Andrew Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope: Difference between revisions

Andrew Browne Cunningham
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Andrew Cunningham
Nickname(s)	"ABC"
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1897 to 1946
Rank	Admiral of the Fleet
Commands held	HMS Scorpion, HMS Rodney Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, First Sea Lord
Battles/wars	Dardanelles, Attack on Taranto, Battle of Cape Matapan
Awards	1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope Order of the Thistle, Order of the Bath, Order of Merit, Distinguisged Service Order and Two Bars
Relations	General Alan Cunningham
Other work	Lord High Steward

Admiral of the Fleet Andrew Browne Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope, KT, GCB, OM, DSO** (7 January 1883 – 12 June 1963), older brother of General Sir Alan Cunningham, was a British admiral of the Second World War. He is often referred to by his initials "ABC."

Cunningham was born in Dublin on 7 January 1883 and was schooled at several institutions before he was enrolled at a Naval Academy at the age of 10 where his association with the Navy started. After passing out of Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in 1898 he progressed rapidly in rank. He commanded a destroyer during World War I and through most of the interwar period. For his performance during this time he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and Two Bars for action in the Dardanelles and in the Baltics.

In World War II, as Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet Cunningham led British naval forces in several Mediterranean naval battles such as the Attack on Taranto in 1940, the first carrier based air attack in history^[1], and the Battle of Cape Matapan in 1941. In 1943 Cunningham was promoted to First Sea Lord, a position he held until his retirement in 1946. After his retirement Cunningham enjoyed several ceremonial positions including Lord High Steward at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. He died on 12 June 1963.

Childhood

Andrew Cunningham was the third of five children born to Professor Daniel Cunningham and his wife Elizabeth Cumming Browne, both of Scottish Ancestry.^[2] He was born at Rathmines County Dublin on 7 January 1883.^[3] His father was a Professor of anatomy at Trinity College, Dublin. The Cunninghams were Scots with a "strong intellectual and clerical tradition," both grandfathers having been in the clergy. Cunningham’s mother oversaw much of his upbringing and he reportedly had a warm and close relationship with her. Most of his earlier years were spent in the company of servants and governesses. After a short introduction to schooling in Dublin he was sent to Edinburgh Academy where he stayed with his Aunts Doodles and Connie May.^[4] At the age of 10 he received a telegram from his father asking "would you like to go into the Navy?" The family had no maritime connections and Cunningham only had a vague interest in the sea. Nevertheless he replied "yes, I should like to be an Admiral".^[5] He was then sent to the Naval Preparatory School, Stubbington House which specialised in sending pupils through the Dartmouth entrance examinations.^[6] Cunningham passed the exams showing particular strength in mathematics.^[7]

Early Naval Career

Cunningham joined the Royal Navy as a cadet aboard the training ship HMS Britannia in 1897 with 64 other cadets,^[8] one of whom was future admiral James Fownes Somerville.^[9] Cunningham was known for his lack of enthusiasm for field sports although he did enjoy golf and spent most of his spare time "messing around in boats."^[8] By the end of his course he was anxious to seek adventure at sea; consequently he committed numerous minor misdemeanors but still obtained a 'very good' for conduct.^[8] He passed out tenth in April 1898 with first class marks for mathematics and seamanship.^[9] His first service was as Midshipman on the HMS Doris in 1899, serving at the Cape Station when the Second Boer War began.^[10] By February 1900 he had transferred into the naval brigade as he believed this promised opportunities for bravery and distinction in action. In 1902–1903 Cunningham took Sub-Lieutenant courses at Portsmouth and Greenwich. His first service was as a Sub-Lieutenant was on the battleship HMS Implacable^[10] serving in the Mediterranean for six months. In September 1903, he was transferred to HMS Locust to serve as second in command. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1904, and served on several vessels during the next four years. In 1908, he was awarded his first command, HM Torpedo Boat no.14.^[10]

First World War

Cunningham was a highly decorated officer during the First World War receiving the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) and two bars. In 1911 he was given command of the destroyer HMS Scorpion which he commanded throughout the war. In 1914, HMS Scorpion was involved in the shadowing of the German battlecruisers SMS Goeben and SMS Breslau. This operation was intended to find and destroy the Goeben and the Breslau but they evaded the British fleet^[11] and passed through the Dardanelles to reach Constantinople where their arrival was a catalyst that contributed to the Ottoman Empire joining the Central Powers by issuing a declaration of war against the Triple Entente.^[11] Though a bloodless "battle", the failure of the British pursuit had enormous political and military ramifications — in the words of Winston Churchill, they brought "more slaughter, more misery and more ruin than has ever before been borne within the compass of a ship."^[12]

