John Cunningham

Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Henry Dacres Cunningham (13 April 1885 – 13 December 1962) was a Royal Navy officer. A qualified senior navigator, he became Director of Plans at the Admiralty in 1930. He saw action as Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet during the Second World War with responsibility for the allied landings at Anzio and in the south of France. He served as First Sea Lord in the late 1940s: his focus was on implementing the Government's policy of scrapping many serviceable ships.

Early life Born the son of Henry Hutt Cunningham QC and Elizabeth Mary Cunningham (née Park), Cunningham was educated at Stubbington House School. He joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in the training ship HMS Britannia in January 1900 and was posted as a midshipman to the cruiser on the Cape of Good Hope Station in June 1901.

Cunningham was promoted to sub lieutenant on 30 July 1904; he returned home to take the qualifying examinations for promotion, obtaining four out of five first-class certificates and was therefore promoted to lieutenant on 30 October 1905. He qualified as a navigator at the Royal Navy Navigation School and he was appointed as assistant navigator for the battleship in May 1906. He was promoted captain on 30 June 1924 and, having been appointed a Member of the Royal Victorian Order on 26 July 1924, he joined the staff of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, in February 1925. he was promoted to rear admiral on 1 January 1936. He became Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff in October 1936 and appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 1937 Coronation Honours. His responsibilities increased significantly when the Fleet Air Arm transferred from the Air Ministry to the Admiralty and he was re-designated Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Air) in August 1937. He was given command of the 1st Cruiser Squadron in the Mediterranean Fleet flying his flag in from 19 August 1938 and promoted to vice admiral on 30 June 1939.

An analysis of this battle, supported by eyewitness statements from the Devonshire, concluded that the Glorious transmitted a radio signal about the sighting of the German warships, but it was received only by the Devonshire. Cunningham took steps to suppress the news about the signal, and he and his fleet continued on their way. According to a Norwegian report, there were 461 passengers on board the Devonshire, and Cunningham showed the message to King Haakon who asked what his orders were: Cunningham replied, "to bring you safely to England". The King later remarked, "I realised this was not to Admiral Cunningham's liking". Cunningham was "mentioned in dispatches" on 11 July 1940.

Cunningham was appointed joint commander of Operation Menace, an unsuccessful attempt in September 1940 to take Dakar in Senegal (formerly French West Africa) as a potential base for the Free French forces there. Cunningham went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Levant in June 1943, and after having been promoted to full Admiral on 4 August 1943, he became the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet in December 1943. He was appointed a Grand Officier of the French Legion of Honneur and also awarded the French Croix de Guerre avec Palmes in 1945. He was also appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Greek Order of George I on 22 May 1945 and then awarded the Greek War Cross 1st Class on 19 March 1946. Additionally he was appointed Commander of the Norwegian Order of St. Olav on 13 October 1942 and appointed a Knight Grand Cross of that Order on 22 July 1947.

First Sea Lord and last years Cunningham was promoted to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the 1946 New Year Honours, and he succeeded Andrew Cunningham (no relation ) as the First Sea Lord in May 1946. before retiring in September 1948. After leaving the Royal Navy, Cunningham became the chairman of the Iraq Petroleum Company

Admiral Cunningham attended the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953. He retired from the Iraq Petroleum Company in 1958 and as the Deputy Lieutenant of Bedfordshire in 1959. Cunningham died in the Middlesex Hospital on 13 December 1962.

Family On 8 March 1910 Cunningham married his first cousin, Dorothy May. He had spent some of his early years in Ulverston with Dorothy, after his parents had both died at sea. They had two sons, John and Richard; John became a fire brigade chief and Richard a Royal Navy lieutenant in the Submarine Service. Richard was killed during World War II, in action on board in August 1941.