{{Short description|Royal Navy Admiral (1862–1928)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Infobox military person | honorific_prefix = [[Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy)|Admiral of the Fleet]] | honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|Bt|GCB|GCMG|GCVO}} | name = Sir John de Robeck | image = DeRobeck.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Sir John Michael de Robeck | nickname = | birth_date = {{birth date|1862|06|10|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[Naas]], [[County Kildare]], Ireland | death_date = {{death date and age|1928|01|20|1862|06|10|df=yes}} | death_place = [[London]], England | burial_place = | allegiance = United Kingdom | branch = [[Royal Navy]] | service_years = 1875–1924 | rank = [[Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy)|Admiral of the Fleet]] | unit = | commands = [[Atlantic Fleet (United Kingdom)|Atlantic Fleet]]<br/>[[Mediterranean Fleet|Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet]]<br/>[[2nd Battle Squadron (United Kingdom)|2nd Battle Squadron]]<br/>[[3rd Battle Squadron (United Kingdom)|3rd Battle Squadron]]<br/>Eastern Mediterranean Squadron<br/>9th Cruiser Squadron<br/>{{HMS|Dominion|1903|6}}<br/>{{HMS|Carnarvon}}<br/>{{HMS|Mermaid|1898|6}}<br/>{{HMS|Angler|1897|6}}<br/>{{HMS|Desperate|1896|6}} | battles = [[First World War]] | awards = [[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]]<br/>[[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George]]<br/>[[Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order]] | spouse = Hilda Maud (Lady de Robeck) | relations = | other_work = }} [[Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy)|Admiral of the Fleet]] '''Sir John Michael de Robeck, 1st Baronet''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|GCB|GCMG|GCVO}} (10 June 1862 – 20 January 1928) was an [[Officer (armed forces)|officer]] in the [[Royal Navy]]. In the early years of the 20th century he served as Admiral of Patrols, commanding four flotillas of [[destroyer]]s.
De Robeck commanded the allied naval force in the [[Dardanelles]] during the [[World War I|First World War]]. His campaign to force the straits, launched on 18 March 1915, was nearly successful, as the Turkish land-based artillery almost ran out of [[ammunition]]. However, mines laid in the straits led to the loss of three allied battleships. The subsequent ground campaign, like the naval campaign, was ultimately a failure and the ground troops had to be taken off the [[Gallipoli]] peninsula by de Robeck on the night of 8 January 1916. He went on to become Commander of the [[3rd Battle Squadron (United Kingdom)|3rd Battle Squadron]] of the [[Grand Fleet]] and then Commander of the [[2nd Battle Squadron (United Kingdom)|2nd Battle Squadron]] of the Grand Fleet.
After the war de Robeck became [[Mediterranean Fleet|Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet]] and British High Commissioner to Turkey, and then [[Atlantic Fleet (United Kingdom)|Commander-in-Chief of the Atlantic Fleet]].
