ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET LORD TOVEY of Langton Matravers, G.C.B., K.B.E.,
D.S.O., D.C.L.
(b. 1885, d. 1971)
Lord
Tovey's place in history as a great admiral is assured; the memory of
Jack Tovey the man must not be allowed to fade. He was unquestionably a
great and good man, with a tremendous personality, outstanding courage,
great force of character and complete integrity. He had a profound
belief in God and in the power of prayer, but was no 'God-botherer'
sanctimoniously condemning sin and frivolity.
He had immense determination and his pursuit of any objective was
relentless. He wasn't ambitious, but he took immense pains to master
every aspect of his profession; he was a fine seaman and ship-handler
and a great student of strategy and tactics. He constantly schooled
himself to foresee every conceivable situation that might arise and to
work out in detail the best way of dealing with it; in consequence he
met any crisis with calmness and assurance and acquired the reputation
of being an extraordinary quick thinker in emergency. He always did what
he knew to be right and fought against what he believed to be wrong
with absolutely no consideration of possible prejudice to his career.
He had no false modesty: he knew that he had the gift of leadership and
he used it to great effect; men trusted him instinctively and would do
anything for him. He understood men extraordinarily well, and to watch
him as a Captain at the request and defaulters table was an education.
He had an unerring flair for getting at the truth; he was sympathetic
and understanding with men in trouble not entirely of their own making,
and some of his punishments were certainly not in the book but were
extremely effective.
He took endless pains in training young officers and ratings, and had
an uncanny ability to assess their potential and their limitations and
to get the best out of them, steadying the wayward and putting heart
into the diffident and discouraged. He could allow for human frailty,
but sloth, dishonesty and disloyalty he would not tolerate. Men found it
easy to talk to him, and he would always listen to and respect the views
of his juniors and encourage then to accept responsibility and show
initiative. 'Back-seat driving" he abhorred, and showed astonishing
forbearance in refraining from interfering unless to do so became
essential.
He had no pomposity at all - even when he became a Lord. He had an
impish sense of humour and loved nothing better than a successful
leg-pull. Modest about his major achievements, he could be boyishly
elated about success in small things. He had some little vanities and
was always immaculately turned out. he loved good company, was a jovial
host and a good raconteur, and enjoyed good food and good wine.
His appearance was impressive. Although he was stocky, he held himself
well and looked the athlete he indeed was - he had been a schoolboy
soccer international and played golf for the Navy. His face was
extraordinarily impressive; he laughed heartily and had a delightful
smile with a wonderful twinkle. When serious he could look very grim,
and when he was angry - and sometimes he got very angry indeed - one
could tell at a glance that it was time to stand from under. His wrath
was devastating but usually short-lived, and if he blasted anyone
unjustly he invariably apologised afterwards.
He had a pleasant speaking voice with an unmistakable ring of authority
about it, and with increasing seniority he developed into an impressive
speaker, choosing his words with care and delivering them with sincerity
and conviction. His speeches were never too long and were always
appropriate to the occasion, with a serious content happily spiced with
a leavening of humour. On a subject that moved him deeply he could be
inspiring.
He was very very British and had some rather old fashioned ideas about
foreigners, but he got on extremely well with the Americans and had a
tremendous admiration in particular for the Polish, Dutch and Norwegians
who came under his command in the Home Fleet.
John Cronyn Tovey was born in
1885. His father was a Colonel in the Royal Engineers, his mother a
Canadian from Halifax, Nova Scotia. He went very early to Durnford's,
the well known preparatory school in Dorset, and stayed there for almost
seven years. With his parents abroad, it was virtually his home, and he
remained devoted to the headmaster, Thomas Pellatt, and his wife. That
he had such happy recollections of his schooldays may in part be due to
his prowess at games: he made some prodigious scores for the Cricket XI.
He entered Brittania as a
cadet at the age of 14 and went to sea as a midshipman in 1901, having
the invaluable experience of being the 'doggie' to the famous 'Tug'
Wilson who, a few years later asked Tovey to be appointed to the Exmouth. Tovey always maintained
that he learned a tremendous lot from his appointment although he did
not altogether enjoy being a harbour watch-keeper in the fleet flagship;
one anecdote he often told of this commission illustrates both his
dislike of back-seat driving and his moral courage. He was hoisting
boats when the Commander came and stood behind him and began giving
orders. Tovey peeled off his white gloves, unbuckled his sword belt,
handed them to the astonished Commander and went below. He never
disclosed what the immediate outcome was, but it evidently did not
prejudice his career.
