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 ...

Frank Henderson 'Rammer' Pegram, CB, DSO (25 February 1890 – 8 March 1944) was a British

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 played a prominent role in the Norwegian campaign during World War II who became Fourth Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Supplies and Transport.

Naval career

Pegram was born in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England and joined the navy in 1905. He served in World War I aboard the

predreadnought Pre-dreadnought battleships were sea-going battleships built from the mid- to late- 1880s to the early 1900s. Their designs were conceived before the appearance of in 1906 and their classification as "pre-dreadnought" is retrospectively appli ...

and was present during the Gallipoli bombardment. In 1917 he served aboard the

battlecruiser The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of att ...

and in 1918 he was Gunnery Officer aboard , a

monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, Wes ...

bombarding German targets along the Belgian coast. For this service he received the

Belgian Croix de guerre The ( French) or ''Oorlogskruis'' ( Dutch) is a military decoration of the Kingdom of Belgium established by royal decree on 25 October 1915. It was primarily awarded for bravery or other military virtue on the battlefield. The award was reesta ...

.Royal Navy (RN) Officers 1939-1945
/ref> Between the wars Pegram had a number of shore and seagoing appointments, including a period as

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer ...

of the

battleship A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...

. On 10 July 1939, Pegram took up his appointment as

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

of , a cruiser, and held this position until April 1940. As such, he saw active service in the battles surrounding the German invasion of Norway. The ''Glasgow'' was in the waters off

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

early in the war and participated in the search for the German

passenger liner A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...

. In February 1940, she captured the German trawler ''Herrlichkeit'' off

Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

. Pegram made three daring voyages into Norwegian ports with the threat of German air attack. The first was to land troops at

Harstad Harstad may refer to: Places *Harstad (town) Harstad (; ) is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Harstad Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is also the administrative centre of Harstad Municipality. The city has a populati ...

in the far north of the country. Pegram then took the ''Glasgow'' into

Namsos Namsos may refer to: Places *Namsos Municipality, a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway *Namsos (town) Namsos is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the administrative center of Namsos Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. ...

and landed a detachment of

Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

to block enemy troops until the main British forces arrived, during the Namsos Campaign. Finally, Pegram made a bold run under air attack into

Molde Molde () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the seat of Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Pen ...

in southern Norway to evacuate King

Haakon VII Haakon VII (; 3 August 187221 September 1957) was King of Norway from 18 November 1905 until his death in 1957. The future Haakon VII was born in Copenhagen as Prince Carl of Denmark. He was the second son of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess ...

, much of the Norwegian

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

and senior government leaders as well as a good portion of the gold reserves of Norway. From 1940 to 1942, Pegram commanded Royal Navy forces, first in the South AtlanticFrom 1 July 1940 ssumed command 04.09.1940- to 10 March 1942, Commodore / Rear-Admiral Commanding South America Division under

Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic The Commander-in-Chief South Atlantic was an operational commander of the Royal Navy from 1939. The South American area was added to his responsibilities in 1960, and the post disestablished in 1967. Immediately before the outbreak of the Sec ...

MS Hawkins, later HMS Cumberland/ref> and then appointed Flag Officer, West Africa from August 1942 to May 1943, flying his flag from . In May 1943 he was appointed Fourth Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Supplies and Transport until March 1944. He died in the Royal Naval Hospital in Bristol on 8 March 1944.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pegram, Frank 1890 births 1944 deaths Royal Navy vice admirals Royal Navy officers of World War II Royal Navy officers of World War I Lords of the Admiralty Military personnel from Lancashire Companions of the Order of the Bath Admiralty personnel of World War II