Eric Fullerton
Encyclopedia
Admiral Sir Eric John Arthur Fullerton KCB
DSO
(1878 – 9 November 1962) was a British
Royal Navy
officer.
in HMS Britannia
. He was promoted Sub-Lieutenant
in 1899 and Lieutenant
in 1900. He specialised as a physical training instructor
and in 1903 joined the new Royal Naval College, Osborne as Inspector of Gymnasia. In 1905 he joined the battleship
HMS Renown
and in January 1907 transferred to HMS Queen
, flagship
of the Mediterranean Fleet. In October 1908 he joined the royal yacht
, HMY Victoria and Albert
, and was promoted Commander
in 1910. In 1911 he was appointed executive officer
of the battleship HMS Triumph
in the Mediterranean, and the following year rejoined Osborne.
When the First World War broke out he was given command of the monitor
HMS Mersey
, which was used for operations off the Belgian
coast, and also commanded the squadron
consisting of Mersey and its two sister ships, HMS Humber
and HMS Severn
. He later transferred his command to HMS Severn. In 1915, after he had been promoted Captain
, his ships completed the destruction of the German cruiser
SMS Königsberg in the Rufiji River
in German East Africa
. For this action he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order
(DSO).
In 1916 he took command of the battleship HMS Orion
in the Grand Fleet, remaining in command for the remainder of the war. In 1918 he was appointed officer-in-charge of the naval officers taking courses at the University of Cambridge
. He was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 1920 New Year Honours.
In August 1921 he returned to sea as Captain of the Fleet
of the Atlantic Fleet
to Admiral Sir Charles Madden and in 1923 he was appointed Commodore
of the Naval Barracks at Chatham. In May 1926 he was promoted Rear-Admiral at the relatively early age of 48. In April 1927 he was appointed Naval Secretary
and in December 1929 he became Commander-in-Chief
of the East Indies Station
. He was promoted Vice-Admiral in 1930. In 1932 he became Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth
. He held the post until 1935, in which year he was promoted Admiral
, and retired in 1936, although he served with the Royal Naval Reserve
during the Second World War. He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in 1934.
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
DSO
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
(1878 – 9 November 1962) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
officer.
Naval career
Fullerton was the second son of Admiral Sir John Fullerton and entered the Royal Navy himself in 1892 as a CadetOfficer Cadet
Officer cadet is a rank held by military and merchant navy cadets during their training to become commissioned officers and merchant navy officers, respectively. The term officer trainee is used interchangeably in some countries...
in HMS Britannia
HMS Britannia
Six ships and a shore establishment of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Britannia, after Britannia, the goddess and personification of Britain....
. He was promoted Sub-Lieutenant
Sub-Lieutenant
Sub-lieutenant is a military rank. It is normally a junior officer rank.In many navies, a sub-lieutenant is a naval commissioned or subordinate officer, ranking below a lieutenant. In the Royal Navy the rank of sub-lieutenant is equivalent to the rank of lieutenant in the British Army and of...
in 1899 and Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
in 1900. He specialised as a physical training instructor
Physical Training Instructor
Physical Training Instructor is a term used primarily in the British Armed Forces and British police, as well as some other Commonwealth countries, for an instructor in physical fitness.-United Kingdom:...
and in 1903 joined the new Royal Naval College, Osborne as Inspector of Gymnasia. In 1905 he joined the battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
HMS Renown
HMS Renown (1895)
HMS Renown was a predreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy. Third and last of the lightly armed, long-range Centurion class, she had an upgraded design compared to her two sister ships HMS Centurion and HMS Barfleur....
and in January 1907 transferred to HMS Queen
HMS Queen (1902)
HMS Queen was a London or Queen class battleship, a sub-class of the Formidable class battleships of the British Royal Navy, and the tenth Royal Navy ship to bear the name.-Construction and design:...
, flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
of the Mediterranean Fleet. In October 1908 he joined the royal yacht
Royal Yacht
A royal yacht is a ship used by a monarch or a royal family. If the monarch is an emperor the proper term is imperial yacht. Most of them are financed by the government of the country of which the monarch is head...
, HMY Victoria and Albert
HMY Victoria and Albert III
HMY Victoria and Albert III a Royal Yacht of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. The yacht was designed by the Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy Sir William White. She was launched in 1899 but was not ready for service until 1901...
, and was promoted Commander
Commander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
in 1910. In 1911 he was appointed executive officer
Executive officer
An executive officer is generally a person responsible for running an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization.-Administrative law:...
of the battleship HMS Triumph
HMS Triumph (1903)
HMS Triumph was a Swiftsure class pre-dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy.-Technical characteristics:HMS Triumph was ordered by Chile as Libertad, laid down by Vickers at Barrow-in-Furness on 26 February 1902, and launched on 12 January 1903...
in the Mediterranean, and the following year rejoined Osborne.
