Ralph Leatham

Sir Ralph Leatham

Leatham on his appointment as Vice Admiral Malta
Born (1888-03-03)3 March 1888
Hemsworth, West Yorkshire
Died 10 March 1954(1954-03-10) (aged 66)
Allegiance United Kingdom United Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Navy
Years of service 1900–1946
Rank Admiral
Commands held HMS Yarmouth
HMS Durban
HMS Ramillies
HMS Valiant
Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station
Commander-in-Chief, Levant
Plymouth Command
Battles/wars World War I
World War II
Awards Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath

Admiral Sir Ralph Leatham KCB (3 March 1888 – 10 March 1954) was a Royal Navy officer who served as Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth during World War II.

Leatham joined the Royal Navy in 1900 as a cadet on the training ship Britannia.[1] He served on various ships during World War I.[2] After the War he went on to command HMS Yarmouth, HMS Durban, HMS Ramillies and HMS Valiant.[1] He was appointed Commander of the 1st Battle Squadron in 1938.[1]

He served in World War II as Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station from April 1939 and as Flag Officer in Command, Malta from 1941 taking part in actions against the Italian Navy.[2] He became Deputy Governor of Malta in 1943 and was briefly temporary Commander-in-Chief, Levant before becoming Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth later in 1943.[1] He retired in 1946.[1]

In retirement he became Governor of Bermuda.[1]

Family

In 1910 he married Enid Birks; they had one son and one daughter.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
  2. 1 2 World Ships Forum
  3. ↑ Unit Histories
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ralph Leatham.
Military offices
Preceded by
Sir James Somerville		 Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station
1939–1941 		Succeeded by
Post Disbanded
(became Eastern Fleet)
Preceded by
Sir Wilbraham Ford		 Flag Officer, Malta
1941–1942 		Succeeded by
Sir Stuart Bonham Carter
Preceded by
Sir Charles Forbes		 Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth
1943–1945 		Succeeded by
Sir Henry Pridham-Wippell
Government offices
Preceded by
Lord Burghley		 Governor of Bermuda
1946–1949 		Succeeded by
Sir Alexander Hood
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 5/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.