Rosslyn Erskine Wemyss, First Baron Wester Wemyss

Admiral of the Fleet Rosslyn Wemyss, First Baron Wester Wemyss, portrayed as an Admiral.
Portrait: Sir William Orpen.

Admiral of the Fleet Rosslyn Erskine Wemyss, First Baron Wester Wemyss, K.C.B., C.M.G., Royal Navy (12 April, 1864 – 24 May, 1933) was an officer of the Royal Navy. He is chiefly remembered for his service in the Dardanelles Campaign during the First World War, followed by his surprising elevation to the position of First Sea Lord in 1917.

Early Life & Career

Wemyss (pronounced "Weemz") was born in London on 12 April, 1864, the youngest and posthumous son of James Hay Erskine Wemyss, of Wemyss Castle, Fife, by his wife, Millicent Ann Mary, daughter of Lady Augusta Kennedy Erskine, the fourth daughter of the Duke of Clarence (later King William IV) by Mrs. Dorothy Jordan. His paternal grandfather, Rear-Admiral James Erskine Wemyss, was great-great-grandson of David, third Earl of Wemyss [q.v.] , vice-admiral of Scotland, and his own maternal great-grandfather, King William, had been the last holder of the office of lord high admiral of the United Kingdom; thus the naval strain in his ancestry was strong.

At the examination for Naval Cadetships, Wemyss placed eighteenth out of the successful batch of forty-six candidates. Wemyss entered the training ship Britannia in 1877 with his third cousins, the Royal Princes Albert Victor (later Duke of Clarence) and George (later King George V). On passing out in 1879 with distinction he was appointed to the Bacchante under Captain Lord Charles Thomas Montagu-Douglas-Scott [q.v.] , in which the princes were to spend three years on a memorable cruise round the world. On its termination he was sent to the Northumberland in the Channel squadron for eight months, and then was appointed senior midshipman of the Canada on the North America and West Indies station in which Prince George was his next junior. While in her he was promoted sub-lieutenant and in August 1884 came home for the normal twelve months' courses at Portsmouth and Greenwich. He then spent eighteen months in the Hecla, torpedo depot ship, in the Mediterranean, being promoted lieutenant in her in March 1887. In October of that year he was, naturally from his early associations, selected for service in the royal yacht Osborne for two years, after which he became flag-lieutenant in the Anson to Rear-Admiral (Sir) R. E. Tracey [q.v.] , second-in-command of the Channel squadron, and left her in March 1890 to spend two years in the Undaunted (serving under Captain Lord Charles Beresford [q.v.] ) in the Mediterranean. He then returned to the Channel squadron for two years in the Empress of India, flagship of Rear-Admiral (Sir) Edward Seymour [q.v.] and after one year as first-lieutenant of the Astraea, 2nd class cruiser, in the Mediterranean, resumed royal yacht duty as first-lieutenant of the Victoria and Albert in 1896. On completion of this service he was promoted commander in August 1898 in accordance with established custom. He was commander of the cruiser Niobe, detached from the Channel squadron for special service at the Cape during the first year of the South African war. He was disappointed in having no opportunity for fighting service ashore, his ship being employed on ancillary duties, including that of transporting Boer prisoners to St. Helena and guarding them there. On return to England at the end of 1900 he was invited by the Duke of York (later King George V) to accompany him as second-in-command of the Ophir (a specially commissioned passenger ship) on his tour to the overseas Dominions, which was arranged mainly for the opening of the first parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia. Queen Victoria's death temporarily delayed the preparations for this cruise, but it took place from March to November 1901. Wemyss won golden opinions from all concerned and was specially promoted captain and appointed M.V.O. on its conclusion.

At Christmas 1902 the second Lord Selborne's memorandum launched the new scheme of naval education promoted by Sir John Fisher. Its first and most important part provided for the establishment of a new cadets' college on novel lines and Fisher had already marked down Wemyss as the ideal man to be its first captain. He was accordingly employed at the Admiralty in working out the details of the new organization and of the building of the college in the grounds of Queen Victoria's house at Osborne until August 1903 when he was appointed to its command. The initial and continued success of this remarkable enterprise was largely due to his qualities of energy, resource, and tact, and his buoyant good temper and infectious enthusiasm. He won the respect and admiration of civilian masters, officers, and cadets alike, and the entire approval of the Board in Whitehall.

After two years at Osborne Wemyss was glad to return to the sea as captain of the Suffolk in the Mediterranean where Beresford was then commander-in-chief. He paid her off in April 1908 and, after a few months command of the Albion, flagship in the Atlantic Fleet, next year was appointed Commodore, Second Class, of the Royal Naval Barracks at Devonport, succeeding Commodore Arthur Yerbury Moggridge on 20 August, 1909.