The beginning of the 1914-1918 war found Tovey as the first lieutenant
of the cruiser Amphion, the
first British warship to receive damage in action. By 1916 he was a
lieutenant-commander of the destroyer Onslow
in the 13th Flotilla of the Grand Fleet, and it was in the Onslow that he so distinguished
himself at Jutland. With only the Moresby
in company - they had been screening the seaplane carrier Engadine - Tovey found himself near
'Windy Corner' where Admiral Evan-Thomas' battle squadron was heavily
engaged with Hipper's battle cruisers and a large part of the High Seas
Fleet. Without hesitation Tovey lead his two destroyers in to attack
under very heavy fire, but although they created a helpful diversion
they were forced to turn away. Some time later, intent on sinking the
crippled Wiesbaden, he found
that the German battle-cruisers had turned on a course that would give
him a chance of attacking with torpedoes. As he gave the order to fire
the Onslow was hit amidships by
a heavy shell and only one torpedo left the tubes.
He found that although the Onslow
was very badly damaged and barely able to steam he still had three
torpedoes capable of being fired. He slowly closed the Wiesbaden and had just hit her under
the bridge with one torpedo when a line of German battleships appeared
out of the mist.
Although to do so meant that the Onslow
would almost certainly be sunk, Tovey at once turned towards them and
limping in at barely ten knots, was able to get within 8,000 yards
before firing his last two torpedoes which the enemy had to manoeuvre to
avoid. Miraculously, the Onslow
survived, and arrived at Aberdeen two days later towed by the Defender. Tovey was awarded the
D.S.O.
In 1916 Tovey married Aida, daughter of John Rowe.
For the next sixteen years all his sea-time was spent in destroyers and
his first command as a captain was as Captain (D), but he held some
interesting and arduous shore appointments which widened his experience:
as a commander in the Operations Division; as Assistant Director of the
Tactical School, and as Naval Assistant to the Second Sea Lord. Then in
the spring of 1932, he found himself in a big ship for the first time
for very many years. Used to handling destroyers, Tovey admitted to
feeling some trepidation when he first looked out of the Rodney's bridge windows over the three
massive turrets and saw the jackstaff in the dim distance, but he
enjoyed the challenge of mastering such an unwieldy monster that was so
reluctant to turn off the wind. Many years later, intrigued by the
remarkable manoeuvres a good coxswain could perform in a motorcutter
with a Kitchen rudder, he commented that it was a pity that the Nelson and the Rodney could not have been so fitted.
The memory of the part that the Rodney
had played in the Invergordon mutiny a year earlier needed to be
expunged quickly and completely, and Tovey was just the man, as Their
Lordships had evidently appreciated, to achieve this object.
His impact was magical, and the Rodney
quickly became a happy and efficient ship. He demanded the highest
standard of every department and stressed their interdependence; no one
was allowed to feel unimportant.
Tovey did not
always see eye to eye with his Commander-in-Chief and was inclined to
express his views forcibly. In later years he often quoted one paragraph
from Joe Kelly's confidential report: "Captain Tovey shares one
characteristic with me. In myself I call it tenacity of purpose; in
Captain Tovey I can only describe it as sheer bloody obstinacy".
From the Rodney, after doing
the senior Officers' War Course, Tovey went as a Commodore, Royal Naval
Barracks, Chatham. It was at that time a huge command, being not only a
holding depot for many thousands of ratings but comprising large
training and new entry departments, the port division drafting and
mobilisation organisations and the Chatham gunnery and signal schools.
During the Abyssinia crisis Tovey learnt all there was to know about
the immense problems of manning the fleet for rapid wartime expansion.
He came to the top of the Captain's list after two years at Chatham and
was promoted to remain in the appointment as a Rear Admiral. One of his
favourite anecdotes hangs on this. Gieves did a rush job for him, and on
the morning after his promotion was announced he was walking to his
office, very conscious of the extra stripe, when a sailor failed to
salute him.
