David Longfield resigned from the regiment on 21 November 1865, with the honorary rank of Captain.
He took up residence with Katrine in Cheshire and in 1869 sold his commission.
Admiral of the Fleet David Richard Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty, , (17 January 1871 – 12 March 1936) was a British Royal Navy officer.
He was involved in negotiating the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 in which it was agreed that the United States, Britain and Japan should set their navies in a ratio of 5:5:3, with France and Italy maintaining smaller ratio fleets of 1.75 each. ==Family and childhood== Beatty was born into an Anglo-Irish family at Howbeck Lodge in the parish of Stapeley, near Nantwich, Cheshire, on 17 January 1871.
David Longfield was unable to marry Katrine until Katrine had obtained a divorce on 21 February 1871, after the birth of their first two sons.
In 1881 Beatty's grandfather died and David Longfield succeeded to the 18th century mansion, 'Borodale', outside Enniscorthy, in County Wexford.
On inheriting, and following the death of his wife at 'The Mount', David Longfield returned to Ireland, abandoning the training business. Beatty was educated at Kilkenny College and in 1882 entered Burney's Naval Academy at Gosport, which was a 'crammer' for boys wishing to take the entrance examinations for the Royal Navy. ==Early career== Beatty joined the Royal Navy as a cadet passing into the training ship HMS Britannia tenth out of ninety-nine candidates in January 1884.
On inheriting, and following the death of his wife at 'The Mount', David Longfield returned to Ireland, abandoning the training business. Beatty was educated at Kilkenny College and in 1882 entered Burney's Naval Academy at Gosport, which was a 'crammer' for boys wishing to take the entrance examinations for the Royal Navy. ==Early career== Beatty joined the Royal Navy as a cadet passing into the training ship HMS Britannia tenth out of ninety-nine candidates in January 1884.
He passed out of Britannia eighteenth out of the thirty-three remaining cadets at the end of 1885.
However, he understood how far he could transgress without serious consequences, and this approach continued throughout his career. Beatty was given orders to join the China Station in January 1886, but the posting did not appeal to his mother, who wrote to Lord Charles Beresford, then a senior naval officer, member of parliament and personal friend, to use his influence to obtain something better.
Beatty was, in February 1886, instead appointed to , flagship of Admiral the Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Victoria's second son Alfred, who was Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Squadron.
Beatty was promoted to midshipman on 15 May 1886 and assigned to assist Lieutenant Stanley Colville on watchkeeping duties: Colville was to play an important part in Beatty's future career. Beatty left HMS Alexandra in March 1889 and joined the cruiser in July 1889 for manoeuvres before joining the sailing corvette in September 1889, in which he was promoted to sub-lieutenant on 14 May 1890.
Beatty was promoted to midshipman on 15 May 1886 and assigned to assist Lieutenant Stanley Colville on watchkeeping duties: Colville was to play an important part in Beatty's future career. Beatty left HMS Alexandra in March 1889 and joined the cruiser in July 1889 for manoeuvres before joining the sailing corvette in September 1889, in which he was promoted to sub-lieutenant on 14 May 1890.
Beatty was promoted to midshipman on 15 May 1886 and assigned to assist Lieutenant Stanley Colville on watchkeeping duties: Colville was to play an important part in Beatty's future career. Beatty left HMS Alexandra in March 1889 and joined the cruiser in July 1889 for manoeuvres before joining the sailing corvette in September 1889, in which he was promoted to sub-lieutenant on 14 May 1890.
After attending the gunnery school, , he undertook a posting to a torpedo boat in July 1891 and then a tour in from 19 January 1892. Beatty joined the Royal Yacht Victoria and Albert in July 1892 while Queen Victoria was holidaying in the Mediterranean: Victoria was in mourning for her grandson, Albert Duke of Clarence, who had died January 1892.