Wemyss's service there was interrupted for several months in 1910 while he commanded the Balmoral Castle which was commissioned to take the Duke and Duchess of Connaught to South Africa for the opening of the first Union parliament. He had accepted the offer of this command in April when the Prince of Wales had intended to undertake the ceremony, but the death of King Edward VII necessitated a change. King George made him extra naval equerry after his accession and he was appointed C.M.G. after the voyage.

Flag Rank

Wemyss was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral on 19 April, 1911. He was relieved as Commodore at Plymouth by John de M. Hutchison on 25 April. After his promotion, he apparently went to see the Second Sea Lord, Admiral Francis C. B. Bridgeman, who offered him command of the Mediterranean Cruiser Squadron (then the Sixth Cruiser Squadron) when it fell vacant, even though it entailed eighteen months on half-pay. Wemyss considered the appointment worth the wait and accepted it. This story is somewhat suspect. The men ultimately responsible for appointments would have been either the Private Secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty (Rear-Admiral E. C. T. Troubridge) or the First Lord himself. Seeing the First Sea Lord, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur Wilson, would be more likely than seeing the Second Sea Lord.

His future supposedly settled, Wemyss and his family stayed in London, travelled to Wemyss, Vosges, and Cannes. From 11 September to 22 December, 1911, he attended the War Course College. There he came first in order of merit out of six flag officers who took part, and was described to have a "strong personalty & has [a] strong grasp of [the] strategical situation."

It is asserted by Wemyss's wife that the new First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, had decided to give command of the Mediterranean Cruiser Squadron to Rear-Admiral Troubridge in order that he could appoint Rear-Admiral David Beatty as his Naval Secretary. In light of what Lady Wester Wemyss considered "so flagrant a breach of faith", Wemyss apparently sent in his resignation on 22 July, 1912, and was only dissuaded after a stormy interview with Churchill and by the promise of the next available seagoing appointment.

The facts tell a very different story. Churchill had been appointed First Lord in October, 1911. Rear-Admiral Troubridge received the important new appointment of Chief of the Admiralty War Staff on 8 January, 1912, and was then replaced as Naval Secretary by Rear-Admiral Beatty. The command of the Mediterranean Cruiser Squadron, then the Sixth Cruiser Squadron, did not fall vacant until 3 June, when Rear-Admiral Sir Douglas A. Gamble hauled down his flag at Portsmouth. The command of the cruisers was taken over by the new Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, Admiral A. Berkeley Milne. The appointment of Troubridge in command of the Mediterranean Cruiser Squadron was not announced until late November.

Troubridge didn't take up his new command until 6 January, 1913, by which time Wemyss had already been at sea for over two months. For on 29 October, 1912 he was appointed Rear-Admiral Second-in-Command in the Second Battle Squadron in succession to Rear-Admiral Hugh Evan-Thomas.

Great War

Wemyss as Rear-Admiral.
Photo: Library of Congress.

Wemyss arrived back in London on 31 July, and visited the Admiralty, where he ascertained that he was to be given command of the Twelfth Cruiser Squadron. The mobilisation order went out on Saturday, and Wemyss, accompanied by his wife and his Flag Lieutenant, Bevan, headed to Plymouth. He hoisted his flag in the cruiser Charybdis on 2 August.

His orders were to act in concert with the French Admiral Rouyer in charge of the western patrol in the English Channel for the protection of the transports conveying the British Expeditionary Force to France. Constantly at sea in an old uncomfortable ship without any sign of the enemy, Wemyss found this a tiresome task, and was glad when in September his squadron was sent to Canada to escort the first contingent of 30,000 Canadians to England. This duty was successfully accomplished, although Wemyss himself considered that old slow cruisers were a risky protection to a convoy. He then resumed charge of the western patrol, transferring his flag to the Euryalus until February 1915, when he hauled it down on the dispersal of his cruiser force.

Wemyss was at once selected for a new duty as governor of the island of Lemnos and to take charge of a naval base to be created at Mudros for the impending naval and military Dardanelles campaign, although occupying a most anomalous position in foreign territory without staff or detailed orders to guide him. He was required to organize and equip a base for a great army and fleet on an island which had no facilities for landing troops or discharging cargo, no water supply, and no native labour. He set to work at once with great energy and resourcefulness and in a few weeks troops were able to land and assemble for the attack on the Gallipoli peninsula. In March Vice-Admiral Sir Sackville H. Carden, the commander-in-chief, had to give up the command through ill health. His second-in-command, Rear-Admiral Sir John M. De Robeck , was junior to Wemyss, although older, but Wemyss with great public spirit himself proposed that De Robeck should succeed Carden with the acting rank of vice-admiral, remaining himself in charge of Mudros.

