Rodney Sturdee

Rear Admiral Arthur Rodney Barry Sturdee CB DSO (6 December 1919 – 6 October 2009) was a Royal Navy officer who saw active service in the Second World War on HMS ''Exeter'' and in minesweepers and ended his career as Flag Officer, Gibraltar.

Early life

The son of a naval officer, Commander Barry Victor Sturdee,Rear Admiral Rodney Sturdee: Flag Officer Gibraltar 1969 72
(obituary) in The Times, 5 November 2009, accessed 17 April 2020 whose father had been a Church of England clergyman in Devon and a first cousin of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Doveton Sturdee, the young Sturdee was educated at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, passing out on 1 September 1938, at the age of eighteen, and joining the Royal Navy as a midshipman.

Career

When Britain and France declared war on Germany in 1939, Sturdee was serving in the South Atlantic on the York-class cruiser HMS ''Exeter'', which had been sent to help the survivors of an earthquake in Chile. His ship was conveniently placed to be sent to take part in the Battle of the River Plate of December 1939 and was badly damaged by enemy fire. She then steamed for the Falkland Islands, where she stayed for several weeks to make repairs. On 29 February 1940, with Captain F. S. Bell and other officers and men of ''Exeter'', Sturdee was given the Freedom of the City of Exeter, when they marched through the streets with the ship’s shell-torn White Ensign, welcomed by a crowd of 50,000.David Cornforth
Royal Navy Ships Named HMS Exeter
(2005) at Exeter Memories

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Sturdee was promoted to Sub-Lieutenant in January 1941, and Lieutenant a month later.
at unithistories.com, accessed 18 April 2020 He was transferred to service in the ''Algerine''-class minesweepers HMS ''Fly'', ''St Kilda, Albacore, Squall, Waterwitch, Cadmus, Nimbus, Stornoway, Acute'' and ''Brave'', and on 12 June 1945 was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his work in arduous minesweeping operations on the coasts of Italy. The citation read “for skill, perseverance and great devotion to duty”. From July to September 1945, he was posted to an onshore navigation course, and then in September rejoined HMS ''Fly'' as Navigating Officer.

Sturdee was promoted to Lieutenant-Commander in February 1949, Commander in December 1952, Captain in June 1960, and Rear Admiral on 7 July 1969, ending his naval career as Flag Officer, Gibraltar, from October 1969 to January 1972, with the further title of Admiral Superintendent, HM Dockyard, Gibraltar.

On 7 April 1972, Sturdee retired from the navy to his native Worcestershire and soon took up a new job as bursar at Malvern Girls College, which lasted until 1985. He was president of the Worcestershire branch of the Royal British Legion and also of the Malvern Sea Cadets.“Navy man enjoyed distinguished career”
in '' Malvern Gazette'', 26 October 2009

Personal life

In 1953, Sturdee married firstly in Mulhouse, Alsace, Marie-Claire Amstoutz, whom he met while she was working at the French Embassy in London. They had a son and a daughter, Dominique and Christopher. His first wife died in 1995, and in 2001, at the age of 81, Sturdee married secondly, a widow with a daughter, and they lived together at Castlemorton Common in the Malvern Hills until his death.

Honours

*Concepcion Award (Chile), 24 January 1939
*Freedom of the City of Exeter, 29 February 1940
*Distinguished Service Cross, 1945
*Companion of the Order of the Bath, June 1971Supplement to The London Gazette, 12 June 1971
p. 5958
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Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sturdee, Arthur Rodney Barry
1919 births
2009 deaths
Graduates of Britannia Royal Naval College
Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom)
Royal Navy rear admirals
Royal Navy officers of World War II