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 Percy Lockhart Harnam Noble (16 January 1880 – 25 July 1955) was a Royal Navy officer who served in both

World War A world war is an international War, conflict that involves most or all of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I ...

s. Noble rose to the rank of

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 ...

and was Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches for two crucial years during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, before being posted to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

as Head of the RN Admiralty Delegation.

Naval career

The son of an Indian Army officer, Colonel Charles Noble and Anne ''née'' Hay, he was educated at

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in Stockbridge, Edinburgh, Stockbridge, is now part of the Senior Scho ...

, before being commissioned in the

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 ...

on 15 January 1894.Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
/ref> Promoted as

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 ...

on 1 April 1902, Noble was posted to 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 ...

HMS ''Hannibal'' serving in the

Channel Fleet The Channel Fleet and originally known as the Channel Squadron was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1854 to 1909 and 1914 to 1915. History Throughout the course of Royal Navy's history th ...

. He transferred to HMS ''Russell'' on her commission in February 1903. He served in the

Grand Fleet The Grand Fleet was the main battlefleet of the Royal Navy during the First World War. It was established in August 1914 and disbanded in April 1919. Its main base was Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. History Formed in August 1914 from th ...

during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. From 1918 to 1925 he commanded the cruisers HMS ''Calliope'' and HMS ''Calcutta'' and then the battleship HMS ''Barham'' before being appointed Senior Naval Officer,

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-o ...

in 1925. He then commanded HMS ''St Vincent'' based at Forton,

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hampshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 70,131 and the district had a pop ...

from 1927. He was appointed Director of Operations Division at the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...

in 1928. He was then Director of Naval Equipment from 1931 before returning to sea in command of the

2nd Cruiser Squadron The 2nd Cruiser Squadron was a formation of cruisers of the British Royal Navy from 1904 to 1919 and from 1921 to 1941 and again from 1946 to 1952. History First formation The 2nd Cruiser Squadron was first formed in December, 1904 then placed ...

in 1932. He then returned to the

Fourth Sea Lord The Fourth Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Supplies, originally known as the Fourth Naval Lord, was formerly one of the Naval Lords and members of the Board of Admiralty, which controlled the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. The post is currently ...

in 1935, before returning as Commander-in-Chief, China Station in 1938. On his return to London, Admiral Noble was appointed Commander-in-Chief,

Western Approaches The Western Approaches is an approximately rectangular area of the Atlantic Ocean lying immediately to the west of Ireland and parts of Great Britain. Its north and south boundaries are defined by the corresponding extremities of Britain. The c ...

, headquartered at

Derby House The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional Officer of Arms, officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, from February 1941 to November 1942. His work in reorganising escort groups, and revamping escort training methods are widely regarded as having been crucial foundational elements of the eventual success of the Allied navies in the Atlantic theatre. Noble was remembered by those who worked with him at Derby House as an easy-going

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

, and an agreeable person to work with. Always conciliatory, Noble was an expert at building consensus around his chosen courses of action. Noble was, although not forced, certainly pushed out of Western Approaches to make room for Admiral Sir Max Horton, whose combative personality and experience in the submarine service made him the ideal candidate in the eyes of some to take the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

to the

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

s. He succeeded Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham as Head of the British Naval Delegation to

Washington DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

in 1942, before retiring from active naval service in 1945. By way of recognition, Noble was granted the

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be ins ...

Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom is a now honorary office generally held by a senior (possibly retired) Royal Navy admiral, though the current incumbent is a retired Royal Marine General. Despite the title, the Rear-Admiral of the United Ki ...

(an honorary appointment) on 19 June 1945.

Family

Noble married, in 1907, Diamantina Isabella, only daughter of Allan Campbell. She died in 1909, having one son (''qv.'' Sir Allan Noble MP). He married secondly, in 1913, Celia Emily (''later'' Lady Noble), daughter of Robert Kirkman Hodgson DL and Lady Norah ''née'' Boyle, having another son, Charles Noble. A

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...

to Admiral Sir Percy Noble was placed in the north choir aisle of

Liverpool Cathedral Liverpool Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Liverpool, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Liverpool and is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Liverpool, diocese of Liverpool. The church may be formally re ...

in 1957.

Honours and awards

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

1944 *

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

1936 (CB 1932) * Royal Victorian Order ribbon sm

Commander of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the ...

1920 (MVO 1901) * US_Legion_of_Merit_Commander_ribbon

Commander, Legion of Merit (United States) 1946 * St Olavs Orden storkors stripe

Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of St Olav 1948 * Legion Honneur GO ribbon

Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour (France) 1948 * DNK Order of Danebrog Grand Cross BAR

Grand Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog (Denmark) 1948 *

1945 ** Hon. LLDs from

and Belfast Universities

References

External links

www.npg.org.uk

The Noble Family Papers
held at

Churchill Archives Centre The Churchill Archives Centre (CAC) at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge is one of the largest repositories in the United Kingdom for the preservation and study of modern personal papers. It is best known for housing the papers ...

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Noble, Percy 1880 births 1955 deaths Military personnel of British India British people in colonial India Royal Navy personnel of World War I Royal Navy admirals of World War II Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Commanders of the Legion of Merit Lords of the Admiralty Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour Grand Crosses of the Order of the Dannebrog Royal Navy admirals