]
Beatty chose Lieutenant
First World War
On the eve of the
Jutland proved to be decisive in Beatty's career, despite the loss of two of his battlecruisers. Beatty is reported to have remarked (to his Flag Captain, Ernle Chatfield, later First Sea Lord in the early 1930s), "there seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today," after two of them had exploded within half an hour during the battle.[44] In any case Beatty's actions succeeded in drawing the German High Seas Fleet into action against the British Grand Fleet.[44]
Beatty succeeded Admiral John Jellicoe as commander-in-chief of the Grand Fleet and received promotion to the acting rank of admiral in December 1916.[44] With his dashing style, he was the antithesis of his predecessor.[44] Beatty's marriage was failing disastrously at the time, and the result was to be a decade-long love affair between Beatty and Eugénie Godfrey-Faussett, wife of Captain Bryan Godfrey-Faussett.[45] Under Beatty's command the Grand Fleet maintained its dominance of the North Sea until the end of the War.[44]
Beatty escorted the German High Seas Fleet to internment at Scapa Flow in November 1918 giving the order from his flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth that "the German Flag will be hauled down at sunset and will not be raised again without permission".[44] This was not a lawful order, as the fleet remained the property of the German Government having been interned rather than having surrendered, but nevertheless Beatty enforced it.[46]
First Sea Lord
Beatty was promoted to substantive full
During the
Despite further rumours that he would resign, Beatty remained in office when the Conservatives took power in the autumn of 1924.[52] Supported by the First Lord of the Admiralty William Bridgeman, he clashed with the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, Winston Churchill, once again over the number of cruisers required by the Royal Navy. At this stage of his career Churchill was opposed to what he saw as excessive defence spending. This may seem odd in light of his previous and subsequent reputation, but in the 1920s no major war seemed to be on the horizon.[53][54] Beatty also at this time pressed hard for the return of responsibility for naval aviation from the newly formed Royal Air Force to the Royal Navy.[46]
In 1926 Beatty was considered for the post of Governor General of Canada but was rejected by the Colonial Secretary Leo Amery as he had "no manners and an impossible American wife".[55]
By the time of his retirement from the Royal Navy in July 1927[56] a great deal of time was being spent preparing for the Coolidge Conference in Geneva, although Beatty did not himself attend as he had to remain in London to supervise the deployment of naval and marine forces against nationalist unrest in China and Egypt. On his last day in office (30 July) he attended a Cabinet at which Bridgeman reported the breakdown of the Geneva Conference as the Americans refused to accept any gun smaller than 8-inch for their cruisers, and after leaving office he congratulated Bridgeman that the Americans had not been able to achieve "command of the sea at any cost".[57] Beatty was appointed a member of the Privy Council on 25 July 1927.[58] Stephen Roskill wrote that whilst Beatty and his disciple Chatfield deserve some praise for the Royal Navy's comparative readiness in 1939, his main achievement was to maintain the morale of the Navy at a time of serious defence cuts, and that without his strong leadership the Royal Navy might have suffered more events like the Invergordon Mutiny of 1931.[59]
Retirement and death
Beatty spent much of his life (when not at sea) in Leicestershire, and lived at Brooksby Hall and Dingley Hall. In July 1930 he denounced the London Naval Treaty in the House of Lords as "a great and deplorable blunder to which we are about to be committed by signing away the sea power by which the British Empire came into being".[60] Beatty also claimed: "If any sane man erects an edifice, or has great possessions, he protects them by insurance. The Navy is the insurance company of the economic unity of the Empire. Under the Naval Treaty of London the Navy will be totally and entirely inadequate to provide that insurance".[61]
Beatty's old commander Admiral John Jellicoe died on 19 November 1935.