Cunningham stayed on in the Mediterranean and in 1915 Scorpion was involved in the attack on the Dardanelles. For his performance Cunningham was rewarded by a promotion to Commander and awarded the Distinguished Service Order.^[13]. Cunningham spent much of 1916 on routine patrols. Late 1916 he was engaged in the protection of convoys, a duty he regarded as mundane.^[14] He had no contact with German U-boats during this time on which he commented; "The immunity of my convoys, was probably due to sheer luck".^[14] Convinced that the Mediterranean held few offensive possibilities he requested to sail for home. Scorpion paid off on 21 January 1918. In his seven years at the helm of Scorpion Cunningham had developed a reputation for first class seamanship.^[15] He was transferred by Vice-admiral Keyes to HMS Termagent in April 1918. Termagent was part of The Dover Patrol.^[16] and it is was for his actions with the Dover Patrol that he was awarded a bar to his DSO the following year.^[17]

Interwar years

Association with Cowan

Cunningham saw much action in the interwar years. In 1919, he commanded HMS Seafire, on duty in the Baltics. The Communists, the White Russians, several varieties of Latvian nationalists, Germans, and the Poles were trying to control Latvia; the British Government had recognized Latvia's independence after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. It was on this voyage that Cunningham first met Admiral Walter Cowan. Cunningham was impressed by Cowan's methods, specifically his navigation of the potentially dangerous seas with thick fog and minefields threatening the fleet.^[18] Throughout several potentially problematic encounters with German forces trying to undermine the Latvian independence movement Cunningham exhibited "good self control and judgement" and Cowan was quoted as saying "Commander Cunningham has on one occasion after another acted with unfailing promptitude and decision, and has proved himself an Officer of exceptional valour and unerring resolution."^[19] For his actions in the Baltics Cunningham was awarded a second bar to his DSO^[10] along with promotion to Captain in 1920. On his return from the Baltics in 1922 he was appointed Captain of the British 6th Destroyer Flotilla. Further commands were to follow; the British 1st Destroyer Flotilla in 1923 and the destroyer base at Port Edgar in the Firth of Forth from 1927ndash;1926. Cunningham renewed his association with Vice Admiral Cowan between 1926 and 1928 when Cunningham was Flag Captain and Chief Staff Officer to Cowan while serving on the North America and West Indies Squadron. In his memoirs Cunningham made clear the "high regard"^[20] in which he held Cowan and the many lessons he learned from him during their two periods of service together.^[20] The late 1920s found Cunningham back in the UK participating in courses at the Army Senior Officers' School at Sheerness as well as the Imperial Defence College.^[21] It was whilst Cunningham was at the Imperial Defence College in 1929 that he married Nona Byatt. After a year at the College, Cunningham was given command of his first big ship; the battleship HMS Rodney.^[10] Eighteen months later, he was appointed Commodore of HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval barracks at Chatham.

Promoted to Flag Officer

He was promoted to flag rank and Aide-de-Camp to the King in September 1932, and appointed as Rear-Admiral (Destroyers) in the Mediterranean in December 1933. He was appointed a Companion of the Bath in 1934. Having hoisted his flag in the light cruiser Coventry, Cunningham used his time to practice fleet handling for which he was to receive much praise in the Second World War.^[22] There were fleet exercises in the Atlantic Ocean in which he learnt the skills and values of night actions that he would also use to great effect in years to come.^[22]

On his promotion to Vice Admiral in July 1936, due to the interwar naval policy, further active employment seemed remote. However, a year later due to the illness of Sir Geoffrey Blake, Cunningham assumed the combined appointment of commander of the British Battlecruiser Squadron and second-in-command of the Mediterranean Fleet, hoisting his flag in HMS Hood. Cunningham's time with Hood^[23] was again spent in the Mediterranean. After his long days in small ships Cunningham considered his accommodation aboard Hood to be almost palatial^[23] even surpassing his previous big ship experience on Rodney.^[24]

He retained this command until September 1938 when he was appointed to the Admiralty as Deputy Chief of Naval Staff, although he did not actually take up this post until December 1939. He accepted this shore job with reluctance since he loathed administration, but the Board of Admiralty’s high regard of him was evident. For six months during an illness of Admiral Sir Roger Blackhouse, the then First Sea Lord, he acted as his deputy on the Committee of Imperial Defence and Admiralty Board.

