John de Robeck

Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Michael de Robeck, 1st Baronet GCB, GCMG, GCVO (10 June 1862 – 20 January 1928) was an Irish admiral in the British Royal Navy who commanded the Allied naval force in the Dardanelles during World War I.

De Robeck was born in Naas, County Kildare, Ireland, the second son of John Henry Edward Fock, fourth Baron de Robeck (1823–1904), to a family of Swedish/Estonian/German origin, long settled in Ireland.

Dardanelles campaign
De Robeck joined the Royal Navy in 1875. In 1914 he was given command of the 9th Cruiser Squadron.

He was second in command, to Admiral Sir Sackville Carden, of the Allied naval forces at the Dardanelles from February through March 1915, when he succeeded Carden in command. He assumed command a mere three days before the planned attempt to force the Straits on 18 March.

The 1914/15 naval campaign to win the straits and push on to Constantinople was nearly successful, as the Turkish land-based artillery almost ran out of ammunition. However, mines laid in the straits sank or damaged five allied battleships. The arrival of General Ian Hamilton and his troops gave Admiral de Robeck the possibility to turn over responsibility of taking the straits to the army.

He went on to become Commander of the 2nd Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet in November 1916. In July 1919 he became Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet also serving as British High Commissioner in Constantinople during Autumn 1919. He became Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet from 1922 and retired in 1924.

De Robeck was made a baronet in 1919 and appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) in the 1921 New Year Honours.