Robert Nelson Ommanney

Admiral Sir Robert Nelson Ommanney, KBE, CB (January 31, 1854 – January 12, 1938) was a British admiral who served in the Royal Navy. His service included commanding a cruiser on the China station during the Russo-Japanese War, Admiral Superintendent of the Chatham Dockyard and on special assignment in the Admiralty during World War I.

Admiral

Sir Nelson Ommanney
Birth nameRobert Nelson Ommanney
BornJanuary 31, 1854
DiedJanuary 12, 1938 (age 83)
Parkstone, Dorset, England
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Navy
RankVice-Admiral
Commands heldHMS Europa (1903)
HMS Andromeda (1904–1906)
HMS Britannia (1906–1907)
Devonport Dockyard (1907–1908)
Chatham Dockyard (1909–1912)
AwardsKBE; CB

Early life

Ommanney was born into a naval family. Several of his relatives were also admirals of the Royal Navy.[1]

Ommanney joined the Royal Navy two days short of his fourteenth birthday, on January 29, 1868.[2] He was appointed lieutenant in 1878,[3] commander in 1893,[4] and captain in 1899.[5] Ommanney was appointed rear-admiral in 1908[6] and vice-admiral in 1913.[7] In 1915, he was placed on the retired list at his own request.[8] He was appointed admiral on the retired list in 1917.[9]

He had a varied career with the Royal Navy. In the 1870s, he was involved in the suppression of the slave trade in the Red Sea, Persian Gulf and off the east coast of Africa.[1]

Ommanney was captain of HMS Europa, a cruiser of the Diadem class, for half a year in 1903. In 1904, he was appointed captain of HMS Andromeda, another Diadem class cruiser, and sailed for the China Station. He served in that capacity during the Russo-Japanese War.[1] He was the first captain of the battleship, HMS Britannia, from 1906 to 1907.

From 1907 to 1908, he was Captain of the Devonport Dockyard, and from 1909 to 1912, he was the Admiral Superintendent of the Chatham Dockyard on the River Medway in Kent.[1]

During World War I, Ommanney held a special office at the Admiralty.[1] In 1915, the First Sea Lord, Admiral Jackie Fisher wrote to Winston Churchill, at that point First Lord of the Admiralty: "We have struck oil in Admiral Ommanney. Oliver tells me he knows more abt handling a Fleet than anyone in the Navy! Why is he not in a Battle Squadron then? Put him in place of Warrender—Warrender to Greenwich—Bayly to Monitors—Jerram to Mines like Ommanney—let those ideas germinate!"[10]

Ommanney was knighted in the New Years Honours of 1919 for his war service with the Admiralty.[1]

Nautical assessor

Ommanney was appointed to act as a nautical assessor to assist courts dealing with admiralty issues. The role of a nautical assessor is to provide expert advice on matters of nautical skill and seamanship.[11] For example, he acted as one of two nautical assessors in the hearing by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council into the collision in the Halifax harbour which led to the Halifax Explosion in 1917.[12]

Death

Ommanney died on January 12, 1938, at Parkstone, Dorset,[1] nineteen days short of his 84th birthday, and seventeen days short of the 70th anniversary of entering the Royal Navy.

Honours

Works

R.N. Ommanney, Notes on the Management of Ships in a Fleet[15]

References
  1. "Sir Nelson Ommanney – Obituary", New York Times, January 13, 1938, p. 21.
  2. National Archives: Records of the Admiralty – Ommanney, Robert Nelson.
  3. The London Gazette, Issue 24574 p. 2637 (April 19, 1878).
  4. The London Gazette, Issue 26471 p. 7581 (December 29, 1893)
  5. The London Gazette, Issue 27099 p. 4345 (July 14, 1899).
  6. The London Gazette, Issue 28183 p. 7224 (October 6, 1908).
  7. The London Gazette, Issue:28783Page:9338 (December 19, 1913).
  8. The London Gazette, Issue 29262 p. 8016 (August 13, 1915)
  9. The London Gazette, Issue 30161 p. 6550 (July 3, 1917).
  10. Letter from Fisher to Churchill, January 23, 1915; quoted in Martin, Gilbert, Winston S. Churchill, Volume III, Companion Part I, p. 443.
  11. Anthony Dickey, "The Province and Function of Assessors in English Courts" (1970), 33Modern Law Review 494-507 at p. 494 (JSTOR).
  12. The Ship "Imo" v. La Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (1920), 2 Ll L Rep 536, [1920] UKPC 27 (PC), on appeal from the Supreme Court of Canada.
  13. The London Gazette (Supplement), Issue 28677 p. 1 (December 31, 1912)
  14. The London Gazette, (Supplement) Issue 31099 p. 111 (December 31, 1918).
  15. Ommanney, Commander R. N., R.N. Notes on the Management of Ships in a Fleet (Portsmouth: Griffin & Co., 1898).
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