Cecil Burney

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Cecil Burney, 1st Baronet, (15 May 1858 – 5 June 1929) was a Royal Navy officer. After seeing action as a junior office in naval brigades during both the Anglo-Egyptian War and the Mahdist War, he commanded a cruiser in operational service during the Second Boer War. As a flag officer he commanded the Plymouth Division of the Home Fleet, the 5th Cruiser Squadron, the Atlantic Fleet and then the 3rd Battle Squadron.

In April 1913 Montenegro seized control of Scutari in the latest round of hostilities between the Ottoman Empire and Montenegro during the closing stages of the First Balkan War. In April 1913 Burney was sent as temporary Second-in-Command of the Mediterranean Fleet to Antivari on the coast of Montenegro to take command of the international naval force despatched to deal with this situation. On arrival he blockaded Antivari and then also commanded the international force occupying Scutari as part of its transition to Albanian control. He was well rewarded with honours for the success of this mission.

On the outbreak of the First World War Burney became Vice-Admiral Commanding the Channel Fleet. In that role he ensured the safe passage of the British Expeditionary Force to France. He went on to be commander of the 1st Battle Squadron commanding the squadron at the Battle of Jutland in May 1916, where his flagship was the first ship to engage the Germans but was later torpedoed. He was appointed Second Sea Lord in November 1916 but removed on the grounds of his age in September 1917 and appointed Commander-in-Chief, Coast of Scotland instead. He went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth after the War.

Early years The son of Captain Charles Burney RN and Catherine Elizabeth Burney (née Jones), Burney was born in Saint Saviour, Jersey. He was educated at Burney's Royal Naval Academy, Gosport and then joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in the training ship HMS Britannia in July 1871. Promoted midshipman in October 1873, he was assigned to the battleship , flagship of the Pacific Station and, after promotion to sub-lieutenant on 18 October 1877, he transferred to the troopship in January 1879. He joined the Royal Yacht HMY Victoria and Albert in June 1879 and was promoted lieutenant on 30 August 1879.

Burney joined the corvette in the Mediterranean Fleet in September 1880 and served ashore in command of a Gatling gun team as part of a naval brigade and saw action at the Battle of Tell al-Mahuta in August 1882 and the Battle of Kassasin also in August 1882 during the Anglo-Egyptian War. he became executive officer in the cruiser in the Mediterranean Fleet in May 1893.

In September 1899 Burney took command of his old ship HMS Hawke and in 1900 became the captain of cruiser , initially on the North American Station, but soon transferred to the Cape of Good Hope Station for operational service in the Second Boer War. as Flag Captain to Rear-Admiral George Atkinson-Willes, Second-in-Command of the Home Fleet, during the Coronation Review for King Edward VII. The following month, he was on 16 September appointed in command of HMS Empress of India in the same capacity, and he remained with Atkinson-Willes' successor Rear-Admiral Edmund Poë until June 1904. He became a naval aide-de-camp to the King on 17 October 1906.

Promoted rear-admiral on 10 October 1907, Burney was given command of the Plymouth Division of the Home Fleet.

First Balkan War

In April 1913 Montenegro seized control of Scutari in the latest round of hostilities between the Ottoman Empire and Montenegro during the closing stages of the First Balkan War. The view taken at the London Conference was that Scutari should be handed over to Albania. In April 1913 Burney was sent as temporary Second-in-Command of the Mediterranean Fleet, flying his flag in the cruiser , to Antivari on the coast of Montenegro to take command of the international naval force despatched to deal with this situation. On arrival he blockaded Antivari and then, from May to November 1913, also commanded the international force occupying Scutari as part of its transition to Albanian control. and appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) on 27 October 1913.

First World War

Burney returned to England and took command of the Second Fleet and Third Fleet, with his flag in the battleship in December 1913 and then in the battleship in July 1914. he was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) on 15 September 1916.

Burney was appointed Second Sea Lord in November 1916. However, in September 1917 he was removed, despite the opposition of First Sea Lord Sir John Jellicoe, on the insistence of both the Prime Minister David Lloyd George and the First Lord of the Admiralty Eric Geddes, who wanted a younger man in the post. Burney became Commander-in-Chief, Coast of Scotland instead in October 1917.

Post-war career Burney became Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth in March 1919. He was also promoted Admiral of the Fleet on 24 November 1920, created a baronet in the 1921 New Year Honours, and appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) in the 1922 New Year Honours. He officially retired on 24 November 1925, died at his home at Upham in Hampshire on 5 June 1929 and was buried at Brookwood Cemetery.

Family In 1884 Burney married Lucinda Burnett; they had two daughters, and a son. Russian Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd Class (with Swords) – 5 June 1917 Grand Cross of the Italian Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus – 11 August 1917 Grand Cordon of the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun – 29 August 1917 Grand Cordon of the Belgian Order of Leopold – 29 November 1918 American Distinguished Service Medal – 16 September 1919 French Croix de Guerre – 22 January 1920