At Beatty's funeral his coffin was draped in the Union Flag flown by his flagship
Beatty had requested in his will that he would like to be buried next to his wife Ethel at Dingley: however he was actually buried at St Paul's Cathedral and therefore the double grave at Dingley Church contains only his wife's body.[67]
Assessment
The outcome of the Battle of Jutland was inconclusive, leading to controversy and a search for someone to blame, especially since the British lost more ships. Beatty was particularly unhappy with the official account of the battle and other historians took sides in support of him or Jellicoe. Beatty did not publish his analysis of the battle, while Jellicoe wrote two memoirs.[68][69]
A number of serious errors have been identified in Beatty's handling of the Battle Cruiser Fleet at the Battle of Jutland:
- He failed to engage the German battlecruisers (the I Scouting Group) with all his ships, thus throwing away a two-to-one numerical superiority and instead fighting six-to-five. Beatty was given command of the 5th Battle Squadron to replace a squadron of battlecruisers away for training. These were four of the most powerful ships in the world, but he positioned them so far away from his six battlecruisers that they were unable to take part in most of the engagement with Admiral Hipper's squadron of five battlecruisers.[70]
- Beatty did not take advantage of the time available to him between sighting the enemy and the start of fighting to position his battlecruisers to most effectively attack the enemy. At the point the German ships opened fire with accurately determined ranges for their guns, Beatty's ships were still manoeuvring, some could not see the enemy because of their own smoke, and hardly any had the opportunity of a period of steady course as they approached to properly determine target range. As a result, the German ships had a significant advantage in early hits, with obvious benefit. During this time he also lost the potential advantage of the larger guns on his ships: they could have commenced firing at a longer range than the German ships.[71]
- He did not ensure that signals sent to his ships were handled properly and received by the intended ships. Lost signals added to the confusion and lost opportunities during the battle. This issue had already arisen in previous battles, where the same signals officer, Ralph Seymour, had been involved, but no changes had been made.[72] Although Beatty was supposed to act as a fast armoured scout and report to Jellicoe the exact position of the German ships he encountered, or to keep in contact with the German fleet while he retreated to the main British Grand Fleet, he failed to do so. This information was important to Jellicoe to know how best to position the main fleet to make the most of its eventual engagement with the German High Seas Fleet. Despite this, Jellicoe succeeded in positioning his ships to good advantage, relying on other closer cruisers for final knowledge of the German's position, but necessitating last-minute decisions.[73]
- Additionally, the gunnery of Beatty's ships was generally poor compared to the rest of the fleet. This was partly a consequence of his ships being stationed at Rosyth, rather than Scapa Flow with the main fleet, since local facilities at Rosyth were limited, but this was a problem identified months before Jutland which Beatty had failed to correct.[74]
After the war a report of the battle was prepared by the Admiralty under First Sea Lord
Besides actively encouraging the publication of books and articles designed to praise his role at the Battle of Jutland and denigrate Jellicoe's, after his retirement Beatty assisted with the preparation of a 5,200 line poem "The Epic of Jutland" by Shane Leslie.[76]
Honours and awards
British
- Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO)-17 November 1896[77]
- Member of the Order of Merit (OM)-3 June 1919[83]
- Earl Beatty, Viscount Borodale of Wexford in the County of Wexford, Baron Beatty of the North Sea and of Brooksby in the County of Leicester-18 October 1919[49]
Beatty was granted the Freedom of the City of London on 16 June 1919 at the same ceremony as Lord Haig.[84] In June 1920, the Great Central Railway gave the name Earl Beatty to one of their newly built 4-6-0 express passenger locomotives, no. 1164 of class 9P (LNER class B3). It carried the name until withdrawal in September 1947.[85][86] In 1925, he became the President of the Society for Nautical Research.[87]
Foreign
- Order of Majid, 4th Class (Nishan-i-Majidieh) of the Ottoman Empire-3 October 1898[88]
- Order of St George, Fourth Class of the Russian Empire-25 August 1916[89]
- Grand Officer of the Military Order of Savoy of the Kingdom of Italy-11 August 1917[90]
- Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun of the Empire of Japan-29 August 1917[91]
- Grand Cross of the
- Croix de Guerre of France-15 February 1919[94]
- Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Romania of the Kingdom of Romania-17 March 1919[95]
- Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer of the Kingdom of Greece-21 June 1919[96]
- Distinguished Service Medal (United States)-16 September 1919[97]
- Grand Cordon with Brilliants of the Order of the Precious Brilliant Golden Grain of the Republic of China – 22 January 1920[98]
- Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers of the Empire of Japan – 20 January 1922[99]
Namesakes
- Admiral Beatty Avenue in Mount Roskill, Auckland, was named as a tribute to Beatty in the late 1920s.[100]
- Beatty Secondary School (Singapore), was named after him in 1953.[101]
Arms
|
Quotations
In the afternoon [of 1 June 1916] Beatty came into the Lion's chart-house. Tired and depressed, he sat down on the settee, and settling himself in a corner he closed his eyes. Unable to hide his disappointment at the result of the battle, he repeated in a weary voice, 'There is something wrong with our ships', then opening his eyes and looking at the writer, he added, 'And something wrong with our system'. Having thus unburdened himself he fell asleep.
— Lieutenant W. S. Chalmers, Assistant Navigating Officer of HMS Lion at Jutland[103]
At 4.25, soon after we had resumed our position ahead of the Princess Royal, the third ship in the line, the Queen Mary (Captain Prowse) blew up exactly as had the Indefatigable. I was standing beside Sir David Beatty and we both turned round in time to see the unpleasant spectacle. The thought of my friends in her flashed through my mind; I thought also how lucky we had evidently been in the Lion. Beatty turned to me and said, "There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships to-day," a remark which needed neither comment nor answer.