==Naval career== ===Early career=== Born the son of [[De Robeck|John Henry Edward Fock, 4th Baron de Robeck]] (a member of the [[List of Swedish noble families|Swedish nobility]])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.turtlebunbury.com/history/history_family/hist_family_derobeck.htm|title=The de Robecks of Gowran Grange, Co. Kildare|publisher= Turtle Bunbury|access-date=19 October 2014}}</ref> and Zoë Sophia Charlotte Fock (née Burton),<ref name=odnb>{{cite ODNB|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/32790 |title=John de Robeck |year=2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/32790 |access-date=19 October 2014}}</ref> de Robeck joined the Royal Navy as a [[cadet]] in the training ship [[HMS Prince of Wales (1860)|HMS ''Britannia'']] on 15 July 1875.<ref name=heath65>Heathcote, p. 65</ref> Promoted to [[midshipman]] on 27 July 1878, he joined the [[frigate]] {{HMS|Shannon|1875|6}} in the [[Channel Fleet|Channel Squadron]] in July 1878 and then transferred to the training ship {{HMS|St Vincent|1815|6}} at [[Portsmouth]] in April 1882.<ref name=heath66>Heathcote, p. 66</ref> Promoted to [[sub-lieutenant]] on 27 July 1882, he joined the gunnery school [[HMS Queen Charlotte (1810)|HMS ''Excellent'']] in August 1882 before transferring to the gunboat {{HMS|Espoir|1880|6}} on the [[Commander-in-Chief, China|China Station]] in August 1883.<ref name=heath66/> Promoted to [[Lieutenant (navy)|lieutenant]] on 30 September 1885,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=25516|date=2 October 1885|page=4599}}</ref> he transferred to the [[battleship]] {{HMS|Audacious|1869|6}}, flagship of the [[Commander-in-Chief, China]] in early 1886, to the [[brig]] {{HMS|Seaflower|1873|6}} in March 1887 and to the battleship {{HMS|Agincourt|1865|6}}, flagship of the Channel Squadron, in November 1887.<ref name=heath66/> He joined the staff of the training ship HMS ''Britannia'' in September 1888 and then transferred to the [[armored cruiser|armoured cruiser]] {{HMS|Imperieuse|1883|6}}, flagship of the China Station, in January 1891 before returning to the staff of the training ship HMS ''Britannia'' in August 1893.<ref name=heath66/>
De Robeck became gunnery officer in the [[corvette]] {{HMS|Cordelia|1881|6}} on the [[North America and West Indies Station]] in November 1895 and, following promotion to [[Commander (Royal Navy)|commander]] on 22 June 1897,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=26865|date=22 June 1897|page=3443}}</ref> became commanding officer of the [[destroyer]] {{HMS|Desperate|1896|6}} at [[Chatham Dockyard|Chatham]] in July 1897, next the destroyer {{HMS|Angler|1897|6}} at Chatham in July 1898 and then the destroyer {{HMS|Mermaid|1898|6}} at Chatham in June 1899.<ref name=heath66/> After that he became [[executive officer]] in the cruiser {{HMS|Pyramus|1897|6}} in the [[Mediterranean Fleet]] in June 1900.<ref name=heath66/>
Promoted to [[Captain (Royal Navy)|captain]] on 1 January 1902,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27393|date=3 January 1902|page=3}}</ref> de Robeck was in July 1902 appointed in command of {{HMS|Warrior|1860|6}}, depot ship at Portsmouth.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Naval & Military intelligence |date=14 July 1902 |page=7 |issue=36819}}</ref> He temporarily commissioned {{HMS|Hercules|1868|6}} for short while during summer 1902, waiting for ''Warrior'' to be ready from an extensive refit.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Naval & Military intelligence |date=17 July 1902 |page=9 |issue=36822}}</ref> He became commanding officer of the armoured cruiser {{HMS|Carnarvon}} in the Mediterranean Fleet in August 1906, commanding officer of the battleship {{HMS|Dominion|1903|6}} in the Channel Fleet in January 1908 and then inspecting officer of boys' training establishments in January 1910.<ref name=heath66/> Promoted to [[Rear admiral (Royal Navy)|rear admiral]] on 1 December 1911,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28562|page=9446|date=15 December 1911}}</ref> he became Admiral of Patrols, commanding four flotillas of destroyers, in April 1912.<ref name=heath66/>
===First World War=== De Robeck received command of the 9th Cruiser Squadron, with his flag in the protected cruiser {{HMS|Amphitrite|1898|6}}, in August 1914, just after the start of the [[World War I|First World War]]. In this position, he captured the German liners SS ''Schlesien'' and SS ''Graecia''.<ref name=heath66/><ref>{{cite book| last1 = Stewart| first1 = William| title = Admirals of the World: A Biographical Dictionary, 1500 to the Present| date = 28 September 2009| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ZFeQBQAAQBAJ| publisher = McFarland| publication-date = 2009| page = 97| isbn = 9780786438099| quote = In 1914, [de Robeck] commanded the Ninth Cruiser Squadron based at Finisterre, Spain [...]. At that station he captured two German liners, the ship ''Schlesien'' and the ship ''Græcia''.}}</ref>
