Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

Sir Edward Desmond Bewley McCarthy, (15 November 1893 – 8 June 1966) was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic Station.

Naval career

Promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in 1935, McCarthy was the highest ranking British officer at the

Battle of Cape Passero The Battle of Cape Passaro (also known as the Battle of Avola or the Battle of Syracuse) was a naval battle fought on 11 August 1718 between a fleet of the British Royal Navy under Admiral Sir George Byng and a fleet of the Spanish Navy under ...

in 1940, and he commanded from 1940 and from 1943, taking part in

Operation Tungsten Operation Tungsten was a Second World War Royal Navy air raid that targeted the German battleship Tirpitz, German battleship ''Tirpitz''. The operation sought to damage or destroy ''Tirpitz'' at her base in Kåfjorden (Alta), Kaafjord in the ...

against the German battleship ''Tirpitz'' in April 1944,U-boat.net: HMS Anson
/ref> and then becoming Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff in 1944.Desmond McCarthy
Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives After the war he was appointed Rear Admiral, Destroyers in the

Mediterranean Fleet The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between ...

and then Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic Station from 1948. He retired in 1950.

Personal life

Despite having an Irish (the

MacCarthy dynasty MacCarthy (), also spelled Macarthy, McCarthy or McCarty, is an Irish Irish clans, clan originating from Kingdom of Munster, Munster, an area they ruled during the Middle Ages. It was divided into several septs (branches) of which the MacCarthy ...

were the

Kings of Munster The kings of Munster () ruled the Kingdom of Munster in Ireland from its establishment during the Irish Iron Age until the High Middle Ages. According to Gaelic traditional history, laid out in works such as the ''Book of Invasions'', the earli ...

before the

Norman invasion The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, French, Flemish, and Breton troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conquero ...

) surname he considered himself an Englishman, and always "referred to himself as an Englishman." He spoke fluent Latin and Italian, and thought of Italy as his favorite foreign country. He found Mussolini "horrifying" and hoped Mussolini would not damage what he felt was Italy's positive reputation. He was particularly disturbed by the lurid details he heard about Cesar More's occupation of

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. Many of his Italian friends in London were educators and pro-democracy activists who had to flee Italy due to the fascist regime. In 1925, McCarthy married Agatha Kentish, daughter of Brigadier General Horace John James Kentish. They had two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mccarthy, Desmond 1893 births 1966 deaths Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Military personnel from the London Borough of Camden People from Hampstead Royal Navy admirals of World War II Royal Navy personnel of World War I