Ernest Troubridge Sir Ernest Charles Thomas Troubridge KCMG , MVO ( 15 July 1862 – 28 January 1926 ) was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the First World War , later rising to the rank of admiral . Troubridge was born into a family with substantial military connections , with several of his forebears being distinguished naval officers . He too embarked on a career in the navy , rising through the ranks during the late Victorian period , and commanding ships in the Mediterranean . He served as a naval attaché to several powers , including the Empire of Japan during the Russo - Japanese War . He spent some time immediately before the outbreak of the First World War as a staff officer and assisted in the drawing up of strategic plans to be adopted in the event of war , though these were later discredited . He returned to seagoing service just prior to the outbreak of war , and commanded a cruiser squadron in the Mediterranean with the rank of rear - admiral . Here his promising career was blighted by the events surrounding the pursuit of two German warships , and . Despite being outclassed by the German warships Troubridge still intended to engage them , but was convinced otherwise by his flag captain , and allowed them to escape to Constantinople . He and his commanding officer were heavily criticised for their failure to intercept the German ships , particularly when it appeared that they became influential in the Turkish decision to enter the war . Troubridge was court - martialled , and acquitted , but his reputation had been damaged . Troubridge never had another seagoing command , but did command naval detachments and flotillas on the Danube during the Balkan campaigns , winning the respect of Serbian Crown Prince Alexander . After the war he served on the Danube Commission and was promoted to admiral , but remained out of favour with the Admiralty . He spent several years as president of the commission , retiring in 1924 and dying in 1926 . He had married twice ; his second wife , the sculptor Margot Elena Gertrude Taylor , left him to begin a lesbian relationship with the writer Marguerite Radclyffe - Hall . Family and early life . Ernest Troubridge was born in Hampstead , London on 15 July 1862 , the third son of Sir Thomas St Vincent Hope Cochrane Troubridge and his wife Louisa Jane . Thomas Troubridge had served in the army during the Crimean War , and had lost his right leg and left foot at the Battle of Inkerman . The family had a particularly strong naval tradition , Ernest ' s great - grandfather , Sir Thomas Troubridge , 1st Baronet , had fought alongside Nelson at Cape St Vincent , while his grandfather Sir Edward Troubridge , 2nd Baronet had also been an admiral . Ernest was also more distantly related to the distinguished admirals Sir Alexander Cochrane and Thomas Cochrane , Lord Cochrane . Ernest Troubridge briefly attended Wellington College before joining the Royal Navy in 1875 . He attended the Royal Naval College , at Dartmouth as a naval cadet , and by 1884 had been promoted to lieutenant . During his service with the fleet he was awarded the silver medal of the Royal Humane Society , when in 1888 he saved the life of a young seaman who had fallen overboard in the night while their ship was in Suda Bay , Crete . Rise through the ranks . Troubridge was promoted to the rank of commander in 1895 , serving with the Mediterranean Fleet aboard the flagship of the fleet ' s second in command , , initially Rear - Admiral Sir Robert Harris , and later Rear - Admiral Sir Gerard Noel . He was promoted to Captain 17 July 1901 and went on to serve as a naval attaché to several powers , based at first in Vienna , and from 1902 in Madrid . He became a naval attaché in Tokyo later in 1902 , and served as such until 1904 . With the outbreak of the Russo - Japanese War he went to sea with the Japanese warships and was present at the Battle of Chemulpo Bay and the subsequent operations off Port Arthur . After the conclusion of the war Troubridge was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun by the Japanese , while the British appointed him Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George , and Member of the Royal Victorian Order . He took command of the battleship , serving as flag captain to the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet , Admiral Sir Charles Drury . After the expiration of this posting Troubridge spent the years between 1908 and 1910 as commodore commanding the royal naval barracks at Chatham , and in 1910 became Private Naval Secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty . Until 1911 this was Reginald McKenna , who was succeeded that year by Winston Churchill . Troubridge was promoted to flag rank in March 1911 with his promotion to rear - admiral , and in 1912 he became chief of the War Staff . During his time on the War Staff he was involved in the drawing up of plans for naval strategy in the event of war . The plans , which involved the establishment of a massive cordon of warships in British waters , provoked criticism from a number of naval officers , and were eventually shown to be unsound in a series of naval exercises and manoeuvres in the summer of 1912 . Churchill arranged for Troubridge to leave office at the end of the year , replacing him with Vice - Admiral Sir Henry Jackson . Troubridge returned to active service at sea in January 1913 with his appointment to command the Mediterranean Fleet ' s cruiser squadron , consisting of , , and , under the fleet ' s commander in chief , Admiral Sir Berkeley Milne . During this period Troubridge flew his flag aboard " Defence " . First World War . Pursuit of " Goeben " and " Breslau " . On the entry of the British to the First World War in early August 1914 , Germany had two ships in the Mediterranean , forming their " Mittelmeerdivision " , the battlecruiser and the light cruiser . The German ships , under Rear - Admiral Wilhelm Souchon , had been shadowed by a British battlecruiser force , while Milne deployed his fleet to bottle up the German ships . After carrying out a shore bombardment the Germans were observed to coal at Messina , causing Milne to send most of his force to wait west of Sicily , to prevent Souchon from interfering with French troop convoys . Troubridge and his force of four cruisers were sent to cruise west of Cephalonia in case Souchon should try to enter the Adriatic and join the Austro - Hungarian fleet . The Germans sailed from Messina on 6 August , and