Alexander Boyd Greig

Captain Alexander Boyd Greig, D.S.O., O.B.E. (2 December, 1888 – 31 May, 1943) was an officer in the Royal Navy.

Life & Career

Born in Middlesex, Grieg gained two and a half months time on passing out of Britannia in May of 1905. Greig was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 22 June, 1911.

Grieg was appointed to the battleship Orion on 10 January, 1912 and "specially contributed to good Battle Practice".

He was appointed to Arrogant for instruction in submarines on 31 July, 1912 and switched to Dolphin one month later.

Great War

Grieg was appointed to the submarine tender Maidstone for command of submarines in July, 1914. This likely resulted in a string of unrecorded commands of submarines operating out of her operating base at Harwich, as such submarine command appointments were often not spelled out in Navy Lists or Service Records.

On 19 May, 1915, he was recommended for and received on vellum a Royal Humane Society award for his rescue of two boys from drowning near Ipswich on April 4.

In 1915, he was granted permission to accept and wear the Order of St. Vladimir, First Class, conferred by the Russian Government for his part in the sinking the German armoured cruiser Prinz Adalbert on 23 October.

On 1 January, 1917, Grieg was appointed in command of H.M.S. V 2. He left her when he was appointed in command of E 53 on 16 August, 1917.

Greig was appointed in command of the submarine L 3 on 9 September, 1918.

Post-War

Greig was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Commander on 22 June, 1919.

Greig was promoted to the rank of Commander on 30 June, 1925.

When in command of K 26 in April, 1926, Grieg was faulted for failing to land cordite for testing. Later that same year, he and Robert Ross Turner were thanked by the Admiralty for helping supply electrical power at dockside from submarines under his command during a general strike.

On 17 October, 1928, he was admitted to Chatham Hospital for treatment of a facial cyst. He was found fit five days later.

On 20 December, 1928, Grieg's succession of submarine-related appointments was interrupted by an appointment as executive officer in the light cruiser H.M.S. Curacoa. He remained there until January, 1931. In April, he was appointed to Dolphin.

On 18 June, 1935, he was admitted to Haslar Hospital with Pyorrhoea Alveolaris, which would require extraction of multiple teeth. He was fit on the 24th.

Greig was placed on the Retired List at his own request with the rank of Captain on 16 September, 1935. He was made the Captain Superintendent of Nautical College, Pangbourne the same day.

World War II

In 1938, it was decided that Grieg would be among the first required to report upon mobilisation, likely for service in command of a new armed merchant cruiser approaching her commissioning date. There is no record that such an appointment actually transpired. Grieg was appointed as Naval Officer in Charge, Weymouth on 16 September, 1941 vice Palmes.

Grieg reverted to the Retired List on 22 December, 1942. He died of colon cancer five months later.

See Also

• Service Records
• Wikipedia

Naval Appointments
Preceded by A. Gordon Hine	Captain of H.M.S. V 2 1 Jan, 1917 – 16 Aug, 1917	Succeeded by Eric R. Reed
Preceded by ?	Captain of H.M.S. E 53 16 Aug, 1917 – 9 Sep, 1918	Succeeded by Lawrence H. Bayley
Preceded by Robert H. T. Raikes	Captain of H.M.S. L 3 9 Sep, 1918 – Dec, 1922	Succeeded by Gerald G. Slade
Preceded by Richard H. B. Everard	Captain of H.M.S. Alecto 24 Apr, 1923 – 7 Sep, 1924	Succeeded by Edward G. Stanley
Preceded by Oswald E. Hallifax	Captain of H.M.S. K 6 14 Sep, 1924 – 13 Nov, 1925	Succeeded by ?
Preceded by Anthony B. Lockhart	Captain of H.M.S. K 26 13 Nov, 1925 – 19 Jul, 1926	Succeeded by Claud B. Barry
Preceded by Alfred G. Hine	Captain of H.M.S. Fermoy 11 Aug, 1926 – 15 Aug, 1927	Succeeded by Edward A. Aylmer
Preceded by George P. Thomson	Captain of H.M.S. Vulcan 15 Aug, 1927 – 15 Sep, 1927	Succeeded by Charles de Burgh
Preceded by George P. Thomson as Captain (S), Sixth Submarine Flotilla	Commander (S), Sixth Submarine Flotilla 15 Aug, 1927 – 15 Sep, 1927	Succeeded by Charles de Burgh
Preceded by Edward A. Aylmer	Captain of H.M.S. Fermoy 15 Sep, 1927 – 8 Sep, 1928	Succeeded by John G. Sutton