Sydney Robert Fremantle
Admiral SIR Sydney Fremantle, G.C.B., M.V.O., Royal Navy (16 November, 1867 – 29 April, 1958) was an officer of the Royal Navy during the First World War. He is chiefly remembered for his command of the First Battle Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet at the time of the Scuttling of the High Sea Fleet in 1919.
Family Background
Sydney Robert Fremantle's great-grandfather was Admiral Sir Thomas Francis Fremantle (1765-1819), a friend of Nelson who had commanded Neptune, third ship in the weather division at Trafalgar. Sir Thomas died in 1819 while in command of the Mediterranean Fleet at Naples. Fremantle's grandfather was Thomas Francis Fremantle, First Baron Cottesloe (1798-1890), a leading Tory politician who in retirement settled at Swanbourne, Bucks.[1] Admiral Sir Thomas Fremantle had bought a property later known as "The Old House" in Swanbourne, which had passed on his death to the First Baron Cottesloe. Cottesloe then built a large house (now Swanbourne House School). A third house in the village known as "The Cottage" was the home of Fremantle's great-uncle Stephen who had retired from the Royal Navy in 1860 with the rank of Captain. Upon Stephen's death The Cottage passed to Fremantle's father, Edmund Robert Fremantle, then serving on the Australian Station in the Navy.[2]
Lieutenant
Commander
Captain
Admiralty Service
War Division
Dreadnought
Signal Committee
Sea Service & Dardanelles
Third Battle Squadron
Eastern Mediterranean Squadron
Further Sea Service
Board of Admiralty
First Battle Squadron
High Sea Fleet
Mediterranean Sojourn
Portsmouth Command
Retirement
Having stood down at Portsmouth, Fremantle decided to settle in his London flat so as to be near to his father, then in his ninetieth year. His wife Leila, who was in poor health, remained at their home in Cosham. Being only fifty-eight years old, but with no prospect of further service in the Navy, the Admiralty put pressure on him to retire. Fremantle presented himself to the First Lord of the Admiralty, then Sir William Bridgeman, and informed him that he did not wish to retire from the Service in the possible event of war, and also that he wished to equal the example of his father and of his great-uncle, who both reached the top of the Admirals' list.[3] Upon the death of Admiral of the Fleet John de Robeck, and the subsequent elevation of Henry Oliver to Admiral of the Fleet, the Admiralty sent Fremantle an advance copy of The Navy List showing him at the head of the list of Admirals. His goal reached, he expressed his wish to retire, but for it to be announced as being "at his own request" and not in order to further the advancement of junior officers.[4] He was placed on the Retired List on 5 April, 1928.[5]
In 1949 Fremantle published his memoirs, My Naval Career: 1880—1928. Naval historian Arther Marder, with whom Fremantle corresponded in his later years, wrote of the memoirs, "One of the more informative of naval autobiographies, with excellent descriptions of leading personalities."[6]
Mention in Despatches
FREMANTLE Sydney R MVO Rear Admiral RN 78A019
Commanding 2nd Cruiser Sqdn. C-in-C Grand Fleet 18.04.19 Gazetted
Action between H.M.S. Achilles & German Raider Mentioned in Despatches
That the Raider was intercepted and brought to action is the result of much patient work under trying conditions. Much credit is due to Rear Admiral Sydney R. Fremantle for his conduct of the Second Cruiser Squadron Patrol.
Who was Who
FREMANTLE, Admiral Sir Sydney Robert GCB, 1929 (KCB, 1919; CB 1917); MVO 1909
Born 16 Nov. 1867; e s of late Admiral Hon. Sir E. R. Fremantle, GCB, GCVO; m 1st, 1896, Leila Hope (d 1930), d of late Lieut David Delvin Fremantle, RN; two s two d; 2nd, 1931, Geraldine, widow of Lt-Col J. S. FitzGerald and d of Col Cooke-Collis, CMG, DL; died 29 April 1958
CAREER Entered RN 1881; Lieut 1887; Comdr 1899; Capt. 1903; Rear-Adm. 1913; Vice-Adm. 1919; Adm. 1922; served Dardanelles, 1915 (despatches); Commanded 9th Cruiser Squadron, 1916; 2nd Cruiser Squadron, 1917; Ægean Squadron, 1917–18; Deputy Chief of Naval Staff, 1918–19; Vice-Admiral commanding First Battle Squadron, 1919–21; Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth Station, 1923–26; retired list, 1928; is a Commander of Legion of Honour, Commander of the Order of the Redeemer of Greece, a Commander of the Order of St Maurice and St Lazarus of Italy, and has the 2nd Class of the Order of the Rising Sun of Japan, and the US of America Distinguished Service Medal; awarded Beaufort Testimonial, 1888; Goodenough Gold Medal, 1888
PUBLICATIONS My Naval Career, 1880–1928, 1949; part author Nautical Terms and Phrases in French and English; article on Naval Ordnance in Ency. Brit.; Magazine and Press articles on Naval subjects
RECREATIONS Golf, dowsing
CLUB Naval and Military
ADDRESS 30 Bullingham Mansions, Church Street, Kensington, W8 Western 2071
Footnotes
Bibliography
- "Adml. Sir Sydney Fremantle" (Obituaries). The Times. Wednesday, 30 April, 1958. Issue 54138, col B, pg. 14.
- Fremantle, Admiral Sir Sydney Robert (1949). My Naval Career: 1880–1928. London: Hutchinson & Co. (Publishers) Ltd.
- Parry, Ann (1971). The Admirals Fremantle: 1788-1920. London: Chatto & Windus. ISBN 070111603X.
Service Record
- The National Archives. ADM 196/42
- 1867 births
- 1958 deaths
- Personalities
- Commanding Officers of H.M.S. Albion (1898)
- Commanding Officers of H.M.S. Cæsar (1896)
- Commanding Officers of H.M.S. Lancaster (1902)
- Assistant Directors of Naval Mobilisation (Royal Navy)
- Commanding Officers of H.M.S. Dreadnought (1906)
- Heads of the Signal Section (Royal Navy)
- Rear-Admirals in the Third Battle Squadron (Royal Navy)
- Rear-Admirals in the Eastern Mediterranean Squadron (Royal Navy)
- Rear-Admirals Commanding, Ninth Cruiser Squadron (Royal Navy)
- Rear-Admirals Commanding, Second Cruiser Squadron (Royal Navy)
- Deputy Chiefs of the Naval Staff
- Vice-Admirals Commanding, First Battle Squadron (Royal Navy)
- Commanders-in-Chief, Portsmouth
- Royal Navy Admirals
- Royal Navy Flag Officers