Captain Russell Hamilton McBean DSO

DSC DSC may refer to: Academia * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dalton State Col ...

(3 March 1894 – 30 September 1963) was an 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 F ...

and was one of the men who took part in the Raid on Kronstadt in August 1919. McBean was born in 1894, the son of Lieutenant-Commander Thomas McBean RNVR, and his wife Jessie Mouat Russell of Hallow Park, Hallow, Worcestershire, and nephew of Colonel

Alexander McBean Colonel Alexander McBean V.D., D.L., J.P., of Tyninghame, Tettenhall, Staffordshire (born: 19 Apr 1854, died: 16 Feb 1937) was a leading businessman, soldier, local Conservative politician, Freemason and Churchman in the Midlands. Background ...

. He joined the Royal Navy and served in both World Wars. He entered Osborne as a cadet in January 1907. He was a sub-lieutenant of the destroyers and during the first part of 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 ...

During the First World War he was at

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

and then became the second young officer to volunteer for service in Coastal Motor Boats (May 1916), and was with the force that led the attack on Zeebrugge and Ostend. At the

second Ostend Raid The Second Ostend Raid (officially known as Operation VS) was the later of two failed attempts made during the spring of 1918 by the United Kingdom's Royal Navy to block the channels leading to the Belgian port of Ostend as a part of its confl ...

during the night of 9/10 May 1918, Lieutenant McBean commanded and helmed CMB No.25, which escorted up to the entrance, torpedoed the western and eastern piers and engaged with enemy machine guns at point blank range. McBean was wounded and Acting-Chief Motor Mechanic Keel was killed. Three officers received the Victoria Cross, seven officers received the Distinguished Service Order, three received bars to their DSOs and Russell McBean was one of nine who received the Distinguished Service Cross. Many others also received decorations for gallantry. His citation reads: ::"Lieut. Russell H. McBean, R.N. In command of a coastal motor boat. He escorted "Vindictive" close up to the entrance at Ostend, covering her with smokescreen and then assisting her with guiding lights. He torpedoed the eastern and western piers, and finally engaged the machine guns there with his own machine guns at pointblank range with apparently good effect. He most skilfully handled his vessel under a. heavy fire until he was wounded." The Coastal Motor Boats were used again, successfully, for the

Raid on Kronstadt The raid on Kronstadt (also known as Operation RK or the Scooter Raid) was an attack by Royal Navy coastal motor boats (CMBs) and Royal Air Force aircraft on the Bolshevik Baltic Fleet at its home base on 18 August 1919. After the Allied interve ...

on 18 August 1919. Lieutenant McBean commanded and helmed Coastal Motor Boat (CMB) 31 BD, with the commander of the Flotilla aboard, Commander Claude Dobson. McBean was known to be the best helmsman in the flotilla. CMB 31 led the raid through the chain of forts to the entrance to Kronstadt harbour. CMB 31BD, a 55 ft boat, from which Dobson directed the general operations then passed in under heavy machine-gun fire and hit the battleship ''Andrei Pervozvanny'' with both torpedoes, subsequently returning through heavy fire to the open sea. The entry in the London Gazette reads: ::"Lieut. Russell Hamilton McBean, D.S.C., R.N. For distinguished services in command of H.M. Coastal Motor Boat No. 31 in the attack on Kronstadt Harbour on 18 August 1919. Under very heavy fire he entered the harbour, torpedoed the Bolshevik battleship "Andrei Pervozanni", and returned through the fire of the forts and batteries to the open sea." Two safety pins in presentation cases, from torpedoes fired from McBean's CMBs during the Ostend and Kronstadt raids, were donated to the

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

by a member of his family. After the Great War, McBean was promoted to lieutenant-commander and held command of HMS ''Vindictive'' at Chatham, part of the Reserve Fleet. Since 1926 McBean commanded HMS ''Liffey'' and HMS ''Dee'', fishery gunboats, and HMS ''Mantis'', a river gunboat, in China, and the sloop HMS ''Chrysantheum'' in the Mediterranean (1935–1936). From 1939 to 1945, McBean held a number of appointments in Europe and India. He is cited in 1941 as commanding officer of HMS ''Beehive'' (Motor Torpedo Patrol base / coastal forces base at Felixstowe), HMS ''Woolwich'' (1941), HMS ''Mosquito'' at Alexandria, Egypt (1942), executive officer of HMS ''Bull'' at Massawa, Eritrea (1942–44) and Assistant Director General of Ship Repairs at HMS ''Braganza'', for duty at Calcutta (1945–1946). He retired for the last time as captain in the Royal Navy. After his retirement, he emigrated to live on his estate of Chattan Lodge, near Nyeri in Kenya. He was a keen fisherman and made good use of the many miles of trout stream which flowed through his land. He was a member of the Muthaiga Club.Obituary: East African Standard, Saturday 5 October 1963

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McBean, Russell Hamilton Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Royal Navy personnel of the Russian Civil War 1894 births 1963 deaths Royal Navy officers of World War I Royal Navy officers of World War II Royal Navy officers

See also

References