Admiral of the FleetSir Rhoderick Robert McGrigor, GCB (12 April 1893 – 3 December 1959) was a senior Royal Navy officer. He fought in the First World War and saw action during the Gallipoli Campaign and then the Battle of Jutland. He also served in the Second World War, taking part in the sinking of the Bismarck in May 1941, carrying out the office of Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Weapons) and commanding the 1st Cruiser Squadron during operations off the Norwegian coast and convoys to North Russia. Furthermore, he served as First Sea Lord in the early 1950s and is most remembered as a leading proponent of carrier-based air power.
McGrigor was posted to the cruiserHMS Highflyer in June 1919 and, having been promoted to lieutenant commander on 15 October 1922,[4] he attended the War Staff Course at the Royal Naval Staff College in late 1923.[3] After qualifying as a torpedo specialist, he became flotilla torpedo officer for the First Destroyer Flotilla in the Mediterranean Fleet in February 1925.[3] Promoted to commander on 31 December 1927,[5] he joined the staff of the Tactical School at Portsmouth and then became Staff Officer (Operations) to the Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet in August 1930.[3] He became commanding officer of the destroyer HMS Versatile in the Home Fleet in August 1932 and, having been promoted to captain on 31 December 1933,[6] he joined the Training and Staff Duties Division of the Admiralty in August 1934.[3]
McGrigor was appointed Captain (D), 4th Destroyer Flotilla (aboard HMS Campbell and then HMS Kempenfelt), with the Home Fleet in September 1936.[3] On 26 August 1938, he became Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief China Station[3] (first on HMS Kent,[3] then HMS Tamar, the RN base at Hong Kong) with promotion to commodore 2nd class.[3]
Second World War
In early 1941, McGrigor was, briefly, Flag Captain, HMS Renown, flagship of Sir James Somerville[3] and was involved in the Malta Convoys and other operations in the Atlantic and Mediterranean including the Bombardment of Genoa in February 1941 and the sinking of the Bismarck in May 1941.[7] He was promoted to rear admiral on 8 July 1941.[3] Between 9 September 1941 and early 1943, he was Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Weapons).[3] In late 1943, he commanded the Naval Force (Force B) covering the capture of the Italian island of Pantelleria (Operation Corkscrew) and the subsequent Invasion of Sicily[8] for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order.[3] He served as Flag Officer, Sicily, where he was wounded, for three months[9] before being redeployed as Flag Officer, Taranto and Adriatic (based at the shore establishment HMS Nile in Alexandria) until the end of 1943.[10]
McGrigor received honorary degrees of LLD from the University of St Andrews in 1953 and the University of Aberdeen in 1955; he was Rector of the University of Aberdeen from 1954 to 1957.[1] In retirement his interests included shooting and fishing at his home at Tarland in Aberdeenshire.[1] He died following an operation in Aberdeen on 3 December 1959.[11]