Alexander Leslie Fletcher

Captain (retired) Alexander Leslie Fletcher (19 November, 1885 – ) was an officer in the Royal Navy. His time in command of small torpedo craft left him psychologically spent by early 1918 and he completed his war service on shore duties.

Life & Career

Born in Oxford.

In January 1906 while in H.M.S. Glory, he earned a third class certificate in navigation and in March he was placed on a list of candidates for navigating duties.

Fletcher was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 1 April, 1908. On 13 August, 1909 he passed a navigation examination for command of torpedo craft.

Fletcher was appointed Lieutenant & Commander of the first-class torpedo boat T.B. 107 on 31 January, 1910. He failed to earn a torpedo certification in April, but succeeded in doing so in May 1910. In September, 1910 he was found to be at fault to a minor degree for a collision between T.B. 104 and a trawler.

Fletcher was appointed Lieutenant & Commander of the first-class torpedo boat T.B. 30 on 13 September, 1911.

Despite having already enjoyed a string of torpedo boat commands, Fletcher was appointed from T.B. 30 to the battleship Colossus on 19 November, 1913.

Great War

Still serving in Colossus, Fletcher was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Commander on 1 April, 1916. On 25 September, he was appointed in command of the Acorn Class destroyer Rifleman.

On 18 January, 1918, a telegram arrived at the Admiralty to inform them that Fletcher was sick in hospital. He was invalided from Rifleman on 4 February, 1918 with a diagnosis of neurasthenia. His stress was profound enough that efforts to send him to London were blunted as he was deemed unfit to travel in April. As late as July saw local doctors still asking for another week's time before travel. After finally being seen in Haslar, in September it was requested that he receive three months of shore service, which he would spend in Eclipse, assisting Captain (D) Arthur Edmund Wood of the Fourth Destroyer Flotilla. The war would end before Fletcher would again be ready for seagoing command.

Post-War

Fletcher was found fit, finally, on 4 December and appointed in command of the destroyer Spear on 6 December, 1918.

Fletcher was appointed in command of the destroyer Violent on 7 October, 1920.

Fletcher was promoted to the rank of Commander on 30 June, 1922.

On 24 July 1923, Fletcher was again hospitalised in Haslar with neurasthenia. He was not again fit before November, 1923.

In 1926 he took four month's instruction in the Spanish language. After three years work in the Admiralty, in August 1929 he was sent to Greenwich, additional as an Assistant Interpreter in Spanish.

Superseded in his post as an interpreter on 22 May, 1931, Fletcher was placed on the Retired List at his own request with the rank of Captain on 28 July, 1931.

See Also

• Service Records
• Wikipedia

Naval Appointments
Preceded by Arthur G. Harris	Captain of H.M. T.B. 107 31 Jan, 1910 – 23 Apr, 1910	Succeeded by Percy G. Brown
Preceded by Percy G. Brown	Captain of H.M. T.B. 99 23 Apr, 1910 – 10 Jun, 1910	Succeeded by Hubert W. D. Griffith
Preceded by Percy G. Brown	Captain of H.M. T.B. 107 10 Jun, 1910 – 13 Sep, 1911	Succeeded by Henry Purdy
Preceded by Sydney Hopkins	Captain of H.M. T.B. 30 13 Sep, 1911 – 7 Apr, 1913	Succeeded by Alexander L. Fletcher
Preceded by Geoffrey S. Holden	Captain of H.M. T.B. 4 7 Apr, 1913 – 13 Aug, 1913	Succeeded by Ernest D. Panter
Preceded by Alexander L. Fletcher	Captain of H.M. T.B. 30 13 Aug, 1913 – 19 Nov, 1913	Succeeded by Charles C. de M. Malan
Preceded by Guy P. Bowles	Captain of H.M.S. Rifleman 25 Sep, 1916 – 4 Feb, 1918	Succeeded by Gerald M. McKenna
Preceded by New Command	Captain of H.M.S. Spear 6 Dec, 1918 – 20 Jan, 1919	Succeeded by Francis W. Craven
Preceded by Francis W. Craven	Captain of H.M.S. Tirade 25 Jan, 1919 – 1 Oct, 1919	Succeeded by ?
Preceded by Thomas B. Fellowes	Captain of H.M.S. Sesame 1 Oct, 1919 – 7 Oct, 1920	Succeeded by Herbert M. Ellis
Preceded by Arthur M. C. Stileman	Captain of H.M.S. Violent 7 Oct, 1920 – 7 Aug, 1922	Succeeded by Frederick H. G. Dalrymple-Hamilton
Preceded by Ralph W. Wilkinson	Captain of H.M.S. Tourmaline Jan, 1924 – Mar, 1926	Succeeded by Richard Harter
Preceded by John Fawcett	Captain of H.M.S. Versatile 9 Feb, 1926 – 1 Apr, 1926	Succeeded by Martin J. C. de Meric