Admiral Sir Frederick Tower Hamilton GCVO, KCB (8 March 1856 – 4 October 1917) was a senior Royal Navy officer who went on to be Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel.

Naval career

Hamilton joined the Royal Navy in 1869[3] as a cadet on the training ship Britannia.[1] He fought in Naval Brigade in the Zulu War in 1879, for which service he was mentioned in despatches.[3] After promotion to Lieutenant he specialised into the Torpedo Branch and in 1884 after training was appointed a staff officer at the Torpedo Schoolship HMS Vernon.[1] In 1892 he was promoted to commander and serving aboard the battleship HMS Hood. He was appointed in command of the torpedo school ship HMS Defiance at Devonport on 1 November 1897,[4] promoted to captain on 1 January 1898,[5] and re-appointed in command of the Defiance the same day.[6] On 18 March 1902 he was appointed flag captain of the battleship HMS Bulwark, which in May was to become flagship of Admiral Sir Compton Domvile, Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet.[7] Hamilton was Aide-de-Camp to the King between 1906 and 1907.[8]

At the outset of the First World War Hamilton was Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel and was promoted to full admiral in June 1916.[9] He went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Rosyth later that year[10] but died suddenly from a heart attack in 1917 and is buried in Fife.[11]

He lived at Anmer Hall near King's Lynn in Norfolk.[8]

Honours and awards

  • 21 November 1903 – During the visit of the King to Malta Captain Frederick Tower Hamilton, Royal Navy, Flag Captain to Commander-in-Chief, Malta was appointed a Member of the Royal Victorian Order.[12]
  • 9 November 1908 – Rear-Admiral Frederick Tower Hamilton, MVO, is promoted to be a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order[13]
  • 1 January 1913 – Vice-Admiral Frederick Tower Hamilton, CVO, is appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath[14]

Family

Hamilton married Maria Walpole Keppel, the daughter of Admiral Sir Henry Keppel; they went on to have two sons (including Admiral Sir Louis Keppel Hamilton) and two daughters.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Death of Admiral Sir F.T. Hamilton". Deaths. The Times. No. 41601. London. 5 October 1917. col D, p. 11.
  2. ^ The Dreadnought Project
  3. ^ a b "National Maritime Museum". Archived from the original on 2 August 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  4. ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 35338. London. 19 October 1897. p. 8.
  5. ^ "No. 26924". The London Gazette. 31 December 1897. p. 7854.
  6. ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 35408. London. 8 January 1898. p. 10.
  7. ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36707. London. 5 March 1902. p. 5.
  8. ^ a b c The Peerage.com
  9. ^ "Admirals.org.uk". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  10. ^ "Dunfermline Heritage Roots". Archived from the original on 3 July 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  11. ^ "Great War Forum". Archived from the original on 29 February 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  12. ^ "No. 27560". The London Gazette. 2 June 1903. p. 35235.
  13. ^ "No. 28194". The London Gazette. 9 November 1908. p. 8162.
  14. ^ "No. 28677". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1913. p. 1.

External links

Military offices
Preceded by Second Sea Lord
1914–1916 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief, Rosyth
1916–1917 		Succeeded by