De Robeck became second-in-command, under Admiral [[Sackville Carden]], of the Eastern Mediterranean Squadron (the Allied naval forces in the [[Dardanelles]]), with his flag in the battleship {{HMS|Vengeance|1899|6}}, in February 1915.<ref name=heath66/> Carden received instructions to force the straits and then push on to [[Constantinople]]: he made an unsuccessful attempt to do this on 19 February 1915, but then fell seriously ill, leaving de Robeck to take command, with his flag in the battleship {{HMS|Queen Elizabeth|1913|6}}, in March 1915.<ref name=heath66/> De Robeck's campaign to force the straits, launched on 18 March 1915, nearly succeeded, as the Turkish land-based artillery almost ran out of [[ammunition]]: however, [[Naval mine|mines]] laid in the straits led to the loss of three Allied battleships.<ref name=heath67>Heathcote, p. 67</ref> De Robeck, seeing no sense in losing more ships, then abandoned the whole naval operation.<ref name=heath67/> On 25 April 1915 the Royal Navy landed General [[Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton|Ian Hamilton]]'s troops at the tip of the [[Gallipoli]] peninsula ([[Cape Helles]]) and at [[Anzac Cove]], on the peninsula's western coast. The [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] forces and their German advisors had had two months warning from the first serious navy attack to prepare ground defences before the follow-up ground landing could be mounted, and they used the time effectively.<ref>Carlyon, pp. 79–83</ref> The initial landings failed to achieve their objectives, and the Allies made a further unsuccessful attempt, in August 1915, at [[Suvla|Suvla Bay]].<ref name=heath67/> In the wake of this setback, Commodore [[Roger Keyes, 1st Baron Keyes|Roger Keyes]], de Robeck's Chief of Staff, argued for a third attempt to force the straits, but de Robeck recommended against it and the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] accepted de Robeck's advice.<ref name=odnb/> The ground campaign, like the naval campaign, ultimately proved a failure, and although de Robeck was appointed a [[Order of the Bath|Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath]] for his service in the [[Gallipoli Campaign]] on 1 January 1916,<ref name=kcb>{{London Gazette |issue= 29423 |date= 31 December 1915|supp= y|page=80}}</ref> he had to organize the evacuation of Hamilton's troops off the Gallipoli peninsula on the night of 8 January 1916.<ref name=heath67/>
De Robeck went on to become Commander of the [[3rd Battle Squadron (United Kingdom)|3rd Battle Squadron]] of the [[Grand Fleet]], with his flag in the battleship {{HMS|Britannia|1904|6}}, in May 1916; and Commander of the [[2nd Battle Squadron (United Kingdom)|2nd Battle Squadron]] of the Grand Fleet, with his flag in the battleship {{HMS|King George V|1911|6}}, in November 1916.<ref name=odnb/> He was promoted to [[Vice admiral (Royal Navy)|vice admiral]] on 17 May 1917.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue= 30084 |date= 22 May 1917|page=4942}}</ref>
===After the war=== [[File:Emir Abdullah & Admiral de Robeck on HMS Iron Duke 1921 LOC matpc.08387.jpg|thumb|right|De Robeck (left) with [[Abdullah I of Jordan|Emir Abdullah of Jordan]] (centre) in {{HMS|Iron Duke|1912|6}}, flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet, in 1921]] Appointed a [[Order of St Michael and St George|Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George]] on 1 January 1919,<ref name=gcmg>{{London Gazette |issue=31099 |date=31 December 1918|supp=y|page=109}}</ref> de Robeck became [[Mediterranean Fleet|Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet]] and British High Commissioner to Turkey, with his flag in the battleship {{HMS|Iron Duke|1912|6}}, in July 1919.<ref name=heath67/> He was created a [[baronet]] on 29 December 1919<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=31708 |date=30 December 1919|page=15988}}</ref> and promoted to full [[Admiral (Royal Navy)|admiral]] on 24 March 1920.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=31867 |date=16 April 1920|page=4474}}</ref> Advanced to [[Order of the Bath|Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]] on 1 January 1921,<ref name=gcb>{{London Gazette |issue=32178 |date=1 January 1921|supp=y|page=4}}</ref> he went on to be [[Atlantic Fleet (United Kingdom)|Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet]] in August 1922 before retiring in August 1924.<ref name=heath67/>
