Vice-Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of vic ...

Fawcet Wray DSO (1873 – 1932) was a senior

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.

Naval career

Born on 25 September 1873, Fawcet Wray was educated at

Bedford School Bedford School is a 7–18 Single-sex education, boys Public school (United Kingdom), public school in the county town of Bedford in England. Founded in 1552, it is the oldest of four independent schools in Bedford run by the Harpur Trust. Bed ...

and at

Britannia Royal Naval College Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth, also known as Dartmouth, is the naval academy of the United Kingdom and the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy. It is located on a hill overlooking the port of Dartmouth, Devon, En ...

. He was promoted to the rank of

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in 1894 and specialised in gunnery. From April 1900 he served as gunnery lieutenant on the battleship HMS ''Royal Sovereign'', 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 ...

. He was Flag Commander to

Lord Charles Beresford Admiral (Royal Navy), Admiral Charles William de la Poer Beresford, 1st Baron Beresford, (10 February 1846 – 6 September 1919), styled Lord Charles Beresford between 1859 and 1916, was a British admiral and Member of Parliament. Beresford w ...

between 1905 and 1908, commanded HMS ''Foresight'' between 1909 and 1910, HMS ''Defence'' between 1913 and 1914. As flag captain to

Rear-Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

Ernest Troubridge Admiral (Royal Navy), Admiral Sir Ernest Charles Thomas Troubridge, (15 July 1862 – 28 January 1926) was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the First World War. Troubridge was born into a family with substantial military connecti ...

, he played a major role in the outcome of the pursuit of ''Goeben'' and ''Breslau'', a German battlecruiser and a light cruiser, respectively. Wray persuaded Troubridge to not engage ''Goeben'', whose 11-inch main guns outranged those of Troubridge's ships. Both Wray and Troubridge were heavily criticised for this decision (the transfer of ''Goeben'' and ''Breslau'' to the Turks helped influence the previously neutral Ottoman Empire to join the Central powers), and both were brought before a

court-martial A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the arme ...

. Although the verdict was in their favour, their reputations were severely damaged. He commanded HMS ''Talbot'' in 1915 during the Gallipoli Campaign, for which he was commended by

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. George was born during the reign of his pa ...

and awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

. He commanded HMS ''Drake'' between 1916 and 1917, and HMS ''Berwick'' and HMS ''Caesar'' in 1918.

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 ...

Fawcet Wray was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral on 2 May 1922 and to the rank of

vice-admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of vic ...

on 2 July 1927. He died in

Kitzbühel Kitzbühel (, also: ; ) is a town rights, medieval town situated in the Kitzbühel Alps along the river Kitzbüheler Ache in Tyrol (state), Tyrol, Austria, about east of the state capital Innsbruck and is the administrative centre of the Kitzbüh ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, on 4 March 1932. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' reported that he collapsed whilst skiing and died almost instantly.Obituary, ''

'', 7 March 1932, p. 17

References

Fawcet Wray at the Dreadnought Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wray, Fawcet 1873 births 1932 deaths People educated at Bedford School Royal Navy admirals Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Royal Navy personnel of World War I Royal Navy officers who were court-martialled