After attending the gunnery school, , he undertook a posting to a torpedo boat in July 1891 and then a tour in from 19 January 1892. Beatty joined the Royal Yacht Victoria and Albert in July 1892 while Queen Victoria was holidaying in the Mediterranean: Victoria was in mourning for her grandson, Albert Duke of Clarence, who had died January 1892.
Promoted to lieutenant on 25 August 1892, he rejoined HMS Ruby in August 1892 and then transferred to the battleship in September 1893 (which had only recently been involved in the fleet accident where she had rammed and sunk the battleship ).
Promoted to lieutenant on 25 August 1892, he rejoined HMS Ruby in August 1892 and then transferred to the battleship in September 1893 (which had only recently been involved in the fleet accident where she had rammed and sunk the battleship ).
He transferred to the battleship in September 1895. ==Sudan Campaign== Beatty gained recognition during the Mahdist War for his actions in the campaign to recapture the Sudan.
Beatty was seconded to the Egyptian government on 3 June 1896 and appointed second in command of the river flotilla.
Beatty then took command of gunboat Fateh between October 1897 and August 1898: the gunboats were frequently in action advancing along the Nile ahead of the army and saw action at the Battle of Omdurman, where Beatty made the acquaintance of Winston Churchill who had become a cavalry officer in Beatty's father's old regiment, the 4th Hussars, and had there learnt his family history.
Beatty then took command of gunboat Fateh between October 1897 and August 1898: the gunboats were frequently in action advancing along the Nile ahead of the army and saw action at the Battle of Omdurman, where Beatty made the acquaintance of Winston Churchill who had become a cavalry officer in Beatty's father's old regiment, the 4th Hussars, and had there learnt his family history.
Kitchener commended Beatty for his efforts in the campaign and, as a result, Beatty was promoted to commander, ahead of 400 other lieutenants, on 15 November 1898. ==Boxer Rebellion== Beatty was appointed executive officer of the small battleship , flagship of the China Station, on 20 April 1899.
Kitchener commended Beatty for his efforts in the campaign and, as a result, Beatty was promoted to commander, ahead of 400 other lieutenants, on 15 November 1898. ==Boxer Rebellion== Beatty was appointed executive officer of the small battleship , flagship of the China Station, on 20 April 1899.
The name was derived from ritual exercises supposed to make their users immune to bullets, which resembled boxing. In the summer of 1900 the rebellion reached Peking, where the German legation was attacked and foreign nationals withdrew to the relative safety of the Legation Quarter.
After an urgent call for help from the Legation, Seymour set out on 10 June 1900 with 2,000 troops to attempt to break through to Peking in the Seymour Expedition.
By now rebels had begun destroying the track behind the force, cutting it off from Tientsin. On 11 June 1900, Beatty and 150 men from HMS Barfleur landed as part of a force of 2,400 defending Tientsin from 15,000 Chinese troops plus Boxers.
On 16 June 1900 the Taku forts were bombarded and captured to ensure ships could still reach the port.
He later took part in the successful relief of the naval brigade and was promoted to captain on 8 November 1900.
Beatty did not respond until after surgery on his arm in September 1900 when he wrote, "I landed from China with my heart full of rage, and swore I did not care if I ever saw you again, or if I were killed or not.
Arthur agreed to co-operate, and filed for divorce in America on the grounds of desertion, which was granted 9 May 1901.
Beatty and Ethel married on 22 May 1901 at the registry office, St.
She is reputed to have commented after he was threatened with disciplinary action following the straining of his ship's engines, "What? Court-martial my David? I'll buy them a new ship." ==Advancement== In May 1902 Beatty was passed fit for sea duty and was appointed captain of the cruiser on 2 June, spending two months in exercises with the Channel Fleet under Admiral Sir Arthur Wilson before joining the Mediterranean Fleet.
Beatty worked hard to raise efficiency so that she was highly rated in gunnery and other competitions by the time he left the ship 19 December 1902.
