Lancelot Holland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lancelot Ernest Holland, CB (September 13, 1887–May 24, 1941) was an admiral who commanded the British force in the Battle of Denmark Strait in May, 1941 against the German battleship Bismarck.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Holland was one of six sons of a doctor, and entered the Royal Navy at an early age. After service in World War I, he was promoted to captain in 1926. From 1931 to 1932, Holland headed the British Naval Mission to Greece. Later he was in command of the battleship HMS Revenge.
[edit] Senior Officer
After a 1937 stint as naval ADC to King George VI, he was promoted to rear admiral and commanded the 2nd Battle Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet from January 1938 to August, 1939, flying his flag in HMS Resolution. He then became Admiralty representative at the Air Ministry.
[edit] World War Two
From July, 1940, Holland commanded the 7th Cruiser Squadron, serving in the Mediterranean. During the course of this command he led his cruisers in the Battle of Cape Spartivento on November 27, 1940.
By this time, Holland had established himself as a gunnery specialist.
[edit] The North Atlantic and Nemesis
Holland's next assignment was in command of the battlecruiser squadron. Britain had only three of these ships left. They were capital ships built for speed and were not so heavily armoured as battleships. They were especially vulnerable to plunging fire penetrating their decks and exploding their ammunition magazines. They were an unfortunate concept, dreamed up by Admiral John Fisher before World War I. It was never intended that a battlecruiser would fight a battleship. She was a greyhound, not a mastiff. The battlecruiser was designed to hunt and overtake fast commerce raiders, like a pocket battleship or another battlecruiser, one too big for a cruiser and too fast for a battleship.
HMS Hood was the last battlecruiser built but no British battleship was fast enough to catch the new German battleship, Bismarck, then the most powerful in the world, whose mission was to evade action and make for the open seas to attack convoys. Hood was needed to stop her. The navy recognized that Hood needed to be rebuilt to strengthen her decks, but, by 1938, with war threatening, the Admiralty felt that they could not risk taking her out of commission.
Holland was 53 years old, a short, trim man with almost white hair. He was rather shy, but intelligent, well read, very capable and quite ambitious.
In May, 1941, the new German battleship Bismarck attempted to break out into the North Atlantic, accompanied by the heavy cruiser, Prinz Eugen. Their mission was to attack Allied convoys. Holland flew his flag aboard Hood, which was accompanied by the new battleship HMS Prince of Wales, which mounted ten 14" guns as opposed to the eight 15" on the Hood and the Bismarck. On 22 May, just after midnight, Electra, Achates, Antelope, Anthony, Echo, and Icarus, escorting the Hood and Prince Of Wales, sailed to cover the northern approaches. Prince of Wales had not time to complete the training of her new crew, and was pressed into service with builder's representatives still aboard. The intention was that the force would refuel in Hvalfjord, Iceland, and then sail again to watch the Denmark Strait. On the evening of 23 May, weather deteriorated. At 2055, Admiral Holland aboard the Hood signalled the destroyers "If you are unable to maintain this speed I will have to go on without you. You should follow at your best speed." At 0215 on the morning of 24 May, the destroyers were ordered to spread out at 15 mile intervals to search to the north.
At about 0535, the German forces were sighted by the Hood, and shortly after, the Germans sighted the British ships. In the ensuing Battle of Denmark Strait, though Holland's dispositions and tactics were faultless, the Hood blew up as a result of a magazine explosion at 0601, and the Admiral and all but three of the crew of the Hood were lost. Prince of Wales made her escape with some damage, including a hit on her bridge which killed most of her officers. One of the salvos from Prince Of Wales damaged Bismarck's fuel tanks, and prompted her to make for France.
Holland was at a disadvantage when he went into battle, but sailors do not get to fight only when conditions are favourable. It was his duty to stop the Bismarck regardless of the risk.
[edit] Family
Admiral Holland was married and had one son, John, who died of polio at the age of 18 in 1935.
Admiral Holland and his family attended the Anglican parish Church of St. John the Baptist at Boldre in the New Forest, Hampshire, England. They had a memorial to their son installed there and later a Hood Memorial Chapel was dedicated. An annual memorial service is held to remember Admiral Holland and the crew of the Hood.
