page_title: Sir Robert Arbuthnot, 4th Baronet
section_title: Outbreak of war
hierarchical_section_title: Sir Robert Arbuthnot, 4th Baronet / Naval career / Outbreak of war
context_page_description: Rear-Admiral Sir Robert Keith Arbuthnot, 4th Baronet, KCB MVO was a British Royal Navy officer during World War I. He was killed at the Battle of Jutland, when the cruiser squadron he commanded came under heavy fire after a bold but ill-judged attack on the German battle fleet.
context_section_description: Following the outbreak of war in 1914, Arbuthnot's slavishly doctrinaire nature proved harmful to his command abilities, particularly during the German raid on Scarborough when he allowed a group of German light cruisers and destroyers to escape without resistance because he had not yet received official orders from Warrender to open fire. Orion's captain, Frederic Charles Dreyer, had his 13.5 inch guns trained on the enemy ships and later claimed that he repeatedly requested permission to fire, but despite the battle having already been joined for several hours, Arbuthnot refused to allow Dreyer to fire before receiving Warrender's explicit order (via flag hoist) to do so. By the time Warrender (attending to other aspects of the battle in HMS King George V) realized the cause of Arbuthnot's reticence and had the order hoisted, the ships had already turned away and escaped. 
  Arbuthnot was appointed commander of the 1st Cruiser Squadron in January 1915, with the obsolete armoured cruiser HMS Defence as his flagship. Admiral John Jellicoe, commanding the Grand Fleet, noted that all was not entirely well with the squadron under Arbuthnot: "Arbuthnot is one of the finest fellows in the world, but somehow can't run a squadron. His ideals are too high and he can't leave people alone." Still, Jellicoe believed, "He would be invaluable when there is fighting. I have the highest opinion of him."
caption: Arms of the Arbuthnot baronets of Edinburgh