Sir Douglas Nicholson | |
---|---|
Born | 4 March 1867 |
Died | 8 February 1946 (aged 78) |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ | Royal Navy |
Rank | Admiral |
Commands held |
HMS Hyacinth HMS Hermes HMS St Vincent HMS Conqueror Flag Officer, Royal Yachts HMS Agincourt 3rd Battle Squadron Reserve Fleet |
Battles/wars |
Anglo-Egyptian War World War I |
Awards | Knight Commander of the
Order of St Michael and St George Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order |
Admiral Sir Douglas Romilly Lothian Nicholson, KCMG, KCVO (4 March 1867 – 8 February 1946) was a senior Royal Navy officer who commanded the Reserve Fleet.
Born the son of Sir Lothian Nicholson, a former Governor of Gibraltar, and Mary Romilly, Nicholson served in the Anglo-Egyptian War of 1882. [1] He was appointed in command of the destroyer HMS Spiteful on 11 January 1901, [2] as she was serving in home waters, and was in charge when she ran aground near the Isle of Wight the following month and during a collision with sister ship HMS Peterel in October. After a year with the Spiteful, he was appointed in command of HMS Dove on 24 February 1902, [3] serving in the Channel Fleet as part of the Portsmouth instructional flotilla. In May 1902, the ship hit a rock off Kildorney, and had to be towed by her sister ship HMS Bullfinch to Queenstown, [4] and later back to Portsmouth for repairs. [5] Douglas and the crew transferred to the recently completed torpedo boat destroyer HMS Success, which was commissioned at Portsmouth on 9 June. [6] The following day, the navy held a Court-martial where he was tried for negligence during the Kildorney incident. He was acquitted of negligence, but severely reprimanded for being in error of judgment. [7]
In December 1902, Nicholson was appointed to the seagoing training ship HMS Northampton, to serve in command of HMS Calliope, tender to the larger Northampton. [8]
Nicholson became commanding officer of the cruiser HMS Hyacinth in August 1905, of the cruiser HMS Hermes in December 1905 and of the battleship HMS St Vincent in 1910. [9] He went on to be commanding officer of the battleship HMS Conqueror in 1912 and Commodore of His Majesty's Yachts in 1913. [1] He served in World War I as commanding officer of HMS Agincourt in the Grand Fleet from 1914. [9] He continued his war service as Second-in-Command of the 3rd Battle Squadron from March 1917, as Second-in-Command of the 4th Battle Squadron from September 1917 and as Commander of the 3rd Battle Squadron from 1918. [10]
He became Rear-Admiral, Reserve Fleet at Portland in 1919 and Vice-Admiral commanding the Reserve Fleet in 1922 before retiring in 1926. [1]