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| First Sea Lord Sir Charles Forbes | |
|---|---|
| Name | Sir Charles Forbes |
| Caption | Admiral Sir Charles Forbes |
| Birth date | 7 July 1880 |
| Birth place | Aberdeen |
| Death date | 20 December 1960 |
| Death place | London |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Royal Navy |
| Serviceyears | 1894–1945 |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Awards | Order of the Bath, Order of St Michael and St George, Order of the British Empire |
First Sea Lord Sir Charles Forbes
Admiral Sir Charles Morton Forbes was a senior officer of the Royal Navy who served as First Sea Lord from 1939 to 1942 during the early years of World War II. A career seaman who rose through commands at sea and staff appointments at Admiralty, Forbes played a central role in wartime naval strategy, convoy warfare, and inter-Allied naval cooperation. His tenure intersected with pivotal events including the Norwegian Campaign, the Battle of the Atlantic, and the planning for the Mediterranean Theatre.
Born in Aberdeen, Scotland, Forbes was the son of a family with links to Aberdeenshire civic life and maritime commerce. He attended local schools before entering the Royal Naval College, Osborne as a cadet, progressing to the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth where he completed the officer training syllabus that produced generations of Royal Navy officers such as Admiral John Jellicoe and Admiral David Beatty. Forbes' early professional education included navigation and gunnery courses at HMS Excellent and staff courses at Britannia Royal Naval College, aligning him with contemporaries who would serve in the First World War and later in World War II.
Forbes joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in 1894 and received his first sea appointments on cruisers and battleships assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet and the China Station, exposing him to imperial defence responsibilities alongside officers like Admiral Sir Arthur Moore. Promotion to lieutenant and subsequent command of destroyer flotillas placed him in the milieu of prewar tactical development associated with figures such as Sir John Fisher. During the First World War, Forbes served on staff and at sea in operations that connected to the Dardanelles Campaign and North Sea sorties linked to the Grand Fleet. Interwar postings included captaincies of cruisers and battleships, a period of naval diplomacy touching ports in Malta, Gibraltar, and Alexandria, and attendance at strategic conferences at the Admiralty with chiefs such as Sir Rosslyn Wemyss.
Between the wars Forbes advanced to flag rank, serving as Chief of Staff to commanders-in-chief on the China Station and later as Director of Naval Intelligence and Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff at the Admiralty, positions that involved liaison with the Foreign Office, War Office, and emergent Allied naval staffs including the United States Navy and the French Navy. His responsibilities encompassed convoy policy, anti-submarine development with institutions like Admiralty Research Laboratory, and fleet readiness in the tense years surrounding the Munich Agreement.
Appointed First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff in 1939, Forbes assumed the navy’s professional headship as World War II began, working alongside Prime Ministers Neville Chamberlain and Winston Churchill and Chiefs of Staff including General Sir Alan Brooke and Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Cyril Newall. His tenure focused on the urgent expansion of escort forces for the Battle of the Atlantic, coordination with the Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Australian Navy for convoy escort duties, and operational direction of fleets in the North Sea, Atlantic Ocean, and Mediterranean Sea. Forbes oversaw planning and execution of naval operations linked to the Norwegian Campaign and the evacuation at Dunkirk, while managing strained relations over resource allocation with the Ministry of Supply and coordinating lend-lease matters with the United States Department of the Navy.
Forbes advocated tactics and procurement emphasizing anti-submarine warfare, escort carriers, and corvettes developed in concert with shipbuilders on the River Clyde and yards in Greenock. He participated in inter-Allied naval conferences such as those with the Combined Chiefs of Staff and interlocutors from the Royal Netherlands Navy and Free French Naval Forces. Strategic disagreements over convoy routing, Mediterranean prioritization involving Admiral Andrew Cunningham and the Battle of Cape Matapan, and the pace of escort construction marked his period as First Sea Lord, culminating in his replacement in 1942 amid shifts in wartime leadership.
After stepping down as First Sea Lord in 1942, Forbes continued to contribute to wartime councils and advisory boards, engaging with reconstruction planning at institutions such as the Imperial Defence College and committees tied to postwar naval dispositions discussed at the Yalta Conference and later at Potsdam-era planning sessions. He retired from active service in 1945 but remained active in veterans’ affairs, naval charities including Royal Naval Benevolent Trust, and served on advisory panels for shipbuilding initiatives linked to yards in Scotland and England. Forbes also wrote essays and gave lectures at the Society for Nautical Research and at universities with maritime history programs such as University of Southampton.
Forbes received senior British honours including appointments to the Order of the Bath, the Order of St Michael and St George, and the Order of the British Empire, and held honorary positions within naval associations and regimental colonelcies tied to Royal Marines units. His legacy is reflected in doctrines of convoy escort and anti-submarine warfare that influenced postwar NATO naval planning and in historical treatments found in works on the Battle of the Atlantic, biographies of contemporaries like Winston Churchill and Admiral Andrew Cunningham, and archival holdings at the National Maritime Museum and the National Archives. Commemorations include mentions in regimental histories, lecture series at the Royal United Services Institute, and memorials in naval communities in Portsmouth and Rosyth.
Category:Royal Navy admirals Category:First Sea Lords Category:1880 births Category:1960 deaths