Victor Crutchley

Admiral Sir Victor Alexander Charles Crutchley (2 November 1893 – 24 January 1986) was a British naval officer.

He was a First World War recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces, and a senior Royal Navy officer during the Second World War.

Early life and education

Crutchley was born on 2 November 1893 at 28 Lennox Gardens, Chelsea, London, the only son of Percy Edward (1855–1940) and the Hon. Frederica Louisa (1864–1932), second daughter of Charles FitzRoy, 3rd Baron Southampton. His mother had been maid of honour to Queen Victoria. He was a godchild of Queen Victoria (from whom he derived his first two names). He joined the navy in 1906 and was educated at the Royal Naval College, Osborne.

First World War

In September 1915 Crutchley was promoted to lieutenant and posted to a battleship of the Grand Fleet, . ''Centurion'' participated in the Battle of Jutland. After the battle Captain Roger Keyes assumed command of ''Centurion'' and acquired a highly favorable impression of Crutchley. Keyes selected Crutchley for the Zeebrugge Raid of 23 April 1918; he was assigned by Keyes as first lieutenant to Commander Alfred Godsal, also of ''Centurion'', on the obsolete cruiser .

''Brilliant'' and were to be sunk as blockships at Ostend. The Germans had moved a navigation buoy, and so the ships were beached in the wrong place under heavy fire. But Crutchley performed well and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

Crutchley volunteered for the Second Ostend Raid on 9 May, and was posted to the cruiser , again commanded by Godsal. When Godsal was killed and the navigating officer incapacitated, Crutchley took command. When a propeller was damaged on the quay, preventing the vessel fully closing the canal, Crutchley ordered its scuttling and personally oversaw the evacuation under fire.

Crutchley transferred to the damaged motor launch ''ML 254''. When its wounded captain Lieutenant Geoffrey Drummond collapsed, Crutchley took command. Crutchley oversaw bailing operations, standing in water up to his waist, until the destroyer , carrying Admiral Keyes, came to its aid.

Although the second raid also failed fully to close the Bruges Canal to submarine traffic, Crutchley, Drummond and Rowland Bourke were awarded Victoria Crosses for the action. When there were more worthy recipients than VCs to award, the men were allowed to elect those to receive a VC. Crutchley was one of the last elected VCs. During the final months of the war, Crutchley served on HMS ''Sikh'' in the Dover Patrol, the Channel force commanded by Keyes.

Inter-war

In 1920, Crutchley spent a tour of duty on board the minesweeper on the South American and South Atlantic station. He then served on the royal yacht in 1921, the cadet-training dreadnought in 1922–1924, and the royal yacht in 1924.

In 1924 he went to the Mediterranean Fleet for four years, serving under Roger Keyes, now Commander-in-Chief at Malta. Crutchley was on in 1924–1926, and then on the light cruiser in 1926–1928.

Crutchley was a polo player, and was invited to play for Keyes' polo team, the ''Centurions''. At one point in 1927, Crutchley played on the same team as Keyes, the Duke of York, and Louis Mountbatten. Crutchley was promoted to commander in 1928. In 1930, he married Joan Elisabeth Loveday of Pentillie Castle, Cornwall, the sister of Air Chief Marshal Alec Coryton.

In August 1930, Crutchley joined in the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy where he served until 1933. Serving as executive officer, Crutchley was present at the relief operation after the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake, and towards the end of his tour, when the captain was chronically ill, took command of ''Diomede'' until he was promoted to captain. He was posted home in 1933. Crutchley was senior officer, 1st Minesweeper Flotilla (1st MSF) from 1935 to 1936 aboard the minesweeper at Portland, Dorset. In November, 1935 Crutchley took the 1st MSF to join the Mediterranean Fleet in Alexandria, and cruised to Famagusta, Cyprus for 10 days during the winter. On 16 April 1936, Crutchley was relieved by Captain W. P. C. Manwaring and appointed Captain, Fishery Protection and Minesweeping with overall command over the Royal Navy's Minesweeping and armed trawler fleet.

On 1 May 1937, Crutchley took command of , which had been completely refitted in three years at Portsmouth. Due to acceptance trials ''Warspite'' was not present at the Coronation Fleet Review of King George VI. Additional engineering work on the steering gear (which still suffered from damage taken at Jutland) and other equipment resulted in weekend leaves for the crew being curtailed, leading to very low morale. Comments appeared in British newspapers, which culminated in an anonymous letter from a crew member. This provoked an inquiry by the Admiralty. The inquiry led to the removal of three of Crutchley's officers, including his executive officer. Crutchley disagreed with the findings of the Inquiry, and made sure that the confidential report on his executive officer would lead to a promotion to captain.