— Captain Ernle Chatfield, Captain of HMS Lion at Jutland.[104]
References
- ^ Roskill 1980, p. 20
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Heathcote, p. 23
- ^ Beatty 1980, p. 4–5
- ^ Beatty 1980, p. 1–3
- ^ Beatty 1980, p. 20 citing letter to Beatty's wife
- ^ Beatty 1980, p. 31
- ^ Beatty 1980, p. 11
- ^ a b Roskill 1980, p. 21
- ^ Beatty 1980, p. 11–12
- ^ Beatty 1980, p. 14
- ^ Roskill 1980, p. 22
- ^ Beatty 1980, p. 15, 21
- ^ Chalmers, p. 12
- ^ "No. 26253". The London Gazette. 2 February 1892. p. 544.
- ^ Roskill 1980, p. 24 citing Shane Leslie draft biography of Beatty which was discontinued at the request of the family
- ^ Beatty 1980, p. 22
- ^ "No. 26322". The London Gazette. 2 September 1892. p. 5016.
- ^ Roskill 1980, p. 26–27, 29
- ^ Beatty 1980, p. 29–30
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Heathcote, p. 24
- ^ "Fashoda Incident – 1898". Global Security. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
- ^ "No. 27009". The London Gazette. 30 September 1898. p. 5731.
- ^ "No. 27023". The London Gazette. 15 November 1898. p. 6692.
- ^ Roskill 1980, p. 30
- ^ Roskill 1980, p. 31–32
- ^ "No. 27245". The London Gazette. 9 November 1900. p. 6855.
- ^ Roskill 1980, p. 32–33
- ^ Beatty 1980, p. 31–35
- ^ Beatty 1980, p. 38
- ^ Beatty 1980, p. 38–44
- ^ Massie 2003, p. 89
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36774. London. 22 May 1902. p. 8.
- ^ Roskill 1980, p. 40–41
- ^ "No. 28195". The London Gazette. 10 November 1908. p. 8165.
- ^ Harley2017, pp. 215–216.
- ^ Roskill 1980, p. 48–52
- ^ Massie 2003, p. 92
- ^ Gordon, p. 381
- ^ Beatty Papers. Vol. I. p. 57.
- S2CID 110030240.
- ^ Gordon pp. 384–385
- ^ a b "No. 28842". The London Gazette (Supplement). 19 June 1914. p. 4876.
- ^ "No. 29262". The London Gazette. 9 August 1915. p. 8016.
- ^ a b c d e f g Heathcote, p. 25
- ^ "The Shane Leslie-Godfrey Faussett Archive". Retrieved 11 November 2012.
- ^ a b c Heathcote, p. 26
- ^ "No. 31104". The London Gazette. 3 January 1919. p. 199.
- ^ "No. 31327". The London Gazette. 6 May 1919. p. 5653.
- ^ a b "No. 31610". The London Gazette. 21 October 1919. p. 12889.
- ^ "Conference on the Limitation of Armament". Retrieved 11 November 2012.
- ^ Roskill 1980, p. 343–345
- ^ Roskill 1980, p. 343–348
- ^ Roskill 1980, p. 351–353
- ^ "Churchill Archives". Churchill College, Cambridge. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
- ^ Roskill 1980, p. 355
- ^ Heathcote, p. 27
- ^ Roskill 1980, p. 358
- ^ "No. 33298". The London Gazette. 29 July 1927. p. 4903.
- ^ Roskill 1980, p. 360}
- ^ "HL Deb 01 July 1930 vol 78 c. 186".
- ^ "HL Deb 01 July 1930 vol 78 c. 194".
- ^ Andrew Lambert, 'Jellicoe, John Rushworth, first Earl Jellicoe (1859–1935)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2013 accessed 16 Oct 2013
- ^ Roskill 1980, p. 365–368
- ^ a b Roskill 1980, p. 368
- ^ Bryan Ranft, 'Beatty, David, first Earl Beatty (1871–1936)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, 2012 accessed 16 Oct 2013
- ^ Beatty's biographer Stephen Roskill discusses his last words with his son on the evening of 11 March, before stating that he died at around 1 am. Heathcote (2002, p. 27) gives the date of his death as 11 March, which appears to be an error.
- ^ Roskill 1980, p. 366
- ASIN B00C6BFG3W.
- ISBN 978-3842425057.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link - ^ Brooks 2005, p. 232–234
- ^ Brooks 2005, p. 234–240
- ^ Brooks 2005, p. 232–233, 237
- ^ Brooks 2005, p. 232–240
- ^ Brooks 2005, p. 226–227
- ^ Bacon, pp. 1–253
- ^ Roskill 1980, p. 322–29
- ^ "No. 26795". The London Gazette. 17 November 1896. p. 6271.