Second World War

Cunningham described the command of the Mediterranean Fleet as "The finest command the Royal Navy has to offer"^[25] and he remarked in his memoirs that "I probably knew the Mediterranean as well as any Naval Officer of my generation".^[25] Cunningham was made Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, hoisting his flag in HMS Warspite on 6 June 1939 one day after arriving in Alexandria on the 5 June 1939. As Commander-in-Chief, Cunningham’s main concern was for the safety of convoys heading for Egypt and that of Malta, whose significance he fully appreciated.^[6] Cunningham believed that the main threat to British Sea Power in the Mediterranean would come from the Italian Fleet.^[26] As such Cunningham had his fleet at a heightened state of readiness so that when Italy did choose to enter into hostilities then the British Fleet would be ready.^[27]

French Surrender (June 1940)

In his role as Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, Cunningham had to negotiate with the French Admiral Rene-Emile Godfroy for the demilitarisation and internment of a French squadron at Alexandria in June 1940. Churchill had ordered Cunningham to prevent the French Warships from leaving port and to ensure that French warships did not pass into enemy hands. Stationed at the time at Alexandria, Cunningham entered into delicate negotiations with the French Admiral Godfroy to ensure his fleet, which consisted of the battleship Lorraine, 4 cruisers, 3 destroyers and a submarine, posed no threat.^[28] The Admiralty ordered Cunningham to complete the negotiations on 3 July. ^[28] Just as an agreement seemed imminent Godfroy heard of the British action against the French at Mers el Kebir and, for a while, Cunningham feared a battle between French and British warships in the confines of Alexandria harbour. The deadline was overrun but negotiations ended well after Cunningham put them on a more personal level and had the British ships appeal to their French opposite numbers.^[29] Cunningham succeeded and the French emptied their fuel bunkers and removed the firing mechanisms from their guns.^[30] Cunningham in turn promised to repatriate the ships' crews.^[30]

Battle of Taranto (November 1940)

Although the threat from the French Fleet had been neutralised Cunningham was still aware of the threat posed by the Italian Fleet to British North African operations based in Egypt. Although the Royal Navy had won in several actions in the Mediterranean considerably upsetting the balance of power the Italians who were following the theory of a fleet in being had left their ships in harbour. This made the threat of a sortie against the British Fleet a serious problem.^[1] At the time the harbour at Taranto contained six battleships (five of them battle-worthy), seven heavy cruisers, two light cruisers and eight destroyers. The Admiralty, concerned with the potential for an attack, had drawn up Operation Judgement a surprise attack on Taranto Harbour. To carry out the attack the Admiralty sent the new HMS Illustrious commanded by Lumley Lyster, to join HMS Eagle in Cunningham's fleet.

The attack took place on the night of November 11 at 21:00 when the first of two waves of Fairey Swordfish Torpedo bombers took off from Illustrious followed by the second wave an hour later. The bombers attacked the Italian Fleet with great success.^[1] The Italian fleet lost half its strength in one night. The "fleet-in-being" diminished in importance and the Royal Navy had increased its control of the Mediterranean. Cunningham said of the victory: "Taranto, and the night of November 11-12, 1940, should be remembered for ever as having shown once and for all that in the Fleet Air Arm the Navy has its most devastating weapon."^[1] The Royal Navy had launched the first all-aircraft naval attack in history, flying a small number of aircraft from an aircraft carrier. This and other aspects of the raid were important facts in the planning of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941: the Japanese planning staff were thought to have studied it intensively.^[1]

Battle of Cape Matapan (March 1941)

At the end of March 1941 Hitler wanted the convoys supplying the British Expeditionary force in Greece stopped and the Italian Navy was the only force capable of achieving this.^[31] Cunningham though stated in his biography: "I myself was inclined to think that the Italians would not try anything. I bet Commander Power, the Staff Officer, Operations, the sum of ten shillings that we would see nothing of the enemy."^[31] Under pressure from Germany the Italian Fleet planned to launch an attack on the British Fleet on 28 March. The Italian commander, Admiral Angelo Iachino, intended to carry out a surprise attack on the British cruisers involving a pincer movement with the battleship Vittorio Veneto.^[32] Cunningham though was aware of Iachino's plans as he had been warned by the Ultra system. Cunningham, realising that an air attack could weaken the Italian Fleet,^[32] launched Formidable's Albacore torpedo-bombers which attacked the Italian battleship. They had no success but Iachino, realising his fleet was vulnerable without air cover, ordered his forces to retire. Cunningham gave the order to pursue the Italian Fleet.^[31]

