Royal Navy admiral (1884–1973)
Admiral Sir William Jock Whitworth , KCB , DSO (29 June 1884 – 25 October 1973) was a senior Royal Navy officer who served as Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel from 1941 to 1944.
Naval career
Whitworth joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in 1899,[ 1] and was on 15 January 1901 posted to the battleship HMS Ocean ,[ 2] as she was sent to the China station during the Boxer Rebellion .[ 3]
He served in the First World War , commanding the destroyers HMS Cockatrice , HMS Orestes and HMS Vidette .[ 4] He then became commanding officer at the Physical and Recreational Training School in Portsmouth in 1926.[ 1] He was given command of HMS Stuart and the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla of the Mediterranean Fleet in 1928.[ 1]
In 1933 Whitworth was appointed Captain of the Fleet to the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet and in 1936 he took command of the battleship HMS Rodney .[ 1] He was made Naval Secretary in 1937.[ 1]
Whitworth served in the Second World War and commanded the Battlecruiser Squadron in 1939.[ 1] He participated in the Norwegian Campaign and in 1940, with his flag flying in the battleship HMS Warspite , he led the Royal Navy to victory at the second Battle of Narvik off Norway.[ 5] [ 1] Later in 1940 he returned to the Battlecruiser Squadron.[ 5] He was made Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel in 1941 and Commander-in-Chief, Rosyth in 1944.[ 1] He retired in 1946.[ 1]
Family
Whitworth's wife, daughter and daughter's fiancé in March 1945
In 1910 Whitworth married Marguerite MacLean.[ 5]
References
External links