William May

Admiral of the Fleet Sir William Henry May (31 July 1849 – 7 October 1930) was a Royal Navy Officer. As a junior officer he took part an expedition to rescue Commander Albert Markham who had got into difficulty trying to reach the North Pole via Smith Sound, the sea passage between Greenland and Canada's northernmost island, Ellesmere Island.

May went on to higher command and served as Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy before becoming Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet. He held the office of Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel and in that capacity threatened to resign if the Liberal Government cut the naval estimates any further. Later he became Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet, in which capacity he encouraged innovative ways of organising his huge fleet including the deployment of cruising formations, the use of fast squadrons and tactical command at squadron level rather than fleet level, and then became Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth. He served in the First World War purely in an administrative capacity.

Early career

Born the son of Job William Seaburne May and Anne Jane May (née Freckleton), May was educated at the Royal Institution School in Liverpool and Eastman's Royal Naval Academy and then joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in the training ship on 9 June 1863. He joined the first-rate , flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet in 1864 and, having been promoted to midshipman, he transferred to the frigate in 1867. Promoted to sub-lieutenant on 29 March 1869, he joined the battleship in the Channel Fleet and then transferred to the Royal Yacht in June 1871. he briefly rejoined HMS Hercules in April 1872 before attending the gunnery school at Portsmouth. he became commanding officer of the torpedo ram later that year and then returned to the Royal Yacht HMY Victoria and Albert II, this time as second in command, in 1884. he became flag captain to the Commander-in-Chief, China Station in the armored cruiser in March 1888.

Senior command "Navy Control". Caricature by Spy published in Vanity Fair in 1903

May became Director of Naval Ordnance and Torpedoes at the Admiralty in January 1901 and, having been promoted to rear admiral on 28 March 1901, he became Third Naval Lord and Controller of the Navy in April 1901. He went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet, with his flag in the battleship , in February 1905. he was appointed a Grand Officer of the French Legion of Honour on 5 September 1905 and a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 29 June 1906.

May became Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel in 1907 and in that capacity threatened to resign if the Liberal Government cut the naval estimates any further. he became Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet, with his flag in the battleship , in March 1909. In that capacity he encouraged innovative ways of organising his huge fleet including the deployment of cruising formations, the use of fast squadrons and tactical command at squadron level rather than fleet level. He went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth in April 1911 and was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 19 June 1911. He was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 20 March 1913.

May served in the First World War in an administrative capacity, as a member of the Dardanelles Commission tasked with examining the failure of Gallipoli campaign, as a member of the Reconstruction Committee tasked with considering post-war expenditure reductions and as a member of a fisheries committee. He retired in 1919 and died on 7 October 1930 at his home, Bughtrig House in Coldstream in Berwickshire.

Family In 1878 May married Kinbarra Marrow: they had two sons.