biography
| name: |
Somerville, Sir James (Fownes)
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1882–1949)
|
| biography:
| British naval commander. As a radio communications specialist he served in the Dardanelles (1915) and in the Grand Fleet (1915–18). In the West Indies (1938–9), he was invalided home with suspected tuberculosis, but recalled to the active list in 1940. As vice-admiral in the Mediterranean, he sank the French ships at Oran (1940), shelled Genoa (1941), helped in the sinking of the Bismarck (1941), and took part in the Malta convoy battle (1941). After the entry of the Japanese into the War, he became commander-in-chief of the British fleet in the Indian Ocean. In 1945 he was promoted Admiral of the Fleet. |
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