Prince Louis of Battenberg resigns from the Admiralty
On 29 October 1914 the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, accepted the resignation of the First Sea Lord, Admiral Prince Louis of Battenberg. The highest-ranking officer of the Royal Navy had to go not because of any mistakes, but because he was a German prince by birth.
A German prince in the British fleet
Louis of Battenberg was born in 1854 in Graz in Austria, the son of Prince Alexander of Hesse, a member of the ruling house of the Grand Duchy of Hesse. At the age of 14 he joined the British navy and became a British subject. He served in it for more than 45 years. He married Princess Victoria of Hesse, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, and was thus related to the British royal family. He headed naval intelligence, commanded the Atlantic Fleet and in December 1912 became First Sea Lord. In July 1914 it was he who kept the fleet ready after the review at Spithead, so that the Royal Navy entered the war concentrated.
A campaign of hatred
After the outbreak of war anti-German feeling grew rapidly in Britain. People with German names lost their jobs, and the press hunted for “the enemy within”. Particularly active was Horatio Bottomley’s weekly “John Bull”, which even before the war had objected to entrusting the secrets of the country’s defence to a man “born abroad”. Rumours about Battenberg’s loyalty also circulated in the London clubs, where they were fuelled by, among others, Admiral Lord Charles Beresford, despite Churchill’s rebukes.
The atmosphere was made worse by setbacks at sea. The fleet had not fought a great battle, and the public could not understand how a single German submarine could sink three British cruisers, and then the cruiser Hawke as well. An admiral of German origin was a convenient scapegoat for these failures.
Resignation
On 27 October Churchill, citing the mood of public opinion, asked Battenberg to step down. The admiral, exhausted and embittered, submitted his resignation the next day. He wrote that his birth and parentage had “in some respects impaired his usefulness” on the Board of Admiralty, and that therefore, as a loyal subject of the King, he felt it his duty to resign. Churchill accepted the resignation on 29 October, emphasising his services, and the news immediately spread through the press.
King George V was deeply moved by the fate of his relative. As a sign of confidence he appointed him to the Privy Council. Part of the press, for example the weekly “The Spectator”, wrote openly that the admiral had fallen victim to foolish prejudice. Battenberg’s successor was the retired Admiral John Fisher.
The Mountbattens
Battenberg never returned to active service. In 1917, when the royal family was abandoning German names and titles, he renounced the title of Prince of Battenberg and took the surname Mountbatten, an English version of the family name. He was created Marquess of Milford Haven. He died in 1921. His younger son, Louis Mountbatten, commanded the Allies in South-East Asia during the Second World War and was later the last Viceroy of India. The admiral’s grandson was Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II.
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Meanwhile
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Related events
(04)The same battle, people or subject.
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- 30 October 1914 · MilitaryFisher returns to the AdmiraltyOn 30 October 1914 the 73-year-old Admiral John Fisher became First Sea Lord again. He replaced Prince Louis of Battenberg.
- 5 November 1914 · DiplomacyBritain and France declare war on TurkeyOn 5 November 1914 Britain and France declared war on Turkey. London abandoned its century-old policy of defending the Ottoman Empire against Russia.
- 31 October 1914 · MilitaryAdmiralty orders hostilities against TurkeyOn 31 October 1914 the British Admiralty ordered its ships to begin hostilities against Turkey at once, although war had not yet been declared.