The Italian Admiral, unaware of Cunningham's pursuing battlefleet ordered a squadron of cruisers and destroyers to return and protect the Italian ship Pola. Cunningham meanwhile was joining up with a second fleet in the area under the command of Vice-Admiral Pridham-Wippell.^[32] Throughout the day several chases and sorties occurred with no overall victor.^[32] None of the Italian ships were equipped for night fighting though and when night fell they made to return to Taranto.^[31] The British battlefleet equipped with radar detected the Italians shortly after 22:00. In a pivotal ^[32]moment in the war at sea during World War Two, the battleships Barham, Valiant and Warspite opened fire on two Italian Cruisers at only 3500 metres destroying them in only five minutes.^[31] Over the course of the long battle that ensued between the surviving Italian ships and Cunningham's fleet the British ships sunk two Italian destroyers and three Heavy cruisers.^[33]

Although the Vittorio Veneto escaped from the battle by returning to Taranto there were many accolades given to Cunningham for continuing the pursuit at night, against the advice of his staff.^[32] After the previous defeat at Taranto, the defeat at Cape Matapan dealt another strategic blow to the Italian Navy. Five ships were sunk and around 2,400 Italian sailors were killed, missing or captured. The British lost only three aircrew when one torpedo bomber was shot down. Cunningham lost his bet with Commander Power but he had won a strategic victory in the war in the Meditteranean.^[32] The defeats at Taranto and Cape Matapan meant that the Italian Navy did not intervene^[33] in the evacuations of Greece and Crete later in 1941 and the Regia Marina never ventured into the eastern Mediterranean for the remainder of the war, conceding it to the Allied fleet.^[33]

Battle of Crete (May 1941)

On the morning of 20 May 1941, Nazi Germany launched an airborne invasion of Crete under the code-name Unternehmen Merkur (Operation Mercury). After one day of fighting, none of their objectives had been reached and the Germans had suffered appalling casualties. ^[34] During the next day, through miscommunication and the failure of Allied commanders to grasp the situation,^[34] the Maleme airfield in western Crete fell to the Germans. The loss of Maleme enabled the Germans to fly in heavy reinforcements and overwhelm the Allied forces.^[34]

After a week of heavy fighting command in London eventually decided that the cause was hopeless, and ordered a withdrawal from Sphakia.^[34] Over the next four nights 16,000 troops were taken off to Egypt by ships including HMS Ajax^[34] of Battle of the River Plate fame. A smaller number of ships were to withdraw troops on a separate mission from Heraklion, but these ships were attacked en route by Luftwaffe dive-bombers. Without air cover Cunningham's fleet suffered serious losses. Cunningham was determined though that the "navy must not let the army down" and when army generals feared he would lose too many ships, Cunningham famously said,

"It takes three years to build a ship; it takes three centuries to build a tradition."^[35]

The "never say die" attitude of Cunningham and the men under his command meant that of 22,000 men on Crete 16,500 were rescued but at the loss of three cruisers, six destroyers and 15 major warships were damaged.^[35]

Allied Expeditionary Force (1943-1946)

Late 1942 and in the first months of 1943 Cunningham served under General Eisenhower, who made him the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force. It was in this role that Cunningham was to command the large fleet that covered the Anglo-American landings in North Africa (Operation Torch). General Eisenhower said of him in his diary:

Admiral Sir Andrew Browne Cunningham. He remains in my opinion at the top of my subordinates in absolute selflessness, energy, devotion to duty, knowledge of his task, and in understanding of the requirements of allied operations. My opinions as to his superior qualifications have never wavered for a second.

