George Astley
Callaghan
Admiral Sir George
Astley Callaghan, G.C.V.O., K.C.B., was an Irishman, the son of Frederick M.
Callaghan, JP, County Cork. He was born on December 21st 1852
(during the time of British rule); joined the Navy as a Cadet, December 10th
1865; Sub-Lieutenant, April 15th 1872; Lieutenant, April 15th 1875; Commander,
December 31st 1887; Captain, January 1st 1894; Rear-Admiral, July 1st 1905;
Vice-Admiral, April 27th 1910; Admiral, May 7th 1913. While a Lieutenant he
qualified as Interpreter in Hindustani, and also specialised in gunnery. His
independent commands as Captain comprise the "Hermione",
"Endymion" and "Edgar" cruisers, and the "Caesar"
and "Prince of Wales" battleships. In 1894 we find him holding the
important position of Naval Advisor to Inspector-General of Fortifications,
which he held till 1897. The above appointment marked him out as a man of
ability in the eyes of "My Lords".
His first war service came when he was Captain of the
"Endymion" in China, to which ship he was appointed in July, 1899. During the operations in North China in 1900 he
commanded the Naval Brigade during the advance with the Allied Forces for the
relief of the Legations at Peking. He was mentioned in despatches, and, for his
services on that occasion, received the C.B.
Like a good many more prominent men in the Navy he is of a retiring
disposition and dislikes publicity, and so it came about that until war broke
out and he was succeeded by Jellicoe, the public had never heard of him, yet
for the past ten years he had held active command of one or another of our
fleets or squadrons. On November 16th, 1906, he became a Rear- Admiral in the
Channel Fleet, which position he relinquished in 1907, to be immediately
appointed to the command of the Fifth Cruiser Squadron, flying his flag in
H.M.S. "Shannon". A quiet, consistent worker, he brought his squadron
to a high point of efficiency, the squadron standing fourth in the "Order
of Merit" for Fleets and Squadrons in the gunlayers'
test for 1908. In November, 1908, he relinquished the
command of the Fifth Cruiser Squadron to be immediately appointed to the higher
position of Second in Command of the Mediterranean Fleet, flying his flag in
H.M.S. "Duncan". It was during this period that King Edward VII and
Queen Alexandra paid a visit to Malta in the" Victoria and Albert,"
and, on the occasion of that visit, April 24th, 1909,
he received the K.C.V.O. at the hands of his late Majesty.
During this period-November 1908, to August 1910 a great deal of
activity prevailed in the Mediterranean and, although nothing was disclosed
publicly of the work of the Second-in-Command, the Admiralty marked their
appreciation of his services, for, relinquishing that position in August, 1910,
he was appointed the same month to the command of the Second Division of the
Home Fleet with rank of Vice-Admiral, hoisting his flag in the "King
Edward VII". On this occasion his Flag Commander was the Captain Loxley
who went down in H.M.S. "Formidable", which was torpedoed in the
Channel at the commencement of the year. This command lasted from August 9th 1910, to December 4th 1911, and on December 5th he became
Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet, flying his flag in H.M.S.
"Neptune". Thus he had, without a single
break in appointment to appointment, attained the first and most important
command in the British Navy, with the rank of Acting Admiral. His Second in
Command was Rear-Admiral Charles E. Madden, the then Chief-of-Staff and
brother-in-law of Admiral Jellicoe. This was a record of which any man might
well be proud, as his uninterrupted employment showed the faith the Admiralty
had in his ability.
So rapid had been the development of the Home Fleet that King
George decided to inspect it in person. For this purpose
the Fleet assembled in Weymouth Bay on May 6th to 11th I912, and during that
period His Majesty was able to judge to the full the standard of efficiency
attained by our first war fleet. Gunnery, submarines and aerial craft all took
part. Commander Samson, who has distinguished himself by his aerial exploits
during the present war, being in charge of the aerial
section of the display. It was not a review in which ships are lined up and
viewed from a distance from the reviewing ship steaming through the lines; it
was an exhaustive test of our efficiency lasting through a whole week, and at
its conclusion, before his departure, the King made the following signal to the
Commander-in-Chief; "Before leaving
I wish to express to you my satisfaction at finding the fleet under your
command in such a high state of efficiency. I am glad to have had the
opportunity of inspecting vessels of the latest type and of witnessing squadron
firing, an attack by submarines, and flights by aeroplanes. Will you express to
the officers and men the pleasure it has given me to be again with them".
This was indeed high praise from our Sailor King, wise of what he had seen.
On May 13th 1913, he was confirmed as
Admiral. On June 23rd of the same year he was in
command of the Fleet at Spithead which saluted President Poincare on his
arrival in England on a State Visit to King George, when he received from the
President the Grand Cordon of the Legion of Honour. Although he hauled down his
flag at the commencement of hostilities, it was felt that his experience was
too valuable to lose. Accordingly he was at once
appointed for special service on the Admiralty War Staff, and also became First
and Principal Aide-de-Camp to His Majesty.
Photo: His Majesty the King leaving the "Neptune," the flagship
of Admiral Callaghan when commander-in-chief of the home fleet at Portland,
after being to sea. This photograph
shows the Admiral's flag transferred from fore top to aft and the King's flag
being lowered.
Acknowledgement: Reproduced in part from the 'Navy and Army'
article, 1st May 1915, p41-43 (see PDF of original
article)
Link to his grandsons web page: Chris Callaghan
(Author of 'Book of The
Callaghan: Ceallachain Caisil,
King Of Munster 934-954'
Return to the main http://www.callaghan.info
webpage.
Last updated: 14th July 2021