Vice Admiral Sir Gilbert Owen Stephenson, (13 February 1878 – 27 May 1972) was a senior officer in the

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 ...

, a pioneer of anti-submarine techniques in the

First World War 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 ...

, and most famous as an important naval training commandant during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Early life and career

Stephenson was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

on 13 February 1878. His father was a merchant in the

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

trade. Stephenson joined the

aged fourteen in 1892 when he began his training at the

Royal Naval College, Dartmouth Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...

. As a midshipman he was posted to and . While with ''Forte'' he was involved in the Punitive Expedition of 1897 in

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the nort ...

. Following promotion to sub-lieutenant on 15 June 1898, he went first to the First Destroyer Flotilla. In February 1900 he was posted to , flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet, and served on for the voyage to

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. The following year he was given his first command, the

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...

, '' TB 90''. He was promoted

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 ...

in June 1900. Stephenson managed to make a favourable impression on Admiral Sir Jackie Fisher, the then Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean. As a result, Stephenson, aged just 23, was given command of the destroyer, . He then took the torpedo course at

Royal Naval College, Greenwich The Royal Naval College, Greenwich, was a Royal Navy training establishment between 1873 and 1998, providing courses for naval officers. It was the home of the Royal Navy's staff college, which provided advanced training for officers. The equi ...

, and was posted to the staff of , the Royal Navy's torpedo school. This was followed by appointments as torpedo officer aboard the cruisers and . After promotion to

lieutenant commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...

, he served as

First Lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...

on the battleship . He was promoted commander in 1912.

First World War and first retirement

At the outbreak of the

in August 1914, Stephenson was based in the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

, attached to the Naval Intelligence Division. However, he soon managed to obtain a seagoing role as executive officer of . He was involved in operations in the Dardanelles, and then commanded a fleet of

naval trawler Naval trawlers are vessels built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes; they were widely used during the First and Second World Wars. Some—known in the Royal Navy as "Admiralty trawlers"— were purpose-built ...

s undertaking patrols from

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

. He went on to command the gunboat and, (as an acting captain) the

Otranto Barrage The Otranto Barrage was an Allied naval blockade of the Otranto Straits between Brindisi in Italy and Corfu on the Greek side of the Adriatic Sea in the First World War. The blockade was intended to prevent the Austro-Hungarian Navy from escap ...

, a fleet of small boats which attempted to control the exit from the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

, particularly trying to prevent submarines of the Austro-Hungarian Navy breaking out into the Mediterranean. In this last role, he also undertook early experiments into the use of

hydrophone A hydrophone ( grc, ὕδωρ + φωνή, , water + sound) is a microphone designed to be used underwater for recording or listening to underwater sound. Most hydrophones are based on a piezoelectric transducer that generates an electric potenti ...

s to detect submarines. He was Mentioned in Despatches in December 1918, appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the

1919 New Year Honours The 1919 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were published in ''The London Gazette'' and ''The Times'' in Jan ...

, awarded the Greek decoration of Commander of the Order of the Redeemer for his service in the Mediterranean and Adriatic, and was also awarded the United States Navy Distinguished Service Medal. These experiments led to Stephenson's first post-war role, as director of the anti-submarine division of the Admiralty. He found many of his fellow officers conservative in their approach, and struggled to get new techniques accepted. He left this role in 1921 to command the cruiser , and then in 1923 the battleship , where he had the young Louis Mountbatten as one of his junior officers. Stephenson then served ashore, first as Chief of Staff to the

Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth The Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, was a senior commander of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years. The commanders-in-chief were based at premises in High Street, Portsmouth from the 1790s until the end of Sir Thomas Williams's tenure, his succes ...

and then as

Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore ...

of Portsmouth Naval Barracks, where he undertook many innovations to raise morale including regular community singing. In 1929, he was part of the official British delegation at the funeral of Marshal

Ferdinand Foch Ferdinand Foch ( , ; 2 October 1851 – 20 March 1929) was a French general and military theorist who served as the Supreme Allied Commander during the First World War. An aggressive, even reckless commander at the First Marne, Flanders and Ar ...

, acting as Naval Aide-de-camp to Prince George, and later that year was placed on the retired list, with promotion to rear admiral. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1930. From 1932 to 1935 he was Secretary of the Navy League, and he was promoted to vice admiral in 1934. He also ran a boys' club near his Hampshire home, where he was nicknamed "

Monkey Brand Monkey Brand soap was introduced in the 1880s in cake/bar form in the United States and United Kingdom as a household scouring and polishing soap. History Initially, Benjamin Brooke & Co Ltd, a firm owned by Sidney and Henry Gross, had produced ...

