William Davis (Royal Navy officer)

Admiral Sir William Wellclose Davis GCB DSO (11 October 1901 – 29 October 1987) was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.

Sir William Davis
Born11 October 1901
Shimla, India
Died29 October 1987 (1987-10-30) (aged 86)
Gloucester, Gloucestershire
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Navy
Years of service1917–1960
RankAdmiral
Commands heldHMS Mauritius
Home Fleet
Battles/warsWorld War I
World War II
AwardsKnight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Distinguished Service Order

Early life and education

Davis was the elder son of Walter Stewart Davis (1856-1946), JP, of the Indian Political Department, and Georgina (died 1925), daughter of David Ross, CIE. The Davis family were landed gentry, of Well Close, Brockworth, Gloucestershire; Davis's middle name came from the family estate.[1][2] Davis was educated at Summer Fields School in Oxford, the Royal Naval College, Osborne, and the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth.[3]

Davis was commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1917, towards the end of the First World War.[4]

He also saw active service in the Second World War, initially as Executive Officer on the battlecruiser HMS Hood. From 1940 he was Deputy Director of Plans at the Admiralty and then, from 1943, returned to sea as Commander of the cruiser HMS Mauritius, in which capacity he was involved in the Sicily landings, the Normandy landings, and the action at Audierne Bay.[4] From November 1944 to February 1946 he was appointed Director of Torpedoes and Mining.[5]

After the War Davis was made Director of Underwater Weapons at the Admiralty and then, from 1948, Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet.[4] He became Naval Secretary in 1950 and Flag Officer, Second in Command of the Mediterranean Fleet in 1952.[4] He went on to be Vice Chief of the Naval Staff in 1954 and Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet and Commander-in-Chief, Eastern Atlantic Area in 1958.[4] He was First and Principal Naval Aide-de-camp to the Queen from 1959 to 1960.[4] He retired in 1960.[4]

Family

On 28 April 1934 he married Lady Gertrude Elizabeth Phipps, daughter of Constantine Phipps, 3rd Marquess of Normanby; they went on to have two sons and two daughters.[6] His first cousin was the actor Stringer Davis, husband of Margaret Rutherford.[7][8]

References
  1. Burke's Landed Gentry, 17th edition, ed. L. G. Pine, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1952, pp. 623-624
  2. Armorial Families: a directory of gentlemen of coat-armour, seventh edition, vol. 1, A. C. Fox-Davies, T. C. & E. C. Jack, 1905, p. 511
  3. "The Papers of Admiral Sir William Wellclose Davis". Janus. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  4. Sir William Davis Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
  5. Mackie, Colin (January 2018). "Royal Navy Senior Appointments from 1865: Director of Torpedoes and Mining" (PDF). gulabin.com. C. Mackie. p. 39. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  6. Burke's Landed Gentry, 17th edition, ed. L. G. Pine, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1952, pp. 623-624
  7. Burke's Landed Gentry, 17th edition, ed. L. G. Pine, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1952, pp. 623-624
  8. Armorial Families: a directory of gentlemen of coat-armour, seventh edition, vol. 1, A. C. Fox-Davies, T. C. & E. C. Jack, 1905, p. 511
Military offices
Preceded by
Peveril William-Powlett		 Naval Secretary
1950–1952		 Succeeded by
Richard Onslow
Preceded by
Sir Guy Grantham		 Vice Chief of the Naval Staff
1954–1957		 Succeeded by
Sir Caspar John
Preceded by
Sir John Eccles		 Commander in Chief, Home Fleet
1958–1960		 Succeeded by
Sir Wilfrid Woods
Honorary titles
Preceded by
Sir Guy Grantham		 First and Principal Naval Aide-de-Camp
1959–1960		 Succeeded by
Sir Caspar John
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