In April Wemyss was able to take an active part in the landing operations in command of the first naval squadron, being in charge of the Helles section, with his flag in his former flagship Euryalus, and having Lieutenant-General Sir Aylmer Hunter-Weston and his staff on board. Throughout this critical and dangerous work he maintained close co-operation with the military authorities, readily accepted ideas from his own officers, such as the celebrated beaching of the cargo ship River Clyde, and helped to maintain the morale of the whole expedition by his indomitable cheerfulness and imperturbability. In August he was mentioned in dispatches for his invaluable services in the Gallipoli landing.

In November, during De Robeck's absence on leave, Wemyss was appointed acting vice-admiral, transferring his flag to the Lord Nelson. Commodore (afterwards Admiral Lord) Keyes, De Robeck's chief of staff, had obtained his admiral's leave to go to London to urge one more naval attempt to get through the Straits before the evacuation recommended by General Sir Charles Monro [q.v.] was effected. De Robeck himself did not advise this proposal, but Wemyss enthusiastically pressed it upon the generals on the spot and by telegrams to A. J. Balfour [q.v.] , the first lord. But military opinion was adverse and the Admiralty did not support him. In the actual evacuation of Suvla and Anzac Wemyss, although detesting the decision to effect it, threw himself into the naval direction of the operation with courage and optimistic determination, thereby sustaining the spirits of doubting generals, and deserved a full share of credit for its being carried out almost without loss.

In January 1916 Wemyss was appointed K.C.B. for his Dardanelles service and commander-in-chief of the East Indies and Egypt station. The Euryalus was again his flagship and he soon found opportunities of effective co-operation with the military commanders in the defence of Egypt against the Turks and the Senussi rising and in the support of General Sir Archibald Murray's advance to Sinai. He then took his squadron to the Persian Gulf and went himself up the Tigris in a river-gunboat to try to relieve the critical situation in Mesopotamia. In a forlorn hope of saving the garrison of Major-General Sir C. V. F. Townshend [q.v.] at Kut from surrender he attempted to get a food ship through to the town; it failed, but he could not rightly refuse the military appeal for help. He then completed his tour of his station, visiting both India, where he saw the viceroy, Lord Chelmsford, and Ceylon, and, after meeting Rear-Admiral (Sir) W. L. Grant, commander-in-chief, China station, at Penang, he returned to Egypt in August in time to support the advance by General Sir Edmund Allenby [q.v.] into Palestine, and foster the Arab revolt by his patrols in the Red Sea. He established cordial relations with the Emir Feisal and T. E. Lawrence, as well as with the generals. He was confirmed in the rank of Vice-Admiral on 6 December, vice Warrender.

Allegedly, Wemyss told his successor as Commander-in-Chief, East Indies, Vice-Admiral Gaunt, "to look out for two troublemakers, a little pipsqueak called Lawrence in Arabia, and a tiresome nigger by the name of Gandhi."

In June 1917 under an agreement between Great Britain, France, and Italy it was decided to appoint a vice-admiral as commander-in-chief of the British ships in the Mediterranean with headquarters at Malta. Wemyss was offered and accepted the appointment, but on returning to London for instructions he was invited by Sir Eric Geddes [q.v.] , who had just succeeded Sir Edward Carson [q.v.] as first lord, to join his Board as second sea lord; that official had hitherto been expected to take the place of the first sea lord in his absence. But on further reflection Geddes decided to leave the second sea lord to carry on his personnel work and in September created a new office of deputy sea lord for Wemyss.

First Sea Lord

About Wemyss's suitability for the position of First Sea Lord, Lord Fisher was asked by George E. Buckle, lately editor of The Times, "BUT HAS HE BRAINS??" Fisher recounted, "I gave Buckle an evasive answer! I replied, "He has tact!"

Wemyss's intimate knowledge of foreign affairs and friendships with the leading French admirals with whom he served in the Allied naval command were of great advantage as the armistice with its international problems drew near, and he represented the Allied navies with conspicuous distinction together with Marshal Foch at the final capitulation of the Germans at Compiègne. His success in securing what he considered to be the minimum of naval terms in the settlement was only obtained after vigorous resistance to the readiness of some members of the War Cabinet to weaken them, and to the blank ignorance of the French generals about the naval conduct of the war. With the new year preparations for the Peace Conference began in Paris and Wemyss was charged with the difficult task of maintaining the naval interests of this country: as at the armistice he succeeded in spite of many obstacles in getting his terms accepted by both the Allied statesmen and the Germans.