" as the boys thought his heavily whiskered face was like the image used to advertise a well-known household cleaning product.

Second World War

With the outbreak of the

in September 1939, Stephenson was recalled as Commodore,

Royal Navy Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Ro ...

. Initially he served as a Commodore of Convoy and made several trips in that capacity. He was also involved in the Dunkirk evacuation. In 1940 Stephenson was tasked with setting up the training base at Tobermory on the Isle of Mull in the Scottish Inner Hebrides. This was to be the Royal Navy's Anti-Submarine Training School for the remainder of the war and Stephenson's greatest legacy was that his training methods had an influence within the service that lasted long after the cessation of conflict. Stephenson realised that the task of training war-time reservist officers and hostilities-only ratings required a different approach to that of training regulars. He believed that the most important priority was making the trainees determined to win; then that they understood the importance of discipline; next the importance of correct administration; and finally technical proficiency—he felt that skill would be worthless if overall spirit were lacking. He emphasised strict discipline in his training combined with encouraging a willingness to adapt quickly to various situations with surprise inspections and orders to trainees as well as creative wargames to simulate difficult situations at sea. A frequently recounted anecdote is that when inspecting a corvette and its crew, Stephenson suddenly threw his hat on the deck and called it an unexploded bomb. A trainee (variously reported as

quartermaster Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land armies, a quartermaster is generally a relatively senior soldier who supervises stores or barracks and distributes supplies and provisions. In ...

, or a sub-lieutenant) immediately kicked it into the water. After Stephenson commended him for quick action, but wanting his heavily gold-braided hat back, he then suddenly said the hat was now a man overboard and the trainee had to dive in to retrieve it. Stephenson had the reputation of being a very hard taskmaster, with officers being replaced before the ship was allowed to leave (and even commanding officers being dismissed on occasion). However, he was reportedly very pleasant to those who matched his standards. Although he was disliked by the trainees, who called him "The Terror of Tobermory" and "The Monkey", Stephenson was credited in producing capable sailors who were able to meet the demands of the Battle of the Atlantic. As such, Stephenson is credited with being a factor in turning the tide in favour of the Allies in that critical contest in the war. A noted fictionalised depiction of Stephenson and his Second World War assignment is presented in

Nicholas Monsarrat Lieutenant Commander Nicholas John Turney Monsarrat FRSL RNVR (22 March 19108 August 1979) was a British novelist known for his sea stories, particularly '' The Cruel Sea'' (1951) and ''Three Corvettes'' (1942–45), but perhaps known best i ...

's novel '' The Cruel Sea''. Stephenson was reportedly very proud of this depiction. Over the four-and-a-half years Stephenson ran the school, 911 ships went through 1132 training courses at HMS ''Western Isles''. He was again Mentioned in Despatches in 1940, knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the

1943 Birthday Honours The King's Birthday Honours 1943 were appointments by King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by people of the British Empire. They were published on 2 June 1943 for the United Kingdom and Canada. The re ...

, and was later given the decoration of Commander with Star of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav. He retired for the second time in 1945, with the anti-submarine battle won.

Second retirement

This second retirement saw Stephenson just as active as he had been previously. He was appointed Honorary Commodore of the Sea Cadet Corps in 1949, a post he held until the age of eighty in 1958, when he finally felt it necessary to step down. Stephenson settled in

Saffron Walden Saffron Walden is a market town in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England, north of Bishop's Stortford, south of Cambridge and north of London. It retains a rural appearance and some buildings of the medieval period. The population was 15, ...

, and took a strong interest in local affairs, being known locally as "The Admiral". He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

in 1949, but resigned with 7 others in 1968. His name was listed as a sponsor of the

National Fellowship The National Fellowship was a minor right-wing libertarian conservative political party in the United Kingdom. History The party was launched under Chairman Edward Martell on 1 January 1962, with full page advertisements in national broadsheet ...

in a full-page advertisement placed 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'' (f ...

'' by the Fellowship in 1962. Stephenson died in Saffron Walden on 27 May 1972, at the age of 94.

References

External links

A tribute page by The Western Isles Hotel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephenson, Gilbert Owen 1878 births 1972 deaths Royal Navy vice admirals People from Argyll and Bute People from Saffron Walden Deputy Lieutenants of Essex Royal Navy personnel of World War I Royal Navy admirals of World War II British military personnel of the Benin Expedition of 1897 Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Order of the Bath Military personnel from London