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 ...

Robert St Vincent Sherbrooke, (8 January 1901 – 13 June 1972) was a senior officer 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 ...

and a recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

forces.

Early life

Born in

Oxton, Nottinghamshire Oxton is a village in Nottinghamshire, England, with 568 residents at the 2011 census, falling marginally to 566 at the 2021 census. It is located west of Southwell, north of Lowdham, north-east of Nottingham and north-east of Calverto ...

, Sherbrooke attended the Royal Naval Colleges of Osborne and Dartmouth and joined the

in 1917 as a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest Military rank#Subordinate/student officer, rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Royal Cana ...

aboard . He was promoted to

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 ...

in 1935 and served aboard the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

. His wartime commands were all

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

Victoria Cross

Sherbrooke was 41 years old and a

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 the Royal Navy 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 ...

when the following deed took place during the

Battle of the Barents Sea The Battle of the Barents Sea was a World War II naval engagement on 31 December 1942 between warships of the German Navy (''Kriegsmarine'') and British ships escorting Convoy JW 51B to Kola Inlet in the USSR. The action took place in the Bar ...

for which he was awarded the VC. Sherbrooke's actions – and the German ships' failure to neutralize the convoy despite its superior force – were pivotal in Hitler's order to end the use of surface fleet of the

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...

at the beginning of 1943.

Later life

From July 1945 to mid-1946, Sherbrooke was commanding officer of the cruiser . He later achieved the rank of

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 ...

. He was appointed

High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire This is a list of the High Sheriffs of the English county of Nottinghamshire. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centu ...

for 1958–59. His daughter is

Dione Digby, Lady Digby Dione Marian Digby, Baroness Digby, (née Sherbrooke; born 23 February 1934) is a British arts administrator.‘DIGBY, Lady’, Who's Who 2014, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2014; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dece ...

. He died in his home town of Oxton, aged 71.

References

External links

Captain R.S.V. Sherbrooke
in ''The Art of War'' exhibition at the

UK National Archives The National Archives (TNA; ) is a non-ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Its parent department is the Department for Culture, Media and Sport of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is the ...

Location of grave and VC medal
''(Nottinghamshire)''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherbrooke, Robert St. Vincent 1901 births 1972 deaths Burials in Nottinghamshire People from Newark and Sherwood (district) Royal Navy rear admirals Companions of the Order of the Bath Free Foresters cricketers Companions of the Distinguished Service Order People educated at the Royal Naval College, Osborne Royal Navy officers of World War I Royal Navy officers of World War II Royal Navy recipients of the Victoria Cross British World War II recipients of the Victoria Cross Lord-lieutenants of Nottinghamshire High sheriffs of Nottinghamshire Military personnel from Nottinghamshire Recipients of the King Haakon VII Freedom Cross