- ^ "No. 29751". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 September 1916. p. 9070.
- ^ "No. 28505". The London Gazette (Supplement). 19 June 1911. p. 4588.
- ^ "No. 30156". The London Gazette. 25 June 1917. p. 6409.
- ^ "No. 29629". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 June 1916. p. 6063.
- ^ "No. 27792". The London Gazette. 28 April 1905. p. 3401.
- ^ "No. 31379". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 June 1919. p. 7046.
- ^ "Haig and Beatty made freemen of the City of London". itnsource.com. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
- ^ Boddy et al. 1963, p. 48
- ^ Boddy et al. 1975, pp. 21, 23
- ^ Murphy, Hugh; Oddy, Derek J. (2010). The Mirror of the Seas: A Centenary History of the Society of Nautical Research. London: Society for Nautical Research. p. 213.
- ^ "No. 27012". The London Gazette. 3 October 1898. p. 5863.
- ^ "No. 29727". The London Gazette. 25 August 1916. p. 8497.
- ^ "No. 30227". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 August 1917. p. 8208.
- ^ "No. 30258". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 August 1917. p. 8989.
- ^ "No. 31360". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 May 1919. p. 6504.
- ^ "No. 29751". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 September 1916. p. 9081.
- ^ "No. 31182". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 February 1919. p. 2361.
- ^ "No. 31236". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 March 1919. p. 3593.
- ^ "No. 31413". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 June 1919. p. 7909.
- ^ "No. 31553". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 September 1919. p. 11582.
- ^ "London Gazette, 22 January 1920".
- ^ "London Gazette, 24 January 1922".
- Wikidata Q116775081.
- ^ "Story of Beatty Secondary". www.beattysecondaryschool.com.sg. Retrieved 17 May 2023.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Grants and Confirmations of Arms Vol. L". National Library of Ireland. p. 235. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
- ^ Chalmers, p. 262
- ^ Chatfield, p. 143
Sources
- Beatty, Charles (1980). Our Admiral, a biography of Admiral of the Fleet Earl Beatty. London: W. H. Allen. ISBN 978-0-491-02388-7.
- Boddy, M.G.; Brown, W.A.; Fry, E.V.; Hennigan, W.; OCLC 655688865.
- Boddy, M.G.; Fry, E.V.; Hennigan, W.; Proud, P.; Yeadon, W.B. (July 1963). Fry, E.V. (ed.). Locomotives of the L.N.E.R., part 1: Preliminary Survey. Potters Bar: RCTS.
- Brooks, John (2005). Dreadnought Gunnery at the Battle of Jutland: The Question of Fire Control. London: Frank Cass Publishers. ISBN 0-7146-5702-6.
- Harley, Simon (May 2017). "The Promotion of David Beatty to Rear-Admiral". The Mariner's Mirror. 103 (2): 213–216. S2CID 164678083.
- ISBN 0-345-40878-0.
- Roskill, Captain Stephen Wentworth (1980). Admiral of the Fleet Earl Beatty – The Last Naval Hero: An Intimate Biography. London: Collins. ISBN 0-689-11119-3.
Further reading
- Bacon, Reginald Hugh (1933). The Jutland Scandal. London: Hutchinson. ASIN B008MXL94I.
- Beatty, David (1989). Ranft, Bryan McL. (ed.). The Beatty Papers. Vol. I. London: Navy Records Society. ISBN 0-85967-807-5.
- Chalmers, W. S. (1951). The Life and Letters of David, Earl Beatty. London: Hodder and Stoughton. ASIN B0007ITISK.
- Chatfield, Ernle (1942). The Navy and Defence. Heinemann. ASIN B0006APX92.
- Gordon, Andrew (1996). The Rules of the Game: Jutland and British Naval Command. London: John Murray. ISBN 0-7195-5533-7.
- Heathcote, T. A. (2002). British Admirals of the Fleet 1734–1995: A Biographical Dictionary. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Leo Cooper. ISBN 0-85052-835-6.
- Ranft, Bryan McL. (1995). Murfett, Malcolm H. (ed.). The First Sea Lords: From Fisher to Mountbatten. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers. ISBN 0-275-94231-7.
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl Beatty
- The Dreadnought Project: David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty
- Young, Filson (1922). . Encyclopædia Britannica (12th ed.).
- "Royal Navy flag Officers service record, David Beatty". admirals.org. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
- Portrait of Admiral Sir David Beatty Archived 20 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine by American artist Cecilia Beaux.
- Newspaper clippings about David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW