Admiral of the Fleet William Henry Dudley Boyle, 12th Earl of Cork and 12th Earl of Orrery (November 30, 1873 - April 19, 1967) was a career Royal Navy officer who had achieved the rank of full Admiral before succeeding a cousin in the family titles, chief of which is Earl of Cork, in 1934, while serving as Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet. His life is of interest as he was a member of (a somewhat impoverished branch of) the British aristocracy and had an active career spanning some 54 years in the Royal Navy throughout the last of the era when his country was a superpower.

Early Career

"Ginger" Boyle joined the navy at the age of 11, in 1886, training for two years on the Britannia, a shore establishment. His first seagoing appointment was in 1888 to HMS Monarch, a turret battleship. After serving in the Mediterranean, and back in England, he went out to China for service during the first Sino-Japanese War and then on to Australia and patrols around the South Seas in HMS Lizard. He was on the China station during the time of the Boxer Rebellion.

In 1902, he married Lady Florence Keppel, beginning a long and happy union. Later that year he took up his first command, a torpedo boat destroyer, HMS Spitfire, soon to be transferred to the destroyer, HMS Hazard . His next appointment was as first officer of the cruiser HMS Astraea which was transferred to the Mediterranean and then to the China station. He was commander (not to be confused with captain) of the new battleship, HMS Hibernia, attached to the Channel Fleet . After a year ashore in the Admiralty, Boyle was back to sea as commander on the armoured cruiser HMS Good Hope, based with the Atlantic fleet at Gibraltar, commanded by Sir John Jellicoe. Then back to the home fleet in command of the scout, HMS Skirmisher .

He was appointed British naval attache in Rome in 1913 and was still there at the outbreak of World War I in July, 1914. At this post, he was involved as an observer during the Second Balkan War.

World War One

Chafing as an attache while the war waged, he finally was released to the command of an old and slow second class cruiser in the Red Sea, HMS Fox. But, this proved to be an interesting backwater, as he was soon involved in supporting the Arab Revolt. In 1916, he was given command of the whole Red Sea squadron. Boyle was a participant in the conference held aboard HMS Dufferin that set the time of the start of the Arab Revolt. He led the bombardment of Turkish held port of Jiddah in June, 1916, which, after a failed Arab attack, was continued for six days, leading to its surrender. This enabled artillery and other supplies to be sent to the Arabs. In July, it was the turn of the Turks at the port of Kunfuda, which surrendered after a brief bombardment. This meant the effective loss of control of southern Arabia by the Turks.

Most of the rest of his time in the Red sea consisted of blockade of the coasts still held by the Turks,varied by attacks to capture remaining enemy held ports. The port of Salif was taken in July, 1917.

During this time he collaborated with T.E. Lawrence, (Lawrence of Arabia), although he didn't like him very much at first. He also worked with Sir Mark Sykes and his French counterpart, M. Picot of Sykes-Picot Agreement fame.

In November of 1917, Boyle returned home to command the battlecruiser, HMS Repulse, leading her in an action against German cruisers in the Heligoland Bight later that month.

Between the Wars

After the war ended, he had a staff position ashore and then went on to command the battlecruiser HMS Tiger. Then, after a short spell on half pay, he joined the Atlantic fleet as a rear admiral, flying his flag aboard the battleship HMS Resolution. Another period on half pay was followed by command of the First Cruiser Squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet, under Admiral Sir Roger Keyes. He flew his flag aboard HMS Frobisher . But, trouble in China meant his squadron was soon sent there where the Nationalists were formenting anti-British riots. Part of his time was taken up with surpressing piracy. His squadron was among the last to use the British leased port of Weihaiwei on the Yellow Sea.

In December of 1928, he took up command of the reserve fleet, followed soon after by a stint as President of the Royal Naval College in Greenwich. In March of 1933, he took up command of the Home Fleet, flying his flag aboard the battleship HMS Nelson. He took down his flag on August 31, 1936 at the age of 63. In July 1937, he became commander-in-chief at Portsmouth, a shore position. In 1938, Cork was advanced to the rank of Admiral of the Fleet, the highest naval rank whose members are always on the active list. He gave up command on June 30, 1939 and retired, aged 66.

Lord Cork was a short man with red hair and a short temper. He was fit and his appearance was distinguished by an ever present monocle.

World War Two

When World War Two started, Lord Cork offered his services but was told there was nothing for him. Soon Winston Churchill recalled him to undertake staff work in the Admiralty. Later he was made force commander designate of a planned expedition to assist the Finns in the Winter War they were waging against a Soviet attack launched on November 30, 1939. But Sweden refused permission for the force to transit its territory and the expedition was called off.

At short notice, on April 10, 1940, Lord Cork (as he now was) was summoned to the Admiralty and given command of a hastily assembled naval force with a mission to retake from the Germans the strategic port of Narvik in Norway. He did his best in difficult circumstances. Because of his senior rank, he was de facto commander of the whole expedition, military as well as naval. In time the Allied forces available for the landing at Narvik consisted of British, French, Polish and Norweigan soliders and sailors. Cork received verbal instructions from Winston Churchill while driving with him to Parliament ( where Cork sat in the House of Lords) to "...act with all promptitude..." in order to "...turn the enemy out of Narvik...". He flew his flag from the cruiser, HMS Aurora.

Lord Cork was in favour of an immediate storming of Narvik using both military and naval forces, but the more cautious army commander, General P.J. Mackesy , insisted on an indirect approach. Narvik was eventually taken by the Allies, but events in France caused the government to order its evacuation in June, 1940.

Lord Cork was 66 and his front line service was over on his return. A position as flag officer commanding in the Shetlands began in July, 1940. He was busy trying to put together some sort of defence against a not so unlikely German invasion. He was there until November. A brief mission to Gibraltar followed and then service in the Home Guard. He retired on his 68th birthday.

Last Years

In 1941, Lord Cork led the inquiry into the action of Admiral James Somerville at the indecisive Battle of Spartivento. The Admiral was vindicated.

Lord Cork served as a trustee of the National Maritime Museum from 1939 to 1947 and was President of the Shaftesbury Homes and Arethusa Training Ship from 1943 to 1953.

He and his wife of sixty years, a daughter of the 7th Earl of Albemarle, had no children, and his titles passed to a nephew. He was vigorous to the end of his long life.

He died at the age of 93, surviving his wife by four years, and is buried at Frome in Somerset, England.

Bibliography

"My Naval Life", Admiral of the Fleet the Earl of Cork & Orrery, Hutchinson & Co., London, 1942

"History of the Second World War, Vol. 1", B.H. Liddell Hart, Capricorn Books. New York, 1972

"The Biographical Dictionary of World War II", Mark M. Boatner III, Presidio Press, Novato, CA, USA, 1996 (highly recommended}