Ethel decided not to be left behind so rented the Capua Palace on Malta, home port of the Mediterranean Fleet, where she became part of the island's high society. Beatty took command of the cruiser in the Mediterranean Fleet in November 1903 and then commanded the cruiser in the Mediterranean Fleet from October 1904.
Ethel decided not to be left behind so rented the Capua Palace on Malta, home port of the Mediterranean Fleet, where she became part of the island's high society. Beatty took command of the cruiser in the Mediterranean Fleet in November 1903 and then commanded the cruiser in the Mediterranean Fleet from October 1904.
He then became the naval advisor to the Army Council in 1906 and, after having been appointed a naval Aide-de-Camp to the King on 5 November 1908, he became captain of the battleship in the Atlantic Fleet in December 1908.
He then became the naval advisor to the Army Council in 1906 and, after having been appointed a naval Aide-de-Camp to the King on 5 November 1908, he became captain of the battleship in the Atlantic Fleet in December 1908.
At the request of Alfred Winsloe, the Fourth Sea Lord, he was promoted to rear-admiral on 1 January 1910 by a special order in council since he had not completed the requisite time as a captain.
He was approaching two years on half pay (which would trigger automatic retirement from the navy) when on 8 January 1912 his career was saved by the new First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill.
A "probably apocryphal" story relates that as Beatty walked into Churchill's office at the Admiralty, Churchill looked him over and said, "You seem very young to be an Admiral." Unfazed, Beatty replied, "And you seem very young to be First Lord." Churchill – who was himself only thirty-eight years old in 1912 – took to him immediately and he was appointed Naval Secretary. Beatty became Rear-Admiral Commanding the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron on 1 March 1913.
A "probably apocryphal" story relates that as Beatty walked into Churchill's office at the Admiralty, Churchill looked him over and said, "You seem very young to be an Admiral." Unfazed, Beatty replied, "And you seem very young to be First Lord." Churchill – who was himself only thirty-eight years old in 1912 – took to him immediately and he was appointed Naval Secretary. Beatty became Rear-Admiral Commanding the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron on 1 March 1913.
Appointments by influence were common in the navy at this time, but the significance of Beatty's choice lay in Seymour's relative inexperience as a signals officer, which later resulted in difficulties in battle. ==First World War== On the eve of the First World War in 1914, Beatty was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath and promoted to acting vice-admiral in February 1915 and given command of the Battle Cruiser Fleet a month later.
Appointments by influence were common in the navy at this time, but the significance of Beatty's choice lay in Seymour's relative inexperience as a signals officer, which later resulted in difficulties in battle. ==First World War== On the eve of the First World War in 1914, Beatty was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath and promoted to acting vice-admiral in February 1915 and given command of the Battle Cruiser Fleet a month later.
He was confirmed in the rank of vice-admiral on 9 August 1915.
After serving in the Mahdist War and then the response to the Boxer Rebellion, he commanded the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron at the Battle of Jutland in 1916, a tactically indecisive engagement after which his aggressive approach was contrasted with the caution of his commander Admiral Sir John Jellicoe.
In any case Beatty's actions succeeded in drawing the German High Seas Fleet into action against the British Grand Fleet. Beatty succeeded Admiral John Jellicoe as commander-in-chief of the Grand Fleet and received promotion to the acting rank of admiral in December 1916.
Under Beatty's command the Grand Fleet maintained its dominance of the North Sea until the end of the War. Beatty escorted the German High Seas Fleet to internment at Scapa Flow in November 1918 giving the order from his flagship that "the German Flag will be hauled down at sunset and will not be raised again without permission".
Later in the war he succeeded Jellicoe as Commander in Chief of the Grand Fleet, in which capacity he received the surrender of the German High Seas Fleet at the end of the war. He then followed Jellicoe's path a second time, serving as First Sea Lord from 1919 —a position that Beatty held longer (7 years 9 months) than any predecessor.