In retirement de Robeck became President of the [[Marylebone Cricket Club]].<ref name=heath67/> Appointed a [[Royal Victorian Order|Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order]] in November 1925,<ref name=odnb/> he was promoted to [[Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy)|Admiral of the Fleet]] on 24 November 1925<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33110 |date=1 December 1925|page=7950}}</ref> and died at his home in [[London]] on 20 January 1928.<ref name=heath67/>
==Family== In 1922 he married Hilda, Lady Lockhart, widow of [[Lockhart baronets|Sir Simon Macdonald Lockhart, 5th Baronet]]; they had no children.<ref name=heath67/>
==Honours and awards== * [[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]] – 1 January 1921<ref name=gcb/> (KCB – 1 January 1916<ref name=kcb/>) * [[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George]] – 1 January 1919<ref name=gcmg/> * [[Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order]] – November 1925<ref name=odnb/> * [[Venerable Order of Saint John|Knight of Grace of the Venerable Order of Saint John]] – 29 November 1920<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=32145|page=11793|date=30 November 1920}}</ref> * Grand Officer of the French [[Legion of Honour]] – 9 August 1916<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29703|page=7912|date=11 August 1916}}</ref> * Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Crown of Italy]] – 11 August 1917<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30227|supp=y|page=8209|date=10 August 1917}}</ref> * Japanese [[Order of the Sacred Treasure]], 1st class – 29 August 1917<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30258|supp=y|page=8989|date=28 August 1917}}</ref> * Grand Officer of the [[Order of the Crown (Romania)|Order of the Crown of Romania]] – 17 March 1919<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=31236|supp=y|page=3593|date=14 March 1919}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==Sources== * {{cite book|last=Carlyon|first= Les A. |year=2002|title=Gallipoli |publisher= New York: Pan Macmillan|isbn= 978-0-7329-1128-7}} * {{cite book|last=Heathcote |first=Tony |title=The British Admirals of the Fleet 1734 – 1995 |publisher=Pen & Sword Ltd |year=2002 |isbn=0-85052-835-6}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} * [http://www.admirals.org.uk/admirals/fleet/derobeckjm.php Transcription of Official Service Records on www.admirals.org.uk] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205140309/http://www.admirals.org.uk/admirals/fleet/derobeckjm.php |date=5 December 2008 }} * {{DP-xlink|http://dreadnoughtproject.org/tfs/index.php/John_Michael_de_Robeck,_First_Baronet}} * {{cite TIWW |article=de Robeck, Admiral Sir John Michael |page=59 }} *[https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/repositories/9/resources/1534 The Papers of Admiral Sir John de Robeck] held at [[Churchill Archives Centre]]
{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} {{succession box | title=[[Mediterranean Fleet|Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet]] | before=[[Somerset Gough-Calthorpe|Sir Somerset Gough-Calthorpe]] | after=[[Osmond Brock|Sir Osmond Brock]]| years=1919–1922}} |- {{s-bef | before=[[Sir Charles Madden, 1st Baronet|Sir Charles Madden]]}} {{s-ttl | title=[[Atlantic Fleet (United Kingdom)|Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet]] | years=1922–1924}} {{s-aft | after=[[Henry Oliver|Sir Henry Oliver]]}} {{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robeck, John De}} [[Category:1862 births]] [[Category:1928 deaths]] [[Category:People from Naas]] [[Category:Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Royal Navy admirals of the fleet]] [[Category:Royal Navy admirals of World War I]] [[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]] [[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George]] [[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order]] [[Category:British people of Swedish descent]] [[Category:Presidents of the Marylebone Cricket Club]] [[Category:Military personnel from County Kildare]] [[Category:Irish officers in the Royal Navy]] [[Category:19th-century Royal Navy personnel]] [[Category:People of the Gallipoli campaign]] [[Category:People of the Turkish War of Independence]]