Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 21, 2023 21:51:03 GMT 12
I just discovered that from 1933 to 1935 a New Zealander, Captain J.S.M. Ritchie, commanded the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Furious.
Here is a biography of him from the Evening Star, 5 November 1935:
N.Z. REAR-ADMIRAL
CAPTAIN J. S. M. RITCHIE'S PROMOTION
THIRTY-SIX YEARS IN NAVY
BECOMES DOMINION'S FIRST FLAG OFFICER
The first New Zealander to be appointed a flag officer of the Royal Navy, Captain J. S. M. Ritchie, A.D.C., R.N., has been promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral and placed oh the retired list. As captain of the cruisers Dunedin and Diomede, he had the honour of being the first New Zealand-born naval man to command a ship of war in Dominion waters.
A gunnery expert, he was gunnery commander of H.M.S. St. Vincent at the Battle of Jutland and, later, of H.M.S. Iron Duke, Admiral of the Fleet Jellicoe’s flagship. High administrative posts were given him, the positions he occupied being Director of Training and Staff Duties, executive commander of Malaya, which made two historical missions to Germany and India, and Naval Attaché at the British Embassy at Washington. His has been a distinguished record of service.
Rear-Admiral Ritchie is a member of a highly esteemed and prominent Dunedin family. He is the fourth son of the late Mr and Mrs J. M. Ritchie. His father founded, with Mr G. G. Russell, the stock and station firm, which was later absorbed to give the National Mortgage and Agency Company an interest in New Zealand. His brother (Mr George R. Ritchie) is now general manager of the company in the Dominion. His mother will long be remembered for her social work and philanthropy, particularly in the Anglican Church. An elder brother is Dr Russell Ritchie, a gynecologist, whose work at the Batchelor Hospital where medical students have received their midwifery training was distinguished. Other brothers are Mr W. T. Ritchie, now living in retirement near Timaru, and the Rev. C. H. Ritchie, vicar of St. John’s Anglican Church. Edinburgh. Another brother, J. N., went to England at the outbreak of the Great War, received a commission in the Seaforth Highlanders, and was killed in action in Mesopotamia. An only sister is Mrs McKenzie of Vancouver.
The sailor son was born in Dunedin on March 12, 1884, and was educated here and at Wanganui College. Before reaching the age of 15 years he left New Zealand to enter on a naval career, in which he has acquitted himself with distinction and built up a record now honoured by the Lords of the Admiralty. In April, 1899, he joined H.M.S. Britannia, the training ship at Dartmouth. Eighth of a famous line bearing the name, the Britannia was launched as a 131-gun screw ship at Portsmouth in 1860. Soon afterwards she was renamed H.M.S. Prince of Wales, but in 1869, when she proceeded to Dartmouth as a training ship for naval cadets, she was again given the name of Britannia. For over 50 years this 6,201-ton ship lay in the River Dart as a training vessel, and among her famous pupils were the Duke of Clarence and his brother Prince George (now His Majesty the King). They were stationed as cadets on her from June 5, 1877, to July 24, 1879, and 20 years later James Ritchie commenced his career below her decks, and he had seen many parts of the world from the after deck of His Majesty’s ships before 1905, when a naval college on shore took over most of the old ship’s duties.
ON A ROYAL ESCORT.
Passing out of the Britannia as a midshipman, in September, 1900, he was sent as such to H.M.S. Hannibal, a battleship of the Channel Fleet. Of the Majestic class, the Hannibal was built in 1897, and had a displacement of 14,900 tons. She carried four 12in guns, 12 6in guns, 16 12-pounders, and 12 three-pounders, and was equipped with five torpedo tubes.
Three months later he was transferred, to the old cruiser Royal Arthur, and served as a “middy” in her till November, 1903, during which time the ship, which, built in 1893, was of 7,700 tons, but three knots faster, than the Hannibal, gained fame in historical annals as the escort around Australia and New Zealand of R.M.S. Ophir. carrying the Duke and Duchess of York and Cornwall, now their Majesties. The Royal Arthur was attached to the Australian Fleet.
Now an acting, sub-lieutenant, James Ritchie returned to England and took his courses at Greenwich and Portsmouth; 20 years later he was back there, this time in charge. Completing his sub-lieutenant’s courses, he joined H.M.S. Griffin, of the Mediterranean Fleet, and six months later he was transferred as a lieutenant to H.M.S. Lancaster, also stationed in Mediterranean waters. From January, 1906, till. August, 1907, he was on the Lancaster, one of the 1900 county class cruisers built in 1904, displacing 9,800 tons.
