Henry Harwood

For the Australian actor and theatre manager, see Henry R. Harwood. For the landowner and political figure in Quebec, see Henry Stanislas Harwood.

Sir Henry Harwood
Harwood in Alexandria, August 1942
Born(1888-01-19)19 January 1888
St George Hanover Square, London
Died9 June 1950(1950-06-09) (aged 62)
Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire
Buried
Goring-on-Thames parish churchyard[1]
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Service / branchRoyal Navy
Years of service1904–1945
RankAdmiral
CommandsAdmiral Commanding, Orkneys and Shetlands (1944–45)
Commander-in-Chief, Levant (1943)
South American Division, North America and West Indies Station (1939–40)
HMS Exeter (1936–39)
HMS London (1932–34)
9th Destroyer Division (1929–30)
HMS Warwick (1929–30)
HMS Cumberland (1927–28)
Battles / wars
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
Mentioned in Despatches
War Cross (Greece)
Gold Medal of Concepcion (Chile)
Grand Officer of the Order of Merit (Chile)
RelationsKate Harwood

Admiral Sir Henry Harwood Harwood, KCB, OBE (19 January 1888 – 9 June 1950) was a Royal Navy officer who won fame in the Battle of the River Plate during the Second World War.

Early life

Following education at Stubbington House School, Harwood entered the Royal Navy in 1904 and specialised in torpedoes.[2][3] He served in the First World War.[2] In 1919, he served on the battleship HMS Royal Sovereign), 1st Battle Squadron. By 1929 he had been promoted to captain and become the commanding officer of the destroyer HMS Warwick and Senior Officer of the 9th Destroyer Division.

In 1931 and 1932, Harwood attended the Imperial Defence College.[2] Upon completion of the course in March 1932, he became flag captain of the heavy cruiser HMS London whilst at the same time serving as Chief Staff Officer to the Rear-Admiral Commanding the 1st Cruiser Squadron. From July 1934 until 1936, Harwood served on the staff of the Royal Naval War College at Greenwich (HMS President).

In September 1936, Harwood was appointed commodore and given command of the South American Division of the America and West Indies Station, whilst at the same time serving as commanding officer of the cruiser HMS Exeter.[2] At the outbreak of the Second World War, command of HMS Exeter passed to Captain F. S. Bell. Commodore Harwood remained in Exeter until he transferred his pennant to HMS Ajax on 27 August.[4]

Second World War

Harwood commanded a squadron consisting of the heavy cruisers HMS Cumberland and HMS Exeter, and the light cruisers HMS Achilles and HMS Ajax. He flew his broad pennant in Ajax as his flagship.[2] The squadron was deployed to the South Atlantic against the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee, which was attacking Allied shipping there.

Vice-Admiral Harwood inspects ratings at HMS Canopus, the Royal Navy training base in Alexandria, in September 1942.

Harwood suspected that Graf Spee would try to strike next at the merchant shipping off the River Plate estuary. With Cumberland being absent for repairs, Harwood deployed his other three cruisers off the estuary on 12 December. In the ensuing Battle of the River Plate on 13 December, Harwood's cruisers were damaged, but so was Graf Spee, which fled to Montevideo in neutral Uruguay. She was scuttled there a few days later.[5] For this action, Harwood was promoted to rear admiral and knighted.

From December 1940 to April 1942, Rear-Admiral Harwood served as a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty and Assistant Chief of Naval Staff.[2] In April 1942, Harwood was promoted to vice-admiral and Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet, and flew his flag at HMS Nile.[2] The command was later split, and he became Commander-in-Chief, Levant, in February 1943, with responsibility for flank support and seaborne supply of the British Eighth Army.[2]

In April 1944, Harwood became Admiral Commanding, Orkneys and Shetlands[2] (HMS Proserpine). He retired on 15 August 1945 with the rank of admiral, having been declared medically unfit for further duty.[2]

Post-war

Sir Henry Harwood died in Goring-on-Thames in 1950. Harwood Avenue, the main thoroughfare in the town of Ajax, Ontario, was named after him.[6] In the 1956 film, The Battle of the River Plate, Harwood was played by Anthony Quayle.[7]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sir Henry Harwood.
  1. ^ Noomen, E. J. (1998–2010). "Graves of World War II personalities". Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
  3. ^ Houterman, Hans. "Royal Navy (RN) Officers 1939–1945 (HARV to HAYW)". Unithistories. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  4. ^ H.M.S. EXETER 1936–1939. London: HMS Exeter, Royal Navy. 1939. Pages 126 and 127.
  5. ^ Battle of the River Plate, December 1939 Naval History
  6. ^ "Harwood Avenue named for British naval officer". DurhamRegion.com. 6 October 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  7. ^ "The Battle of the River Plate". IMDb. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
Military offices
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet
1942–1943 		Succeeded by
New command Commander-in-Chief, Levant
February–June 1943 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Admiral Commanding, Orkneys and Shetlands
1944–1945 		Command disbanded