Tovey called him over and asked him tersely why he had not saluted. The
sailor happened to be a young R.N.V.R. rating.
"I'm terribly sorry Sir", he replied,
"I didn't notice you".
"Didn't notice?" said Tovey, and pointing to his sleeve, "Don't you
know what these stripes mean?"
"But of course, Sir - the lowest form of Admiral".
Tovey's first flag appointment was the one he would have chosen:
R.A.(D) Mediterranean. Oddly enough, he had never served 'up the
Straits' before, but he got to know the Mediterranean very thoroughly in
the next two years. He enjoyed the spells in Malta in his attractive
residence, Casa Pieta, and made very good use of its tennis court. Twice
he was called on to take his turn as Senior British Officer in Spanish
waters during the Spanish Civil War and show firmness and resource in
handling some tricky international incidents, and troubles at the other
end of the Mediterranean took him to Haifa; but all the time he was
bringing his flotillas to the peak of efficiency, and at the outbreak of
war in 1939 they were a magnificent fighting force. It was a bitter
disappointment to him that he was denied the opportunity of leading them
into action.
With Italy remaining neutral, the first nine months of the war were
sadly frustrating for Tovey, as they were for the Commander-in-Chief he
so greatly admired, Andrew Cunningham. The greater part of the fleet was
withdrawn to reinforce other commands, and Tovey in the Galatea did nothing more exciting
than escort troop convoys through the Mediterranean under no serious
threat and exercise contraband control in the Aegean. It was a most
galling experience, made worse early in 1940 when even the Galatea was taken from him and he
and his staff were put ashore in Malta to await another flagship, his
command comprising only the five aged destroyers of the Royal Australian
Navy that were later to harass Italy's submarines so effectively.
In the early summer of 1940 it became obvious that Italy would soon
abandon her neutrality, and the Mediterranean Fleet began to build up
again and by the 10th June when Italy declared war quite an imposing
Fleet, very different in composition from that of the previous summer,
had assembled at Alexandria, together with a large French force. Tovey
became Vice Admiral Light Forces and Second-in-Command, with his flag in
the Orion and nine cruisers and
a mixed bag of some twenty-five destroyers under his command, and his
period of frustrating inactivity ended. But there was still
disappointingly little action. His bombardment of Bardia, with the Malaya and the French battleship Lorraine, was spectacular but
turned out to have done little damage. The seventh Cruiser Squadron
engaged three Italian destroyers at extreme range and sank one, but did
not please Cunningham by expending so much ammunition in doing so;
reserves at Alexandria were negligible. The Italian air force was more
enterprising than the Italian navy, and the daylight high-level bombing,
was a constant nerve-wrecking nuisance as until the Coventry arrived on station with
radar there was never any warning of an attack; the first thing the
lookouts saw were the bombs falling.
At last, in July, the Italian main fleet ventured out when Cunningham
was in a position to intercept, and there seemed to be every prospect of
a major fleet action. Tovey led his cruisers straight at the battle
fleet, coming under very heavy fire from the big ships and at the same
time engaging four enemy eight-inch cruisers; but before he could press
home the attack the enemy turned away under a smoke screen. So he was
denied the chance of demonstrating fully the merit of the unorthodox
'end-on approach' which he advocated so strongly against the advice of
the gunnery specialists who favoured keeping the A-arcs open.
That was the last action Tovey saw in the Mediterranean, though units
of his light forces were always active and he was particularly delighted
by the Sydney's sinking of the Bartolomeo Collini. In November he
was appointed Commander-In-Chief, Home Fleet in the acting rank of
Admiral and hoisted his flag in the Nelson,
transferring a few months later in the King George V.
The Home Fleet's fighting efficiency was unquestioned, but Tovey
appreciated that its maintenance depended on the morale of the officers
and men being sustained, and their lot that winter was a particularly
trying one; long periods at sea, often in filthy weather with the hope
of action repeatedly frustrated; little relaxation when in the harbour,
and for most the constant nagging anxiety about families in danger from
the bombing. It was a hard life. When Tovey came under strong pressure
to move to a shore headquarters in order to better control fleet
movements without the inhibition of wireless silence, it was mainly due
to this consideration of morale that decided him to resist the
suggestion adamantly. He believed that officers and men were heartened
by the knowledge that their Commander-in-Chief shared their dangers and
anxieties and at least some of their hardships and discomforts. The
right place for an Admiral, he maintained, was the bridge of his
flagship, not a hole in the ground.
