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 Vice ...

Sir Thomas Hope Troubridge, (1 February 1895 – 29 September 1949) 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 served as Fifth Sea Lord from 1945 to 1946.

Military career

The son of Admiral Sir Ernest Troubridge and Edith Mary ( Duffus), Troubridge was born in

Southsea Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea began as a f ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, on 1 February 1895. He joined the

in 1908,Vice Admiral Sir Thomas Hope Troubridge
Flight International, 6 October 1949 and served in 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 ...

. In 1936 he became naval attaché in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

.Sir Thomas Hope Troubridge
Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives He also served in 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 ...

, initially as commanding officer of the aircraft carrier carrying much needed sugar back to Britain in July 1940 and then making a number of air strikes on shipping in Norwegian waters and on the seaplane base at

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 ...

through October 1940. Troubridge was given command of the battleship in June 1941 and then the aircraft carrier in January 1942. In 1943, he was appointed Rear Admiral Combined Operations and flag officer commanding overseas assault forces, and in June 1944 he led the invasion and capture of Elba. After the war Troubridge was appointed Fifth Sea Lord and then, from 1946, Flag Officer, Air (Home). His last appointment was as Flag Officer, Air and Second-in-Command, Mediterranean Fleet in 1948.

Family

Troubridge married Lily Emily Kleinwort in August 1925. They had four children: Their eldest son,

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

, became 6th Troubridge baronet on death of his cousin in 1963. Their fourth child, Thomas, married Marie Christine von Reibnitz (later

Princess Michael of Kent Princess Michael of Kent (born Baroness Marie-Christine Anna Agnes Hedwig Ida von Reibnitz, 15 January 1945) is a member of the British royal family. She is married to Prince Michael of Kent, who is a grandson of George V, King George V. Prince ...

) in 1971: the marriage was annulled in 1978.Alison Weir, Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy (London, U.K.: The Bodley Head, 1999), page 326

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Troubridge, Thomas Hope 1895 births 1949 deaths Admiralty personnel of World War II Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Foreign recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (United States) Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Recipients of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) Royal Navy admirals of World War II Royal Navy personnel of World War I Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal Military personnel from Portsmouth Lords of the Admiralty People from Southsea Troubridge family