In the following two years, when he was qualifying as a gunnery lieutenant, he was on H.M.S. Excellent at Portsmouth and at Greenwich and in August, 1909, he was appointed to the staff of His Majesty’s Gunnery School at Chatham. Returning to the sea eight months later, he was a lieutenant on the famous H.M.S. Vindictive, in the Channel Fleet. The Vindictive, a light cruiser of 5,750 tons, ended her days in the celebrated Zeebrugge raid, when she was sunk at the mole entrance.
THE EAST AND THE WAR.
Lieutenant Ritchie had his first visit to the East in May, 1910, when he went out to the China Station on H.M.S. Newcastle, a new light cruiser of the Bristol class, displacing 4,800 tons and having a speed of 25 knots. Over two years’ service in China waters was followed by short leave, and in January, 1913, he joined the Home Fleet as Lieutenant-commander of H.M.S. St. Vincent, the first dreadnaught of her class. The St. Vincent, which was built in 1910, was of 19,250 tons, had a speed of 21 knots, and carried a complement of 870. Her armoury was 10 12in guns, 18 4in guns, and three torpedo tubes.
He was the gunnery officer of this ship in the Battle of Jutland, on May 31, 1916. The St. Vincent, under Admiral W. W. Fisher, was in the First Battle Squadron, being of the same division, the fifth, as the Colossus, the only battleship of the Fleet to be hit by shell, and then with only slight damage.
Seven months after that famous engagement Commander Ritchie transferred to the Iron Duke, Admiral Jellicoe’s flagship, as gunnery officer, and served in her till July, 1917. The Iron Duke, a super-dreadnaught of 26,000 tons, built at Portsmouth and launched six months before the outbreak of war, carried 10 13.5 in guns, 16 6in, and three 21in torpedo tubes. She led the Fleet at Jutland.
AT THE ADMIRALTY.
In December, 1917, he went to the Admiralty, being attached to the Plans and Anti-submarine Division, the director being Admiral Sir Roger Keyes. He remained in that important executive position till two months after the Armistice, when he again went to sea, this time as executive commander of the H.M.S. Malaya, a battleship of 31,100 tons, of the Queen Elizabeth class. The gift of the Federated Malay States, the Malaya was built at a cost of over £3,000,000 at Elswick. and was launched in March, 1915. This ship, which was attached to the Atlantic Fleet, carried out two important missions. When Rear-admiral Ritchie was her executive commander, she conveyed the Interallied Commission of Control to Germany and the Duke of Connaught to India.
His knowledge of armoury and weapons was again fully utilised,, when, in April,, 1921, he was called to the Gunnery Division of the Admiralty, working there till October, 1923.
Two months later he was promoted to captain and in August, 1924 he returned in that capacity to the Courses at Greenwich and Portsmouth, where he had been trained as an acting sub-lieutenant, and after a short spell he was transferred as captain on the Ordnance Committee at Woolwich Arsenal, a position which he held till March, 1925, when he went on leave before being transferred on loan to the New Zealand Navy.
From September, 1925, to October, 1927, he was captain of the ships Diomede and Dunedin on this station, having the honour of being the first New Zealander to have command of New Zealand cruisers. He was popular with the men afloat and on shore, and on his first visit to Dunedin he renewed many associations. The Dunedin (4,650 tons) and Diomede (4,765 tons) were begun under the Emergency War Programme.
A NAVAL DIPLOMAT.
On returning to England, Captain Ritchie was given the high appointment of Naval Attache to the British Embassy at Washington, and held the diplomatic post till April, 1931, a period of, three years. Then, for two years, this highly experienced and qualified officer, was director of the training division of the Admiralty.
COMMAND OF THE FURIOUS.
In August, 1933, he again went to sea, this time in command of H.M.S. Furious, of the Home Fleet. The Furious is an aeroplane carrier of the original cruiser design formulated by Lord Fisher in 1915 in view of Baltic operations. Built under the emergency war programme, her keel was put down in June, 1915, and she was completed in July, 1917, and rebuilt in the following November, the modified Courageous design being altered to that of an aircraft carrier.
Of shallow draught, she displaces 19,100 tons. She is one of the costliest ships in the British Navy. She underwent a refit and alterations at His Majesty’s dockyards at Rosyth and Devonport from 1921 to 1925, her appearance being completely altered by the removal of the funnel and mast and the building of a new hangar forward. She has cost over £6,000,000, an expenditure freely criticised by naval experts, particularly as her aircraft-carrying capacity is restricted.
Thirty-six planes are carried, and the weapons include 10 5.5 in guns, six 4 in guns, and 34 smaller guns. With the flying personnel, her full complement is about 1,100. The new admiral has made many flights from the deck of this ship, which was his last command. Rear-Admiral Ritchie, who was recently appointed an aide de camp to His Majesty the King, was married in 1929 to Miss Joan Karslake, daughter of Colonel and Mrs Karslake, of Silchester, near Reading, and Mrs Ritchie now has her home in London.