''Warspite'' eventually proceeded to the Mediterranean Fleet to serve as the flagship of Admiral Dudley Pound, Commander-in-Chief. Crutchley served as Flag Captain to first Pound and then to Admiral Andrew Cunningham up to the outbreak of war.

Second World War

North Sea

After the outbreak of war in September 1939, ''Warspite'' was assigned to the Home Fleet. Due to the lack of anti-submarine precautions at the North Sea naval bases, it was some time before she reached Scapa Flow, the main fleet anchorage. Until the start of the Norwegian campaign on 9 April 1940, action had been severely limited by the U-boat threat. A significant German naval presence in the North Sea saw the Home Fleet off the coast of Norway. The inconclusive first battle of Narvik was on 10 April.

On 13 April, Crutchley commanded ''Warspite'' in the second battle of Narvik. She accompanied nine destroyers into Ofotfjord, where eight German destroyers were sunk or scuttled. ''Warspite''s catapult plane even sank a U-boat.

After this action, Crutchley was appointed commodore of Royal Naval Barracks, Devonport, overseeing the preparation of crews for assignment to ships. While there he was greeted by a detachment of sailors who had served on ''Warspite'' at Narvik.

South West Pacific Area

After the opening of hostilities with Japan, Crutchley was promoted to rear admiral and lent to the Royal Australian Navy for service in the South West Pacific Area. On 13 June 1942 Crutchley succeeded Rear Admiral John Crace in command of Task Force 44, the Australian Squadron, based in Brisbane, the last Briton to do so.

Battle of Savo Island

During the landings on Guadalcanal, on 7 August 1942, Crutchley served as Commander Task Group 62.2 (CTG 62.2), the covering group, with his flag in . TG 62.2 included three Australian and five American cruisers, fifteen destroyers, and some minesweepers. He was under Admiral Richmond K. Turner USN, commander of the amphibious force. TG 62.2 was on constant alert, rendering support to the landings or fending off Japanese air attacks.

On 8 August, Vice Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher withdrew the aircraft carriers that had provided air cover. Turner decided the amphibious force must also leave the next day. He summoned Crutchley and Vandegrift (commander of the troops on Guadalcanal) to an evening conference on his flagship. Crutchley took ''Australia'' to the amphibious anchorage, leaving five cruisers and six destroyers on guard to the west.

That night a powerful Japanese cruiser force attacked. They caught Task Group 62.2 by surprise, and sank four Allied cruisers, including . In the wake of the disaster, Crutchley was heavily criticised, both for leaving his command, and for an ineffective deployment which allowed the Japanese to get close without being detected by radar.

Crutchley nonetheless retained the confidence of his superiors. He remained with the RAN in the South West Pacific, commanding TF 44 (redesignated TF 74 in 1943) for another 23 months. His command of the Australian Squadron ended on 13 June 1944.

In September 1944, Crutchley received the American Legion of Merit in the degree of Chief Commander.

Later years

Crutchley's final command was Flag Officer Gibraltar after the war (14 January 1945 - January 1947). He retired in 1947, and was promoted to admiral in 1949.

Crutchley enjoyed a long retirement at Mappercombe Manor, near Bridport in Dorset. In 1955, he was appointed High Sheriff of Dorset and in 1957, Deputy Lieutenant for Dorset. When he died in 1986 at the age of 92, he was one of the last surviving admirals from World War II. In 1945, Crutchley had bought two paintings (''Capriccio: The Lagoon, Venice'' and ''La Torre di Marghera'') by the landscape artist Bernardo Bellotto. They were given to the nation in lieu of tax and presented to the Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery in 1988.

Notes

References

Further reading

*''Monuments to Courage'' (David Harvey, 1999)
*''The Register of the Victoria Cross'' (This England, 1997)
*''VCs of the First World War - The Naval VCs'' (Stephen Snelling, 2002)

External links

Location of grave and VC medal
''(Dorset)''
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crutchley, Victor
Royal Navy admirals of World War II
British World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross
Deputy Lieutenants of Dorset
Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom)
Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
Chief Commanders of the Legion of Merit
Recipients of the Order of Polonia Restituta
People from Chelsea, London
Schuyler family
English people of Dutch descent
1893 births
1986 deaths
Recipients of the Croix de Guerre (France)
Royal Navy recipients of the Victoria Cross
Royal Navy officers of World War I
Military personnel from London
High Sheriffs of Dorset
People educated at the Royal Naval College, Osborne