The Earl Beatty | |
|---|---|
 The Earl Beatty while a vice admiral | |
| Born | 17 January 1871 Stapeley, Cheshire, England |
| Died | 12 March 1936 (aged 65) London, England |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service | Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1884–1927 |
| Rank | Admiral of the Fleet |
| Commands | First Sea Lord (1919–27) Grand Fleet (1916–18) Battle Cruiser Fleet (1915) 1st Battlecruiser Squadron (1913–16) HMS Queen HMS Suffolk HMS Arrogant HMS Juno |
| Battles / wars | Mahdist War
|
| Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Member of the Order of Merit Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Distinguished Service Order |
Admiral of the Fleet David Richard Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty, GCB, OM, GCVO, DSO, PC (17 January 1871 – 12 March 1936) was a Royal Navy officer. After serving in the Mahdist War and then the response to the Boxer Rebellion, he commanded the Battle Cruiser Fleet at the Battle of Jutland in 1916, a tactically indecisive engagement after which his aggressive approach was contrasted with the caution of his commander Admiral Sir John Jellicoe. He is remembered for his comment at Jutland that "There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today", after two of them exploded. Later in the war he succeeded Jellicoe as Commander in Chief of the Grand Fleet, in which capacity he received the surrender of the German High Seas Fleet at the end of the war. He then followed Jellicoe's path a second time, serving as First Sea Lord—a position that Beatty held longer (7 years 9 months) than any other First Sea Lord. While First Sea Lord, he was involved in negotiating the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 in which it was agreed that the United States, Britain and Japan should set their navies in a ratio of 5:5:3, with France and Italy maintaining smaller ratio fleets of 1.75 each.