When the First World War broke out he was given command of the monitor
Humber class monitor
The Humber class monitors were three large gunboats under construction for the Brazilian Navy in Britain in 1913. Designed for service on the Amazon River, the ships were of shallow draft and heavy armament and were ideally suited to inshore, riverine and coastal work but flawed for service at sea,...
HMS Mersey
HMS Mersey (1914)
HMS Mersey was a Humber-class monitor of the Royal Navy. Originally built by Vickers for Brazil and christened Madeira, she was purchased by the Royal Navy in 1914 on the outbreak of World War I along with her sister ships Humber and Severn.She had a relatively successful career in World War I and...
, which was used for operations off the Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
coast, and also commanded the squadron
Squadron (naval)
A squadron, or naval squadron, is a unit of 3-4 major warships, transport ships, submarines, or sometimes small craft that may be part of a larger task force or a fleet...
consisting of Mersey and its two sister ships, HMS Humber
HMS Humber (1914)
HMS Humber was a Humber-class monitor of the Royal Navy. Originally built by Vickers for Brazil as the Javary, she was purchased by the Royal Navy in 1914 on the outbreak of the First World War along with her sister ships and ....
and HMS Severn
HMS Severn (1914)
HMS Severn was a Humber-class monitor of the Royal Navy. Originally built by Vickers for Brazil, she was purchased by the Royal Navy in 1914 on the outbreak of World War I along with her sister ships Humber and Mersey. She had been christened Solimoes by the Brazilians, but was renamed by the British...
. He later transferred his command to HMS Severn. In 1915, after he had been promoted Captain
Captain (Royal Navy)
Captain is a senior officer rank of the Royal Navy. It ranks above Commander and below Commodore and has a NATO ranking code of OF-5. The rank is equivalent to a Colonel in the British Army or Royal Marines and to a Group Captain in the Royal Air Force. The rank of Group Captain is based on the...
, his ships completed the destruction of the German cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
SMS Königsberg in the Rufiji River
Rufiji River
The Rufiji River lies entirely within the African nation of Tanzania. The river is formed by the convergence of the Kilombero and Luwegu rivers. It is approximately 600 km long, with its source in southwestern Tanzania and its mouth on the Indian Ocean at a point between Mafia Island called Mafia...
in German East Africa
German East Africa
German East Africa was a German colony in East Africa, which included what are now :Burundi, :Rwanda and Tanganyika . Its area was , nearly three times the size of Germany today....
. For this action he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
(DSO).
In 1916 he took command of the battleship HMS Orion
HMS Orion (1910)
HMS Orion was a dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy. Launched in 1910, she was the lead ship of her class; she was the first so-called "super-dreadnought", being the first British dreadnought to mount guns of calibre greater than twelve inches, and the first British dreadnought to have...
in the Grand Fleet, remaining in command for the remainder of the war. In 1918 he was appointed officer-in-charge of the naval officers taking courses at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
. He was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 1920 New Year Honours.
In August 1921 he returned to sea as Captain of the Fleet
Captain of the fleet
In the Royal Navy of the 18th and 19th centuries a Captain of the Fleet could be appointed to assist an admiral when the admiral had ten or more ships to command....
of the Atlantic Fleet
British Atlantic Fleet
The Atlantic Fleet was a major fleet formation of the Royal Navy.There have been two main formations in the Royal Navy officially called the Atlantic Fleet. The first was created in 1909 and lasted until 1914...
to Admiral Sir Charles Madden and in 1923 he was appointed Commodore
Commodore (rank)
Commodore is a military rank used in many navies that is superior to a navy captain, but below a rear admiral. Non-English-speaking nations often use the rank of flotilla admiral or counter admiral as an equivalent .It is often regarded as a one-star rank with a NATO code of OF-6, but is not always...
of the Naval Barracks at Chatham. In May 1926 he was promoted Rear-Admiral at the relatively early age of 48. In April 1927 he was appointed Naval Secretary
Naval Secretary
The Naval Secretary is the Royal Navy appointment of which the incumbent is responsible for policy direction on personnel management for members of the RN. It is a senior RN appointment, held by an officer holding the rank of Rear-Admiral. The Naval Secretary's counterpart in the British Army is...
and in December 1929 he became Commander-in-Chief
Commander-in-Chief
A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...
of the East Indies Station
East Indies Station
The East Indies Station was a formation of the British Royal Navy from 1865 to 1941.From 1831 to 1865 the East Indies and the China Station were a single command known as the East Indies and China Station...
. He was promoted Vice-Admiral in 1930. In 1932 he became Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth
Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth
The Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth was a senior commander of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years. Plymouth Command was a name given to the units, establishments, and staff operating under the admiral's command. In the nineteenth century the holder of the office was known as Commander-in-Chief,...
. He held the post until 1935, in which year he was promoted Admiral
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
, and retired in 1936, although he served with the Royal Naval Reserve
Royal Naval Reserve
The Royal Naval Reserve is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. The present Royal Naval Reserve was formed in 1958 by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve , a reserve of civilian volunteers founded in 1903...
during the Second World War. He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in 1934.