Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

Sir Francis William Loftus Tottenham, KCB,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(17 August 1880 – 9 November 1967) was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Africa Station.

Naval career

Tottenham, the second son of Capt. Francis Loftus Tottenham, joined the

as a cadet in 1895.Sir Francis William Loftus Tottenham
Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives As a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...

, he was posted to the

protected cruiser Protected cruisers, a type of naval cruiser of the late-19th century, gained their description because an armoured deck offered protection for vital machine-spaces from fragments caused by shells exploding above them. Protected cruisers re ...

HMS ''Charybdis'' in early 1900. He served on the despatch vessel HMS ''Surprise'' when he was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

on 1 October 1902. He served in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

with 4th Battle Squadron. After the War he was a member of the Inter-Allied Naval Armistice Commission and Control Commission in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He commanded HMS ''Delhi'' from 1920 and then became naval

attaché In diplomacy, an attaché is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified accor ...

Washington D. C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

in 1922. He later commanded the

shore establishment A stone frigate is a naval establishment on land. "Stone frigate" is an informal term that has its origin in Britain's Royal Navy after its use of Diamond Rock, an island off Martinique, as a 'sloop of war' to harass the First French Empire, ...

HMS ''Excellent'' and then HMS ''Rodney''. He was made rear admiral commanding 3rd Cruiser Squadron in 1932 and Commander-in-Chief, Africa Station in 1935. He retired as a full admiralSir Francis Tottenham
''The Straits Times'', 5 July 1939, Page 12 in 1940. In 1932, in his 50s, he married Evelyn Rosalie Prescott Street, the widow of Captain Herbert Street, and only daughter of Harry Ernest Prescott. They had one daughter. Following Tottenham's death, Sir Douglas Marshall, who served with him in the Second World War, eulogised him in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'':

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tottenham, Francis 1880 births 1967 deaths Royal Navy admirals Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Commanders of the Order of the British Empire