Arthur David Torlesse

Rear-Admiral Arthur David Torlesse, (24 January 1902 – 19 July 1995) was a Royal Navy officer. He commanded the escort carrier during the latter part of the Second World War, and the aircraft carrier during the early months of the Korean War. In 1952, he commanded the task force that supported Operation Hurricane, the first British nuclear weapons test.

Early life and career Arthur David Torlesse was born in Bognor Regis in West Sussex on 24 January 1902, the son of a Royal Navy officer, Captain Arthur Ward Torlesse, and his wife Harriet Mary (née Jeans). He had a brother, Ynyr John Torlesse. and Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. He served as a midshipman with the Grand Fleet during the First World War. and served on . He joined the crew of the aircraft carrier on 28 May 1925, and qualified as an air observer with the Fleet Air Arm. In this role he subsequently served on in 1927 and then joined in 1928, He married Sheila Mary Susan Darroch, the daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Duncan Darroch, 6th of Gourock, a retired Army officer of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, on 29 April 1933.

After attending the staff course at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, Torlesse became operations officer on the staff of the Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet, on the battleship in July 1935. After attending a tactical course at HM Dockyard, Portsmouth, in 1936, he was served on the battlecruiser . This was followed by a posting to the Far East as the operations officer on the staff of Commodore, Malaya, based at the Singapore Naval Base, and for a time he was also the Naval Attaché to Thailand in Bangkok. For his services, Torlesse was made a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order on 28 December.

Korea underway off Subic Bay, Philippines, during exercises on 8 March 1950. Aircraft on her deck include Supermarine Seafires, forward, and Fairey Fireflys aft. Torlesse returned to the Admiralty, where he became Director of the Airfields and Carrier Requirements Department on 1 March 1946, and then Director of the Air Equipment Department on 17 May 1948. On 7 December 1949, he became captain of the aircraft carrier , which saw active service in the early months of the Korean War, including supporting Operation Chromite, the American landings at Incheon. Torlesse was mentioned in despatches on 30 January 1951, and was made an Officer of the American Legion of Merit on 13 August 1954.

Operation Hurricane and after Promoted to rear admiral on 7 July 1951, Torlesse was placed in change of a small fleet assembled for Operation Hurricane, the first test of a British atomic bomb. His command included the escort carrier , which served as his flagship, the LSTs Narvik, Zeebrugge and Tracker, and the River-class frigate , which would act as a target ship. The bomb was assembled at Foulness, and then taken to Plym on 5 June 1952 for transport to the Monte Bello Islands in Australia, where the test would take place. It took Campania and Plym eight weeks to make the voyage, as for security reasons they sailed around the Cape of Good Hope instead of traversing the Suez Canal. The Monte Bello Islands were reached on 8 August.

The bomb was successfully detonated on board Plym on 3 October 1952. For his part, Torlesse was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath on 30 December. His final posting was as Flag Officer, Ground Training. He retired on 16 December 1954.

Torlesse died in Lymington, Hampshire, on 19 July 1995.