February 1943 saw Cunningham return to his post as Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet. Three months later, when Axis forces in North Africa were on the verge of surrender he ordered that none should be allowed to escape;.^[36] entirely in keeping with his fiery character he signaled the fleet "Sink, burn and destroy: Let nothing pass".^[36] He oversaw the naval forces used in the joint Anglo-American amphibious invasions of Sicily during Operation Husky in July 1943, and Operation Baytown and Operation Avalanche. On the morning of September 11 1943 Cunningham was present at Malta when the Italian Fleet surrendered after which on the morning Cunningham informed the Admiralty; "the Italian battle fleet now lies at anchor under the guns of Malta."^[37]

On 21 October 1943 Cunningham became First Sea Lord of the Admiralty and Chief of the Naval Staff after the death of Dudley Pound. This promotion meant he had to relinquish his coveted post of Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean recommending his namesake Admiral John H. D. Cunningham.^[38] In the position of First Sea Lord, and as a member of the Chiefs of Staff committee, Cunningham was responsible for the overall strategic direction of the navy for the remainder of the war. He attended the major conferences at Cairo, Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam^[36] at which the Allies discussed future strategy including the invasion of Normandy and the deployment of a British fleet to the Pacific Ocean.

Honours

Below is a list of Awards and titles awarded to Andrew Browne Cunningham during his lifetime.

^{(Note = Full title was Baron Cunningham of Hyndhope in the County of Selkirk. Upon his death without issue in 1963, both of these titles became extinct.)}.

Retirement

Cunningham was entitled to retire at the end of the war in 1945 but he resolved to pilot the Navy through the transition to peace before retiring. With the election of Clement Attlee in 1945 and the implementation of his Post-war consensus came a large reduction in the Defence Budget. The extensive reorganisation was a challenge for Cunningham. "We very soon came to realise how much easier it was to make war than to reorganise for peace."^[39] Due to pressures on the budget from all three services the Navy embarked on a reduction programme that was larger than Cunningham had envisaged.^[40]

At the end of May 1946 after overseeing the transition through to peacetime Cunningham retired from his post as First Sea Lord.^[41] Cunningham retreated to the his "little house in the country", 'Palace House' at Bishop's Waltham which he and Lady Cunningham had acquired before the war. They both had a busy retirement.^[41] He attended the House of Lords irregularly and he occasionally lent his name to press statements about the Royal Navy particularly those relating to Admiral Dudley North who had been relieved of his command of Gibraltar in 1940. Cunningham and several of the surviving Admirals of the Fleet set about securing justice for North and they succeded with a partial Vindication in 1957. ^[41] He also busied himself with various appointments, he was Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1950 and 1952 and he acted as Lord High Steward at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. Throughout this time Cunningham and his wife entertained family and friends including his own great nephew by marriage Jock Slater in their extensive gardens. Cunningham died in London on 12 June, 1963.^[41]

Notes

References

• Churchill, Winston. The Second World War Volume III. Penguin paperback. ISBN 0-141-44174-7.
• Cunningham, Andrew (1952). Admiral A.B. Cunningham, A Sailor’s Odyssey. Hutchinson & Co, London. ASIN B0000CHWI2.
• Edwards, Bernard (1999). Salvo! Classic Naval Gun Actions. Brockhampton Press. ISBN 1860199593.
• Moorehead, Alan (1956). Gallipoli. Wordsworth Editions. ISBN 1-85326-675-2.
• Roskill, Stephen (1977). Churchill and the Admirals. Collins. ISBN 0002161273.
• Andrew Cunningham, Michael Simpson, Naval Records Society (1999). The Cunningham Papers: Selections from the Private and Official Correspondence of Admiral of the Fleet Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope. Naval Records Society. ISBN 1840146222.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Simpson, Michael (2004). A Life of Admiral of the Fleet Andrew Cunningham: A Twentieth-century Naval Leader. Routledge. ISBN 0714651974.
• Tuchman, Barbara (1962). The Guns of August. Constable. ISBN 0-333-69880-0.
• Warner, Oliver (1967). Cunningham of Hyndhope:Admiral of the Fleet. John Murray. ISBN 0719517141.
• Winton, John (1998). Cunningham: The Greatest Admiral since Nelson. John Murray. ISBN 0719557658.

Further reading

• Barnett, Corelli (1999). Engage the Enemy More Closely. Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 0340551909.
• Pack, S.W.C. (1974). Cunningham the Commander. B.T. Batsford Ltd. ISBN 0713427884.

External links

• Royal Navy page on Cunningham
• Biography at the Royal Naval Museum Library
• Summary information on education website
• Bio on HMS Hood memorial page
• Website about Normandy landings with bio
• 1943 bromide print by Yousuf Karsh at the National Portrait Gallery, London
• Page about Cunningham and the Malta Convoys and his relationship with Churchill

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