Resignation & Retirement

At home Wemyss took a leading part in securing substantial increases in the remuneration of the naval service. His new chief in Whitehall was Walter Long [q.v.] , and, much hurt by an anonymous press agitation demanding his replacement by Sir David Beatty and by his exclusion in July from the list of peerages and money awards to the principal war leaders, in that month he asked his leave to resign. Long refused, but a few months later feeling himself out of sympathy with the government's attitude to the revolutionary Russian régime and to the maintenance of this country's naval supremacy, Wemyss decided definitely to resign and left office on 1 November 1919, being specially promoted Admiral of the Fleet on 29 December, dated 1 November. He was raised to the Peerage of the United Kingdom as Baron Wester Wemyss of Wemyss in the County of Fife on 20 November, resurrecting the title of an ancient Scottish barony in his family. He remained on half pay until he reached the age limit and retired in 1929, having received no further government employment as a governor or ambassador which he felt he had a right to expect, and lived mainly at Wemyss and at Cannes. But he was actively engaged as director of the Cables and Wireless Company and the British Oil Development Company, conducting a successful mission on behalf of the latter to the Middle East in 1927 and to South America on behalf of the former in 1929. He maintained his intense interest in foreign affairs and occasionally expressed his views in the House of Lords and in the press, particularly his hostility to the Turkish treaty of 1920, and to the Washington naval treaty of 1922.

Wester Wemyss much enjoyed his duties as president of the Institution of Naval Architects, which he became in 1928. He received honorary degrees from the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and St. Andrews, and the freedom of the last named city. His foreign decorations included the grand cordon of the Legion of Honour, the French médaille militaire (conferred by President Millerand at the unveiling of the Armistice monument in 1922), the United States D.S.M., and the highest distinctions of the other Allied countries.

Wester Wemyss possessed the great advantage of a most attractive courageous personality, although with no claim to deep technical knowledge in his profession. Nicknames are said to be some guide to a man's character, and the fact that he was universally known as ‘Rosy’ since childhood is a tribute to his bright and sunny disposition. He was a man of the world in the best sense of the phrase, with a simple faith in his own star and a cheerful optimism which carried him through many difficulties. A genial and generous host, he made friends readily and won the loyal devotion of his staff and subordinates. He had no opportunity of showing his qualities as a fleet leader, but as a naval statesman he deserved well of his country in maintaining to the full the great traditions of his post in Whitehall. His knowledge of French, much enhanced after his marriage by his wife's foreign connexions, contributed greatly to his intimate friendship with many of the great French officers of his time and made him a popular figure at many international meetings. He published in 1924 The Navy in the Dardanelles Campaign, a lively account of his own experiences and views.

Wester Wemyss married in 1903 Victoria, the only daughter of Sir Robert Burnett David Morier [q.v.] , the eminent diplomat, and had one daughter. He died at Cannes 24 May 1933 and was buried in the chapel garden of Wemyss Castle after preliminary services at Cannes and Westminster Abbey, at which naval honours were officially accorded to him.

There is a drawing of Wester Wemyss by Francis Dodd in the Imperial War Museum, and his portrait is included in Sir A. S. Cope's picture ‘Some Sea Officers of the Great War’, painted in 1921, in the National Portrait Gallery.

Bibliography

• "Lord Wester Wemyss" (Obituaries). The Times. Thursday, 25 May, 1933. Issue 46453, col B, pg. 18.
• "Lord Wester Wemyss: French Tributes at Funeral Service" (Obituaries). The Times. Monday, 29 May, 1933. Issue 46456, col D, pg. 13.
• "Lord Wester Wemyss: Official Arrangements for Funeral" (Obituaries). The Times. Tuesday, 30 May, 1933. Issue 46457, col D, pg. 18.
• "Lord Wester Wemyss: Appreciations" (Obituaries). The Times. Tuesday, 30 May, 1933. Issue 46457, col C, pg. 21.
• "Lord Wester Wemyss: Funeral Service at the Abbey" (Obituaries). The Times. Wednesday, 31 May, 1933. Issue 46458, col C, pg. 19.
• Wester Wemyss, Admiral of the Fleet Lord, G.C.B. (1924). The Navy in the Dardanelles Campaign. London: Hodder and Stoughton Limited.
• Wester Wemyss, Lady (1935). The Life and Letters of Lord Wester Wemyss. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode.

Papers

• Papers in the possession of Churchill College, Cambridge.

Service Records

• The National Archives. ADM 196/42.
• The National Archives. ADM 196/20.

Naval Offices
Preceded by Sir Richard H. Peirse	Commander-in-Chief on the East Indies Station 1916 - 1917	Succeeded by Ernest F. A. Gaunt
Preceded by Sir Cecil Burney	Second Sea Lord 1917	Succeeded by Sir Herbert L. Heath
Preceded by New Position	Deputy First Sea Lord 1917	Succeeded by George P. W. Hope
Preceded by Sir John Jellicoe	First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff 1917 – 1919	Succeeded by Sir David Beatty