This was not a lawful order, as the fleet remained the property of the German Government having been interned rather than having surrendered, but nevertheless Beatty enforced it. ==First Sea Lord== Beatty was promoted to substantive full admiral on 1 January 1919 and to Admiral of the Fleet on 1 May 1919.
He was created 1st Earl Beatty, Viscount Borodale and Baron Beatty of the North Sea and Brooksby on 18 October 1919.
He became First Sea Lord on 1 November 1919.
These acts hastened his own death. Beatty died at around 1 am on 12 March 1936. At Beatty's funeral his coffin was draped in the Union Flag flown by his flagship in 1919.
This may seem odd in light of his previous and subsequent reputation, but in the 1920s no major war seemed to be on the horizon.
In June 1920, the Great Central Railway gave the name Earl Beatty to one of their newly built 4-6-0 express passenger locomotives, no.
He was involved in negotiating the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 in which it was agreed that the United States, Britain and Japan should set their navies in a ratio of 5:5:3, with France and Italy maintaining smaller ratio fleets of 1.75 each. ==Family and childhood== Beatty was born into an Anglo-Irish family at Howbeck Lodge in the parish of Stapeley, near Nantwich, Cheshire, on 17 January 1871.
In this capacity he was involved in negotiating the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 in which it was agreed that the United States, Britain and Japan should set their navies in a ratio of 5:5:3, with France and Italy maintaining smaller fleets. During the First Labour Government of 1924, with Japan increasingly hostile to the UK, Beatty lobbied the Clynes Committee for construction of the Singapore Naval Base to continue.
In this capacity he was involved in negotiating the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 in which it was agreed that the United States, Britain and Japan should set their navies in a ratio of 5:5:3, with France and Italy maintaining smaller fleets. During the First Labour Government of 1924, with Japan increasingly hostile to the UK, Beatty lobbied the Clynes Committee for construction of the Singapore Naval Base to continue.
The government were trying to cut back on the numbers of cruisers constructed; the other Sea Lords attributed the building of the Kent class to Beatty's lobbying, but government desire to alleviate shipyard unemployment was probably a more important factor. Despite further rumours that he would resign, Beatty remained in office when the Conservatives took power in the autumn of 1924.
Beatty was appointed a member of the Privy Council on 25 July 1927.
Beatty is reported to have remarked (to his Flag Captain, Ernle Chatfield, later First Sea Lord in the early 1930s), "there seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today", after two of them had exploded within half an hour during the battle.
In July 1930 he denounced the London Naval Treaty in the House of Lords as "a great and deplorable blunder to which we are about to be committed by signing away the sea power by which the British Empire came into being".
Stephen Roskill wrote that whilst Beatty and his disciple Chatfield deserve some praise for the Royal Navy's comparative readiness in 1939, his main achievement was to maintain the morale of the Navy at a time of serious defence cuts, and that without his strong leadership the Royal Navy might have suffered more events like the Invergordon Mutiny of 1931. ==Retirement and death== Beatty spent much of his life (when not at sea) in Leicestershire, and lived at Brooksby Hall and Dingley Hall.
Under the Naval Treaty of London the Navy will be totally and entirely inadequate to provide that insurance". Beatty's old commander Admiral John Jellicoe died on 19 November 1935.
Admiral of the Fleet David Richard Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty, , (17 January 1871 – 12 March 1936) was a British Royal Navy officer.
He also insisted on attending the funeral of King George V in January 1936.
These acts hastened his own death. Beatty died at around 1 am on 12 March 1936. At Beatty's funeral his coffin was draped in the Union Flag flown by his flagship in 1919.
Stephen Roskill wrote that whilst Beatty and his disciple Chatfield deserve some praise for the Royal Navy's comparative readiness in 1939, his main achievement was to maintain the morale of the Navy at a time of serious defence cuts, and that without his strong leadership the Royal Navy might have suffered more events like the Invergordon Mutiny of 1931. ==Retirement and death== Beatty spent much of his life (when not at sea) in Leicestershire, and lived at Brooksby Hall and Dingley Hall.
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