Admiral

The Honourable ''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' ( American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain ...

Sir Matthew Robert Best &

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

, MVO (18 June 1878 – 13 October 1940) 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 ...

officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, America and West Indies Station.

Early life

Best was born in Frampton, Dorset, on 18 June 1878, the fifth child and third son of George Best (later the 5th

Baron Wynford Baron Wynford, of Wynford Eagle in the County of Dorset, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1829 for the politician and lawyer Sir William Best. He served as Chief Justice of the Common Pleas from 1824 to 1829. H ...

) and his wife Edith Anne (née Marsh).

Naval career

Best joined the

in 1892. He served 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 fought at the Battle of Jutland in 1916 as Staff Officer to the Commander-in-chief of the

Grand Fleet The Grand Fleet was the main battlefleet of the Royal Navy during the First World War. It was established in August 1914 and disbanded in April 1919. Its main base was Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. History Formed in August 1914 from the F ...

Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
/ref> where he was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, ty ...

(DSO). He was appointed Commanding Officer of

HMS Queen Elizabeth HMS ''Queen Elizabeth'' could refer to one of three ships named in honour of Elizabeth I of England: * was the lead ship of the s, launched in 1913 and scrapped in 1948 * HMS ''Queen Elizabeth'' was to have been the first of the 1960s planned CV ...

in 1919 and Commanding Officer and Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief of the Atlantic Fleet in 1927, before becoming Commander of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron in the Atlantic Fleet in 1929. He was appointed Admiral Superintendent of

Malta Dockyard Malta Dockyard was an important naval base in the Grand Harbour in Malta in the Mediterranean Sea. The infrastructure which is still in operation is now operated by Palumbo Shipyards. History Pre-1800 The Knights of Malta established dockyard ...

in 1931 and Commander-in-Chief, America and West Indies Station, based at the Royal Naval Dockyard Bermuda (with his shore residence at Admiralty House Bermuda), in 1934. He was promoted vice-admiral on 13 November 1932 and admiral on 19 June 1936. He died with the rank of admiral in 1940 at Frampton in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

."Admiral Sir Matthew Best" (Obituaries). The Times. Tuesday, 15 October 1940. Issue 48747, col F, p. 7.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Best, Matthew 1878 births 1940 deaths Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Members of the Royal Victorian Order People from Dorset Royal Navy admirals Royal Navy officers of World War I Younger sons of barons Military personnel from Dorset