James Somerville

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Admiral of the Fleet Sir James Fownes Somerville (1882-1949) was a Royal Navy officer. He served in World War I as fleet wireless officer for the Mediterranean Fleet where he was involved in providing naval support for the Gallipoli Campaign. He also served in World War II as commander of the newly formed Force H: after the French armistice with Germany, Winston Churchill gave Somerville and Force H the task of neutralizing the main element of the French battle fleet, then at Mers El Kébir in Algeria. After he had destroyed the French Battle fleet, Somerville played an important role in the pursuit and sinking of the German battleship Bismarck.

Somerville later became Commander-in-Chief, Eastern Fleet. In April 1942, Admiral Chūichi Nagumo's powerful Indian Ocean raid inflicted heavy losses on his fleet. However, in spring 1944, with reinforcements, Somerville was able to go on the offensive in a series of aggressive air strikes in the Japanese-occupied Dutch East Indies. He spent the remainder of the War in charge of the British naval delegation in Washington, D.C.