Rhoderick McGrigor

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Rhoderick Robert McGrigor, (12 April 1893 – 3 December 1959) was a senior Royal Navy officer. He fought in the First World War and saw action during the Gallipoli Campaign and then the Battle of Jutland. He also served in the Second World War, taking part in the sinking of the Bismarck in May 1941, carrying out the office of Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Weapons) and commanding the 1st Cruiser Squadron during operations off the Norwegian coast and convoys to North Russia. Furthermore, he served as First Sea Lord in the early 1950s and is most remembered as a leading proponent of carrier-based air power. Naval career Early career Born the son of Major General Charles Rhoderic Robert McGrigor CB, CMG, late of the King's Royal Rifle Corps and Ada Rosamond McGrigor (née Bower), McGrigor spent his childhood in South Africa before returning to England in early 1906 for his education at the Royal Naval College, Osborne, and then the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. Promoted to midshipman on 15 September 1910, McGrigor was posted to the battleship HMS Formidable in the Atlantic Fleet in April 1911. He transferred to the battleship HMS Africa in the Home Fleet in May 1912 and, having been promoted to sub-lieutenant on 15 January 1913, moved to the battleship HMS Agamemnon in the Home Fleet in October 1913 and then on to the destroyer HMS Foxhound in the Mediterranean Fleet in March 1914. During the First World War, following his promotion to lieutenant on 15 October 1914, McGrigor saw action during the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915 and then transferred to the battleship HMS Malaya in the Grand Fleet in which he saw action at the Battle of Jutland.