Naval Officers of World War I

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Sir Arthur Stockdale Cope, Naval Officers of World War I.

Naval Officers of World War I is a large oil on canvas group portrait painting by Sir

Royal Academy summer exhibition in 1921 and donated to the National Portrait Gallery
that year.

Background

Bailey commissioned two other commemorative portraits, General Officers of World War I (originally entitled Some General Officers of the Great War) by John Singer Sargent, and Statesmen of World War I by Sir James Guthrie. Bailey paid £5,000 for each of the three paintings and donated all three to the National Portrait Gallery.

Painting

The painting measures 104 × 202.5 inches (264 × 514 cm). It depicts 22 senior officers of the

Horatio Nelson by Leonardo Guzzardi, near a group of three officers who were killed in action during the war: Sir Robert Arbuthnot, 4th Baronet, Sir Christopher Cradock and Sir Horace Hood. Viscount Jellicoe is shown to the right, sitting on a red leather chair, in conversation with his chief of staff, Sir Charles Madden, 1st Baronet

The officers depicted are, from left to right:

  1. Admiral Sir
    1st Light Cruiser Squadron from 1915, then of the 6th Light Cruiser Squadron
    from 1917
  2. Admiral Sir
    1st Light Cruiser Squadron
    from June 1917 in the Baltic
  3. Admiral of the Fleet Sir Osmond Brock, Beatty's Chief of Staff at the Grand Fleet from 1916 to 1919
  4. Admiral Sir
    2nd Light Cruiser Squadron
    from 1913 to 1916
  5. Rear-Admiral Sir Robert Arbuthnot, 4th Baronet, commander of the 1st Cruiser Squadron from January 1915, killed at the Battle of Jutland in May 1916
  6. Admiral Sir
    4th Battle Squadron
  7. Admiral Sir
    Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies Station until his death at the Battle of Coronel
    in November 1914
  8. Rear-Admiral Sir
    3rd Battlecruiser Squadron from March 1915 to his death at the Battle of Jutland
    in May 1916
  9. Admiral of the Fleet Sir
    2nd Battle Squadron
    from November 1916
  10. Admiral Sir
    Australian Fleet to January 1917, and then commander of the Battle Cruiser Fleet
    from June 1917
  11. Admiral of the Fleet Sir Reginald Tyrwhitt, 1st Baronet, commander of the Harwich Force of destroyers
  12. Admiral of the Fleet Roger Keyes, 1st Baron Keyes, commander of the Dover Patrol from January 1918
  13. Admiral of the Fleet Sir
    Commander-in-Chief, Coast of Scotland
  14. Admiral of the Fleet
    1st Battlecruiser Squadron from 1913 to December 1916, and then Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet
  15. Vice-Admiral Sir
    1st Light Cruiser Squadron from July 1917, and commander of the Light Cruiser Force
    from January 1918
  16. Admiral of the Fleet
    First Sea Lord
    from December 1912 to October 1914
  17. Admiral Sir
    5th Battle Squadron
    from October 1915 to October 1918
  18. Admiral of the Fleet Sir
    4th Battle Squadron
  19. Admiral Sir
    Australian Fleet
    from January 1917 to September 1918
  20. Admiral of the Fleet Sir
    1st Battle Squadron
    from December 1916
  21. Admiral of the Fleet
    First Sea Lord
    from December 1916 to July 1917
  22. Admiral of the Fleet
    First Sea Lord
    from December 1917 to November 1919

The selection of officers depicted was largely the suggestion of Sir

First Sea Lord during the war, Fisher from November 1914 to May 1915 and Jackson from May 1915 to December 1916. Fisher was omitted at his own request. Also left out were Dudley de Chair and Reginald Tupper, who commanded the 10th Cruiser Squadron in the Northern Patrol
.

The painting is held by the National Portrait Gallery but was not exhibited for several decades due to its poor condition. After restoration, it went back on display in May 2014 to commemorate the centenary of the beginning of the First World War.

References
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