The Bismarck episode six
months later confirmed his resolve to stay at sea. Once he had made his
initial dispositions and sailed from Scapa subsequent movements had to
be directed by the Admiralty, but he had complete faith that the right
moves would be made, and they were. Nevertheless the strain on the
Commander-in-Chief at sea was enormous. The decision when and whither to
sail his main force was crucial; the news of the Hood's sinking and the damage to the Prince of Wales was shattering; and
when it was clear that he had no hope of catching the Bismarck unless she could be slowed,
he had to take the desperate chance of sending the partly trained
squadrons of the Victorious in
to attack at extreme range. The partial success of this gallant venture
was followed by the news that the shadowing cruisers had lost contact,
and for the next 31 hours Tovey had to live with the knowledge that his
quarry, only slightly damaged, was loose in the Atlantic capable of
wrecking havoc. It was his job to find and destroy her, and he had no
clue in which direction to seek. When at last she was sighted by the
Catalina of Coastal Command, he realised that he could not catch her
unless she could again be slowed - as she was by the gallant attack by
the Ark Royal squadrons.
Yet, after so many days and nights of almost unbearable strain, Tovey
remained calm and clear-headed. Before the pursuing force caught up with
the Bismarck he went to his sea
cabin for a few minutes and, he afterwards revealed, prayed that our
ships might be spared further heavy casualties. That his prayer was
granted he had no doubt; his inspired decision to defer engaging until
the morning may well have been the means.
It was an astonishing decision, made without any consultation even with
his Chief of Staff, 'Daddy' Brind, who was amazed by it. But while
everyone was tensed up waiting for the order to open fire, Tovey had
walked the bridge wing and looked thoughtfully astern and appreciated
that while the Bismarck was
almost invisible in the murk, our ships would be clearly silhouetted
against the streak of light running across the western horizon under the
dark clouds; and he had complete faith that Vian's destroyers could
shadow throughout the night.
His decision afforded further vindication of Tovey's insistence on
leading his fleet at sea: no Commander-in-Chief in a remote operations
room could have made it. And it demonstrated Tovey's moral courage, for
had by some awful mischance something gone wrong the outcome would have
been disastrous. But everything went as he had planned and the enemy was
duly brought to action and sunk in the morning with no damage to our
ships.
One problem remained: the King
George V had barely enough fuel left to get her home at reduced
speed, so Tovey reluctantly decided to turn for home as soon as it was
clear that the Bismarck was
sinking. He had not welcomed the Admiralty signal, obviously inspired by
Churchill, that the Bismarck
was to be sunk even if the King
George V had to be towed home, and he was even more stung when he
got back to Scapa by Churchill's severe criticism of Admiral
Wake-Walkers (C.S.I.) and Captain Leach (Prince of Wales) for not
pressing home the attack on the Bismarck
in the Denmark Strait. Tovey maintained that they had acted perfectly
correctly, and as he would have done, in shadowing rather than
attacking, and when the Prime Minister threatened to have them brought
to trial by court martial Tovey reacted by saying that he would resign
his command to act as the accused's friend. The idea was dropped.
Tovey saw no further action himself during the next two years, but the
strain remained intense. A great deal of it was caused by his growing
concern about the lack of long range air cover and his conviction that
it was wrong to try to run the Russian convoys during the long daylight
hours of summer. He fought tenaciously to get his views accepted; the
Naval staff knew he was right, but the First Sea Lord, Sir Dudley Pound
seemed unable to get the Prime Minister to agree. Convoy PQ17,
tragically, proved how right Tovey was.
In the long winter months Tovey hardly ever got ashore and there was
little relaxation for him whether at sea or in Scapa or an Iceland
anchorage. The summer was a little better: he occasionally got in a
quick round of golf on the Flotta course, and the visits of VIP's at
least afforded a change of company. Some guests - Archbishop of
Canterbury, for instance - he found immensely stimulating, but there
were one or two he could well have done without.