Here is a biography of him from the Evening Star, 5 November 1935:
N.Z. REAR-ADMIRAL
CAPTAIN J. S. M. RITCHIE'S PROMOTION
THIRTY-SIX YEARS IN NAVY
BECOMES DOMINION'S FIRST FLAG OFFICER
The first New Zealander to be appointed a flag officer of the Royal Navy, Captain J. S. M. Ritchie, A.D.C., R.N., has been promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral and placed oh the retired list. As captain of the cruisers Dunedin and Diomede, he had the honour of being the first New Zealand-born naval man to command a ship of war in Dominion waters.
A gunnery expert, he was gunnery commander of H.M.S. St. Vincent at the Battle of Jutland and, later, of H.M.S. Iron Duke, Admiral of the Fleet Jellicoe’s flagship. High administrative posts were given him, the positions he occupied being Director of Training and Staff Duties, executive commander of Malaya, which made two historical missions to Germany and India, and Naval Attaché at the British Embassy at Washington. His has been a distinguished record of service.
Rear-Admiral Ritchie is a member of a highly esteemed and prominent Dunedin family. He is the fourth son of the late Mr and Mrs J. M. Ritchie. His father founded, with Mr G. G. Russell, the stock and station firm, which was later absorbed to give the National Mortgage and Agency Company an interest in New Zealand. His brother (Mr George R. Ritchie) is now general manager of the company in the Dominion. His mother will long be remembered for her social work and philanthropy, particularly in the Anglican Church. An elder brother is Dr Russell Ritchie, a gynecologist, whose work at the Batchelor Hospital where medical students have received their midwifery training was distinguished. Other brothers are Mr W. T. Ritchie, now living in retirement near Timaru, and the Rev. C. H. Ritchie, vicar of St. John’s Anglican Church. Edinburgh. Another brother, J. N., went to England at the outbreak of the Great War, received a commission in the Seaforth Highlanders, and was killed in action in Mesopotamia. An only sister is Mrs McKenzie of Vancouver.
The sailor son was born in Dunedin on March 12, 1884, and was educated here and at Wanganui College. Before reaching the age of 15 years he left New Zealand to enter on a naval career, in which he has acquitted himself with distinction and built up a record now honoured by the Lords of the Admiralty. In April, 1899, he joined H.M.S. Britannia, the training ship at Dartmouth. Eighth of a famous line bearing the name, the Britannia was launched as a 131-gun screw ship at Portsmouth in 1860. Soon afterwards she was renamed H.M.S. Prince of Wales, but in 1869, when she proceeded to Dartmouth as a training ship for naval cadets, she was again given the name of Britannia. For over 50 years this 6,201-ton ship lay in the River Dart as a training vessel, and among her famous pupils were the Duke of Clarence and his brother Prince George (now His Majesty the King). They were stationed as cadets on her from June 5, 1877, to July 24, 1879, and 20 years later James Ritchie commenced his career below her decks, and he had seen many parts of the world from the after deck of His Majesty’s ships before 1905, when a naval college on shore took over most of the old ship’s duties.
ON A ROYAL ESCORT.
Passing out of the Britannia as a midshipman, in September, 1900, he was sent as such to H.M.S. Hannibal, a battleship of the Channel Fleet. Of the Majestic class, the Hannibal was built in 1897, and had a displacement of 14,900 tons. She carried four 12in guns, 12 6in guns, 16 12-pounders, and 12 three-pounders, and was equipped with five torpedo tubes.
Three months later he was transferred, to the old cruiser Royal Arthur, and served as a “middy” in her till November, 1903, during which time the ship, which, built in 1893, was of 7,700 tons, but three knots faster, than the Hannibal, gained fame in historical annals as the escort around Australia and New Zealand of R.M.S. Ophir. carrying the Duke and Duchess of York and Cornwall, now their Majesties. The Royal Arthur was attached to the Australian Fleet.
Now an acting, sub-lieutenant, James Ritchie returned to England and took his courses at Greenwich and Portsmouth; 20 years later he was back there, this time in charge. Completing his sub-lieutenant’s courses, he joined H.M.S. Griffin, of the Mediterranean Fleet, and six months later he was transferred as a lieutenant to H.M.S. Lancaster, also stationed in Mediterranean waters. From January, 1906, till. August, 1907, he was on the Lancaster, one of the 1900 county class cruisers built in 1904, displacing 9,800 tons.
In the following two years, when he was qualifying as a gunnery lieutenant, he was on H.M.S. Excellent at Portsmouth and at Greenwich and in August, 1909, he was appointed to the staff of His Majesty’s Gunnery School at Chatham. Returning to the sea eight months later, he was a lieutenant on the famous H.M.S. Vindictive, in the Channel Fleet. The Vindictive, a light cruiser of 5,750 tons, ended her days in the celebrated Zeebrugge raid, when she was sunk at the mole entrance.
