Henry Harwood
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Sir Henry Harwood Harwood
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Harwood is greeted by the British Minister to Uruguay, Mr E Millington-Drake after his arrival at Montevideo after the Battle of the River Plate
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| Born | 19 January 1888 St George Hanover Square, London |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire |
| Buried |
Goring-on-Thames parish churchyard[1]
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| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/ |
 Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1904 - 1945 |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Commands held | HMS Cumberland (Jun 1927-Jun 1928) HMS Warwick & 9th Destroyer Division (Aug 1929-Apr 1930) HMS London (Mar 1932-Jan 1934) HMS Exeter (Sep 1936-Aug 1939) South American Division of the North America and West Indies Station (25 Aug 1939-Apr 1940) a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty (Dec 1940-Apr 1942) Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Station (renamed Levant) Flag Officer commanding Orkneys and Shetlands (Apr 1944-Mar 1945) |
| Battles/wars | World War II - River Plate |
| Awards | KCB (1939 OBE (1919) MID (1941) War Cross (Greece) (1943) Gold Medal of Concepcion (Chile) (1939) Grand Officer, Order of Merit (Chile) (1940) |
| Relations | Kate Harwood |
Admiral Sir Henry Harwood Harwood, KCB, OBE (19 January 1888 – 9 June 1950), was a British naval officer who won fame in the Battle of the River Plate.
Early life
Following education at Stubbington House School Harwood entered the Royal Navy in 1904[2] and specialized in torpedoes.[3] He served in World War I.[2] In 1919 he served on the battleship HMS Royal Sovereign, 1st Battle Squadron. By 1929 he had been promoted to captain and become the Commanding Officer of the destroyer HMS Warwick and Senior Officer of the 9th Destroyer Division.
In 1931 and 1932, Harwood attended the Imperial Defence College.[2] Upon completion of the course in March 1932 he became Flag Captain of the heavy cruiser HMS London whilst at the same time serving as Chief Staff Officer to the Rear-Admiral Commanding the 1st Cruiser Squadron. From July 1934 until 1936 Harwood served on the staff of the Royal Naval War College at Greenwich (HMS President).
In September 1936 Harwood was appointed Commodore and given command of the South American Division of the America and West Indies Station, whilst at the same time serving as Commanding Officer of the cruiser HMS Exeter.[2] At the outbreak of the Second World War, command of HMS Exeter passed to Captain F.S. Bell.
Second World War
Harwood commanded a squadron consisting of the heavy cruisers HMS Cumberland and HMS Exeter, and the light cruisers HMS Achilles and HMS Ajax. He flew his broad pennant in Ajax as his flagship.[2] The squadron was deployed to the South Atlantic against the Admiral Graf Spee, which was attacking Allied shipping there.
Harwood suspected that Graf Spee would try to strike next at the merchant shipping off the River Plate estuary. With Cumberland being absent for repairs, Harwood deployed his other three cruisers off the estuary on 12 December. In the ensuing Battle of the River Plate on 13 December, Harwood's cruisers were damaged, but so was Graf Spee, which fled to Montevideo in neutral Uruguay. She was scuttled there a few days later.[4]
For this action, Harwood was promoted to Rear Admiral and knighted. In the 1956 film, The Battle of the River Plate, Harwood was played by Anthony Quayle.
From December 1940 to April 1942, Rear-Admiral Harwood served as a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty and Assistant Chief of Naval Staff.[2] In April 1942, Harwood was promoted to Vice-Admiral and Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet, and flew his flag at HMS Nile.[2] The Command was later split and he became Commander-in-Chief, Levant in February 1943, with responsibility for flank support and seaborne supply of the British Eighth Army.[2]
In April 1945, Harwood became Flag Officer Commanding the Orkneys and Shetlands[2] (HMS Proserpine). He retired on 15 August 1945 with the rank of Admiral, having been declared medically unfit for further duty.[2]
Sir Henry Harwood died in Goring-on-Thames in 1950.
Ranks
| Midshipman | 1904 |
| Acting Sub-Lieutenant | 1907-07-30 |
| Sub-Lieutenant | 1908-04-09, seniority 1907-07-30 |
| Lieutenant | 1908-07-30 |
| Lieutenant-Commander | 1916-07-30 |
| Commander | 1921-06-30 |
| Captain | 1928-12-31 |
| Commodore 2nd class | 1936-09-17? |
| Commodore 1st class | 1939-08-25? |
| Rear-Admiral | 1939-12-13 |
| Vice-Admiral | 1942-02-06 |
| Acting Admiral | 1942-04-22? |
| Admiral (retired) | 1945 |
Decorations
| Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath | 1939-12-23 | action with the Admiral Graf Spee 1939-12-13 |
| Officer of the Order of the British Empire | 1919-07-17 | ? |
| Mentioned in Despatches | 1941-01-01 | New Year 1941 |
| Greek War Cross[5] | 1943-04-17 | services to the Greek Navy |
| Gold Medal of Concepcion (Chile) | 1939? | Concepcion earthquake 1939-01-24 |
| Grand Officer, Order of Merit (Chile) | 1940-09-06 | Concepcion earthquake 1939-01-24 |
References
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sir Henry Harwood. |
| Military offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet April 1942–February 1943 |
Succeeded by Sir Andrew Cunningham |
| Preceded by
New Post
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Commander-in-Chief, Levant February 1943–June 1943 |
Succeeded by Sir John Cunningham |
- Use dmy dates from April 2012
- Use British English from May 2015
- Commons category link is locally defined
- 1888 births
- 1950 deaths
- Royal Navy admirals of World War II
- Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
- Lords of the Admiralty
- Officers of the Order of the British Empire
- Recipients of the War Cross (Greece)
- Royal Navy officers of World War I
- People educated at Stubbington House School