The highlights, of course, were the King's two visits. The King was
extraordinarily considerate in bringing a very small staff with him and
causing the least possible dislocation, but got through an extremely
energetic programme and was a tremendous inspiration to the fleet. On
the occasion of the first visit, Task Force 99 of the united States Navy
was at Scapa, and the Americans were terrifically impressed when in
really filthy Scapa weather which they had assumed would necessitate
cancelling the programme, the King made the hazardous trip by barge to
the Washington and, wearing no
greatcoat or Burberry, spent an hour walking around the assembled ship's
companies of the Force on the upper deck of the flagship in lashing
rain. Tovey's intense admiration for the King was enhanced even more
when, entertaining the American Flag and commanding officers, His
Majesty didn't bat an eyelid when one destroyer captain exclaimed 'Say,
King, were you really at Jutland?'.
On the first of his visits, the King gave Tovey the accolade of the
K.C.B. which he had received in the New Year Honours, and on the second
presented him with the insignia of the K.B.E.
The Prime Minister also paid two visits to the Home Fleet while Tovey
was Commander-in-Chief. He brought an enormous entourage with him which
caused immense problems. His visits were most heartening for the Fleet
but very exhausting for Tovey even though Lord Moran tried hard to get
Churchill to turn in at a reasonable hour. On one of his visits the
Prime Minister demanded to see a demonstration of a strange weapon which
on his insistence had been installed on the flagship's forecastle. It
had been invented by Professor Lindemann who claimed it would provide
the perfect defence against low level air attack. The thing, a sort of
multi-barrelled mortar, fired a great covey of canisters which at preset
range discharged small bombs dangling from parachutes. A sudden drift of
wind caused the whole lot to drift back towards the ship, some getting
caught up in the upper works and rigging. It was a good thing that it
was only a trial and that the bombs were dummies. The marvellous weapon
was hoisted out at the first opportunity.
Tovey was delighted at Lindemann's discomfiture. His unconcealed scorn
for "the Prof" and his bright ideas must have riled the Prime Minister
and may have been one of the cause of the deteriorating relationship
between Churchill and Tovey which was further soured by Tovey's
outspoken disagreement with the Russian convoy policy. But despite the
Prime Minister's annoyance at what he considered to be the
Commander-in-Chief's obstructionist attitude, Tovey remained in his
appointment for the full two and half years until he was relieved by
Bruce Fraser and went as Commander-in-Chief, the Nore, in June 1943. It
was fitting that the destroyer which took him from Scapa to Thurso was
the Onslow.
So long as the war in Europe lasted, the operational responsibilities
of the Nore Command were very heavy, controlling the East coast convoys
and the vast minesweeping organisation being two of the main tasks, and
the command was very actively engaged in the build-up for the invasion
of Normandy. For the first time Tovey had to exchange the bridge of his
flagship for a 'hole in the ground' and spent much of his days and
nights in the 'Tunnel', the huge combined headquarters deep under the
grounds of the Admiralty House. But at least the long years of
separation were over and the Tovey's could enjoy being together and
entertaining in the gracious house with its lovely gardens and tennis
courts, fortunately unscathed by the enemy bombing.
Much of the strain was lifted after VE day, but the task was little
less onerous and demobilisation provided countless problems which Tovey
tackled with flair. He was horrified to find, for instance, that
Gunners' mates and T.G.M.'s were being classed at the employment
Exchange in the lowly category of 'mates'; his strong representation to
the Admiralty resulted in immediate change of title to Gunnery
Instructor and T.G.I. He wasn't always so successful: He was furious at
his inability to prevent invaliding, as 'below Naval physical standard',
of a keen and efficient young signalman who had lost a little finger,
and equally angry at the rejection for alleged colour blindness of a boy
he knew would have made a first class officer. He discovered that the
boy, whose colour vision was perfectly good for all practical purposes,
had made some mistakes in the stringent Ishihara test which was no doubt
excellent for testing the ability to match colours for paint mixing.