THE EAST AND THE WAR.
Lieutenant Ritchie had his first visit to the East in May, 1910, when he went out to the China Station on H.M.S. Newcastle, a new light cruiser of the Bristol class, displacing 4,800 tons and having a speed of 25 knots. Over two years’ service in China waters was followed by short leave, and in January, 1913, he joined the Home Fleet as Lieutenant-commander of H.M.S. St. Vincent, the first dreadnaught of her class. The St. Vincent, which was built in 1910, was of 19,250 tons, had a speed of 21 knots, and carried a complement of 870. Her armoury was 10 12in guns, 18 4in guns, and three torpedo tubes.
He was the gunnery officer of this ship in the Battle of Jutland, on May 31, 1916. The St. Vincent, under Admiral W. W. Fisher, was in the First Battle Squadron, being of the same division, the fifth, as the Colossus, the only battleship of the Fleet to be hit by shell, and then with only slight damage.
Seven months after that famous engagement Commander Ritchie transferred to the Iron Duke, Admiral Jellicoe’s flagship, as gunnery officer, and served in her till July, 1917. The Iron Duke, a super-dreadnaught of 26,000 tons, built at Portsmouth and launched six months before the outbreak of war, carried 10 13.5 in guns, 16 6in, and three 21in torpedo tubes. She led the Fleet at Jutland.
AT THE ADMIRALTY.
In December, 1917, he went to the Admiralty, being attached to the Plans and Anti-submarine Division, the director being Admiral Sir Roger Keyes. He remained in that important executive position till two months after the Armistice, when he again went to sea, this time as executive commander of the H.M.S. Malaya, a battleship of 31,100 tons, of the Queen Elizabeth class. The gift of the Federated Malay States, the Malaya was built at a cost of over £3,000,000 at Elswick. and was launched in March, 1915. This ship, which was attached to the Atlantic Fleet, carried out two important missions. When Rear-admiral Ritchie was her executive commander, she conveyed the Interallied Commission of Control to Germany and the Duke of Connaught to India.
His knowledge of armoury and weapons was again fully utilised,, when, in April,, 1921, he was called to the Gunnery Division of the Admiralty, working there till October, 1923.
Two months later he was promoted to captain and in August, 1924 he returned in that capacity to the Courses at Greenwich and Portsmouth, where he had been trained as an acting sub-lieutenant, and after a short spell he was transferred as captain on the Ordnance Committee at Woolwich Arsenal, a position which he held till March, 1925, when he went on leave before being transferred on loan to the New Zealand Navy.
From September, 1925, to October, 1927, he was captain of the ships Diomede and Dunedin on this station, having the honour of being the first New Zealander to have command of New Zealand cruisers. He was popular with the men afloat and on shore, and on his first visit to Dunedin he renewed many associations. The Dunedin (4,650 tons) and Diomede (4,765 tons) were begun under the Emergency War Programme.
A NAVAL DIPLOMAT.
On returning to England, Captain Ritchie was given the high appointment of Naval Attache to the British Embassy at Washington, and held the diplomatic post till April, 1931, a period of, three years. Then, for two years, this highly experienced and qualified officer, was director of the training division of the Admiralty.
COMMAND OF THE FURIOUS.
In August, 1933, he again went to sea, this time in command of H.M.S. Furious, of the Home Fleet. The Furious is an aeroplane carrier of the original cruiser design formulated by Lord Fisher in 1915 in view of Baltic operations. Built under the emergency war programme, her keel was put down in June, 1915, and she was completed in July, 1917, and rebuilt in the following November, the modified Courageous design being altered to that of an aircraft carrier.
Of shallow draught, she displaces 19,100 tons. She is one of the costliest ships in the British Navy. She underwent a refit and alterations at His Majesty’s dockyards at Rosyth and Devonport from 1921 to 1925, her appearance being completely altered by the removal of the funnel and mast and the building of a new hangar forward. She has cost over £6,000,000, an expenditure freely criticised by naval experts, particularly as her aircraft-carrying capacity is restricted.
Thirty-six planes are carried, and the weapons include 10 5.5 in guns, six 4 in guns, and 34 smaller guns. With the flying personnel, her full complement is about 1,100. The new admiral has made many flights from the deck of this ship, which was his last command. Rear-Admiral Ritchie, who was recently appointed an aide de camp to His Majesty the King, was married in 1929 to Miss Joan Karslake, daughter of Colonel and Mrs Karslake, of Silchester, near Reading, and Mrs Ritchie now has her home in London.
