Thomas Hope Troubridge

Summary

Vice Admiral Sir Thomas Hope Troubridge, KCB, DSO & Bar (1 February 1895 – 29 September 1949) was a Royal Navy officer who served as Fifth Sea Lord from 1945 to 1946.

Thomas Hope Troubridge
Rear Admiral Thomas Troubridge in 1945
Born(1895-02-01)1 February 1895
Southsea, Hampshire, England
Died29 September 1949(1949-09-29) (aged 54)
Hawkley, Hampshire, England
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service/branchRoyal Navy
Years of service1908–1949
RankVice admiral
Commands heldFlag Officer, Air (Home) (1946–47)
Fifth Sea Lord (1945–46)
Task Force 88 (1944)
HMS Indomitable (1942)
HMS Nelson (1941–42)
HMS Furious (1940)
HMS Windsor (1933–34)
HMS Voyager (1930–31)
Battles/warsFirst World War
Second World War
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Distinguished Service Order & Bar
Mentioned in dispatches (4)
Navy Distinguished Service Medal (United States)
Legion of Honour (France)
Croix de guerre (France)
RelationsAdmiral Sir Ernest Troubridge (father)

Military career edit

The son of Admiral Sir Ernest Troubridge and Edith Mary (née Duffus), Troubridge was born in Southsea, Hampshire, on 1 February 1895. He joined the Royal Navy in 1908,[1] and served in the First World War. In 1936 he became naval attaché in Berlin.[2] He also served in the Second World War, initially as commanding officer of the aircraft carrier HMS Furious[1] carrying much needed sugar back to Britain in July 1940 and then making a number of air strikes on shipping in Norwegian waters and on the seaplane base at Tromsø through October 1940.[3]

Troubridge was given command of the battleship HMS Nelson in June 1941 and then the aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable in January 1942.[4] In 1943, he was appointed Rear Admiral Combined Operations and flag officer commanding overseas assault forces,[1] and in June 1944 he led the invasion and capture of Elba.[5]

After the war Troubridge was appointed Fifth Sea Lord and then, from 1946, Flag Officer, Air (Home).[2] His last appointment was as Flag Officer, Air and Second-in-Command, Mediterranean Fleet in 1948.[2]

Family edit

Troubridge married Lily Emily Kleinwort in August 1925. They had four children: Their eldest son, Peter, became 6th Troubridge baronet on death of his cousin in 1963.[6] Their fourth child, Thomas, married Marie Christine von Reibnitz (later Princess Michael of Kent) in 1971: the marriage was annulled in 1978.[7]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Vice Admiral Sir Thomas Hope Troubridge Flight International, 6 October 1949
  2. ^ a b c Sir Thomas Hope Troubridge Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
  3. ^ Jenkins, C. A. (1972). HMS Furious/Aircraft Carrier 1917–1948: Part II: 1925–1948. Warship Profile. 24. Windsor: Profile Publications. OCLC 10154565. p. 283.
  4. ^ "Thomas Hope Troubridge DSO, RN". U Boat.net. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  5. ^ Tomblin, B. (2004). With Utmost Spirit: Allied Naval Operations in the Mediterranean, 1942—1945. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0813123380. pp. 379–382.
  6. ^ Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003
  7. ^ Alison Weir, Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy (London, U.K.: The Bodley Head, 1999), page 326
Military offices
Preceded by Fifth Sea Lord
1945–1946
Succeeded by