Tovey demanded to take the test himself, and astounded the testing
officer by being delighted at failing it dismally - which enabled him to
point out forcefully to the Admiralty that if this silly test had been
used in 1899 he would have been rejected, and he had never had any
difficulty distinguishing red, green and white lights.
During this, his last active appointment, honours showered upon Tovey.
He had been made a G.C.B. before leaving the Home Fleet. He was promoted
to Admiral of the Fleet in 1943, became First and Principal ADC in 1945,
an Honorary D.C.L. (Oxon) in 1946. He was awarded the United States
Legion of Merit, the Grand Cross of the Phoenix of Greece, and the
Russian Order of Suvarov (which he never wore). In 1946 he was offered a
barony. The thought of being a Lord at first appalled him, and when he
got over the shock he was much exercised about what title to take. 'Of
Scapa' was already taken, 'Of the Atlantic' sounded too bombastic, and
he resisted a suggestion from his staff that he might emulate Lord
Alanbrooke and become Lord JackTovey. Eventually he chose the Dorset
village where he had spent his preparatory schooldays - Langton
Matravers.
After leaving the Nore in 1946 he continued to work enthusiastically
for the service he loved and the causes be believed in. Besides taking
his seat in the House of Lords he was, amongst other things, a Church
Commissioner, and President of the R.N.B.T. of King George's Fund for
Sailors and of the Shaftsbury Training Ships, and was so busy that,
although he had been elected a member of the senior Golfing Society, he
hardly had any time for golf - or fishing. Regrettably, his tenure of
all these offices had to end after a few years when he decided that he
must devote his whole time looking after Lady Tovey who was becoming
increasingly crippled by arthritis. Thereafter he took little part in
public life; they travelled extensively in a vain search for a climate
that would ease Lady Tovey's suffering, and eventually settled in
Dorset. The Lady Tovey died in 1970, and Lord Tovey a year later at the
age of eighty-six. He was buried privately in Swanage and a memorial
service was held in Westminster Abbey in 1972. In 1974 a beautiful
memorial tablet to the Toveys was unveiled in the lovely old church at
Langton Matravers. Sadly, there is no heir to the barony.
R.W.P.
[This 'obituary note' is
reprinted with the permission of Ian Gardiner, from a family member's
collection, to further knowledge of Admiral Lord John "Jack" Tovey. It was also
printed in The Naval Review Vol. 68 No. 3 in July 1980]
Langton Matravers Church
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------In mid-February 2003, Fran and I
visited the church (left) at Langton Matravers to see the memorial to
Admiral Tovey. It was a crisp, clear day with a cold wind blowing off
the sea, so it was a relief to find the church open.
The memorial tablet (right) to Admiral Tovey and his wife Aida, holds a prime position at the back of
the church just inside the main doors.------ |
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In April 2003, we received a note from the Rector of Langton Matravers:
Thank you for your interesting site about "Jack" Tovey. I am pleased you visited Langton Matravers earlier this year. However you failed to make mention of Tovey's Standard, which at one time was situated in Westminster Abbey (Henry VII Chapel) and is now laid up in Langton. It is hanging from the west (tower) wall nearly above the Tovey memorial. In addition the Tovey grave is very fine and may be found in the Godslington Cemetery just outside Swanage near the brick works.
I am myself compiling a little booklet about Admiral Tovey. It will be available in the church shortly.
Blessings,
Robert Watton
Rector of Langton Matravers, Worth Matravers, and Kingston
Robert Watton retired in October 2003, and we were extremely sorry to hear that he passed away in August 2004.
In January 2018, we received the following email from a member of the church
in Langton Matravers - please get in touch if you are in a position to help:
I am a member of St George's Church Langton and for the last 59 years
of my life I have been aware of the Tovey flag that is hanging from a pole
in the church. This flag has over this period deteriorated to the extent
that large parts are missing, I think it is being held together by cobwebs!
As it hangs over our coffee serving area some are concerned about the
hygiene aspect. More importantly, it is very in need of a more suitable
loving home, and perhaps a refurbishment. We feel the plaque in memory of
Admiral Tovey is sufficient and we would like the family to remove and take
responsibility for his flag, of course as with every church we are short on
funds and we do not have the money to maintain this important memory.
I hope someone will read this and perhaps we can start a dialogue ?
