{{Short description|Royal Navy Admiral (1887-1961)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}} {{Infobox military person |honorific_prefix = Admiral |name = Sir Alban Curteis |honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCB|CVO|DSO}} |birth_date=13 January 1887 |death_date={{death-date and age|27 November 1961|13 January 1887}} |birth_place= |death_place= |image= |caption= |nickname= |allegiance= {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} United Kingdom |service_years= 1902 – 1944 |rank= Admiral |branch= 23px Royal Navy |commands=HMS ''Verity''<br>{{HMS|Despatch|D30|6}}<br>{{HMS|Nelson|28|6}}<br>2nd Cruiser Squadron<br>2nd Battle Squadron<br>Senior British Naval Officer, Western Atlantic |unit= |battles=World War I<br>World War II |awards=Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath<br>Commander of the Royal Victorian Order<br>Companion of the Distinguished Service Order |other_work= }} Admiral '''Sir Alban Thomas Buckley Curteis''' KCB CVO DSO (13 January 1887 – 27 November 1961) was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Senior British Naval Officer, Western Atlantic.
==Education== Curteis was educated at New Beacon School in Sevenoaks, followed by HMS Britannia, Dartmouth.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dreadnoughtproject.org/tfs/index.php/Alban_Thomas_Buckley_Curteis#Life+&+Career|title=Alban Thomas Buckley Curteis - The Dreadnought Project|website=www.dreadnoughtproject.org|access-date=31 May 2023}}</ref>
==Naval career== Curteis joined the Royal Navy in 1902 and served in World War I.<ref name=lh>[http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/CURTEIS1.shtml Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives]</ref> He was appointed Commanding Officer of HMS ''Verity'' in 1922 and Flag Captain commanding {{HMS|Despatch|D30|6}} and Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief of the America and West Indies Station in 1928.<ref name=unit>{{Cite web |url=http://www.unithistories.com/officers/RN_officersC4.html |title=Unit Histories |access-date=11 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150921193651/http://www.unithistories.com/officers/RN_officersC4.html |archive-date=21 September 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He was appointed Flag Captain commanding {{HMS|Nelson|28|6}} and Captain of the Fleet to the Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet in 1931 before becoming Captain of the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in 1933.<ref name=unit/> He became Captain of the Fleet for the Home Fleet in 1935 and went on to be Commander of the Royal Naval Barracks at Devonport in 1938.<ref name=unit/>
He served in World War II as Commander of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron from 1940 and then as Commander of the 2nd Battle Squadron and Second-in-Command of the Home Fleet from 1941.<ref name=lh/> In June 1942 he led Operation Harpoon, a mission to re-supply Malta which was becoming very short of food and medical supplies; the plan was to despatch a naval convoy from Alexandria but in the event the convoy came under Italian naval attack and suffered heavy losses.<ref>[http://www.navweaps.com/index_oob/OOB_WWII_Mediterranean/OOB_WWII_Harpoon.htm Order of Battle Italian Attack on Operation Harpoon Convoy and Battle of Pantelleria 15 June 1942]</ref> He was made Senior British Naval Officer, Western Atlantic in 1942 and retired in 1944.<ref name=lh/>
==Family== In 1915 he married Helen Morrall; they had one son and one daughter. In 1941 he married Freda Morrall.<ref name=unit/>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} {{succession box|title=Commander-in-Chief, America and West Indies Station|before=Sir Charles Kennedy-Purvis|after=Sir Irvine Glennie|years=1942–1944}} {{end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Curteis, Alban}} Category:1887 births Category:1961 deaths Category:Royal Navy officers of World War I Category:Royal Navy admirals of World War II Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Category:Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Category:Place of birth missing Category:Bermuda in World War II