were observed to be making for the Adriatic . They were shadowed by the light cruiser , which reported that the Germans were not intending to enter the Adriatic , but were in fact heading east towards Cape Matapan . " Gloucester " carried out an attack on the German ships , hoping to slow them down sufficiently for Troubridge ' s cruisers to bring them to action . Troubridge had however received orders from Milne in late January , that on the instructions of the First Lord of the Admiralty , Winston Churchill , the British force in the Mediterranean was not to engage superior forces . Churchill had intended this to mean the Austro - Hungarian and Italian fleets , but Troubridge took it to include the Germans . The orders transmitted to Milne stated that his primary objective was to support the transport of French troops , with the engagement of individual German ships a secondary objective . A superior force should only be engaged in combination with the French . From his experiences in the Russo - Japanese War , Troubridge was aware that modern naval ordnance could devastate his squadron , and that the " Goeben " s 11 - inch guns considerably outranged his own , which consisted of 9 . 2 - inch and 7 . 5 - inch guns . A night attack on the German force using the cruiser failed when the British ship failed to make contact , so Troubridge attempted to catch the Germans in narrow waters to reduce the range . Troubridge was still unaware of German intentions , and feared they might double - back to the north east and effect a junction with the Austro - Hungarian fleet . Troubridge resolved to intercept the German squadron and headed southwards to do so , but his flag captain , Fawcett Wray , argued against seeking battle . Troubridge was reluctant to do so anyway , knowing his ships would be outranged , and attacking in daylight but felt it was the only honourable option . Wray argued that it would be suicide for the squadron to fight the bigger and longer - ranging guns of the " Goeben " , and as Wray had a particular reputation in the fleet as an expert on gunnery , Troubridge allowed himself to be persuaded . In tears Troubridge ordered the chase to be abandoned , a decision that caused Wray to say ' Sir , this is the bravest thing you have ever done . ' Troubridge ' s signal was transmitted shortly afterwards : 4 . 49am , 7 / 8 / 14 , to Milne : < br > Being only able to meet " Goeben " outside the range of our guns and inside his , I have abandoned the chase with my squadron . " Goeben " evidently going to the Eastern Mediterranean . The chase abandoned , the Germans made it to Constantinople , and were later turned over the Turkish Navy . Court - martial . Both Troubridge and Milne came under considerable criticism for their failure to engage and destroy the German squadron , criticism which intensified when it appeared that the presence of the German ships had been influential in the subsequent Turkish decision to enter the war . Troubridge was ordered back to Britain in September , and faced a court of inquiry held at the Navigation School , Portsmouth . After investigating the events surrounding the chase of " Goeben " and " Breslau " , the court of inquiry decided to court - martial Troubridge on the grounds of his failure to engage the enemy . The court martial was held on board , moored at Portland , from 5 to 9 November 1914 . After deliberations the court came to the conclusion that the charge was not proved , owing to the nature of his orders and the Admiralty ' s failure to clarify them , and Troubridge was ‘ fully and honourably acquitted ’ . Despite this victory the criticism lingered , with accusations that he had let the fleet down . Neither Troubridge nor Milne received another seagoing command , and in January 1915 Troubridge was appointed to head the British naval mission to Serbia . Balkan service . The British naval mission to Serbia was intended to support Serbian efforts to resist the Austro - Hungarian flotilla , consisting of monitors and patrol vessels , operating on the Danube . For this task Troubridge commanded a small group of seaman and marines armed with eight 4 . 7 inch naval guns . They were later reinforced with a 45 foot picket boat fitted with torpedo dropping gear . Allied control of the Danube became strategically vital after the Gallipoli Campaign began , as it prevented river - borne supplies from reaching the Black Sea , from where they could be transported to Turkey . Despite initial success in preventing Austro - Hungarian domination of the waterway , the entry of Bulgaria to the war and the combined Austrian - German - Bulgarian offensive in October caused the disintegration of the Serbian position . Troubridge and his force retreated with the Serbian army to the Adriatic coast , reaching the small port of San Giovanni di Medua . Troubridge took command of the evacuation and oversaw the withdrawal of the remains of the army and many thousands of refugees to Corfu throughout December and January . Impressed with his services , Serbian Crown Prince Alexander requested Troubridge as his personal advisor and aide . Troubridge , having been promoted to vice - admiral in June 1916 , went out to Salonika to join the reformed Serbian armies . He remained in the Balkans throughout the campaigns of the next two years , which culminated in the final collapse of Bulgaria in September 1918 . The French commander in chief in the area , Louis Franchet d ' Espèrey , appointed Troubridge admiral commanding on the Danube . Troubridge quickly requested the formation of a new naval brigade , to be supported with artillery and torpedo gear in order to prosecute the Danube campaign , but this was rejected by the Admiralty in favour of a gunboat flotilla . Displeased by Troubridge ' s acceptance of a French appointment , they tried to prevent him from having command of the flotilla . Post - war service . Troubridge remained in the Balkans for several months after the end of the war , and returned to Britain in early 1919 , having been promoted to admiral in January 1919 . While he was able to restore his position , he attempted to intervene without orders in the establishment of Béla Kun ' s Hungarian Soviet Republic in March 1919 . His actions brought questionable results , and he remained out of favour with the Admiralty . His experience in the Danube area led to his appointment as president of a provisional inter - allied Danube Commission in 1919 . He was replaced by a representative favoured by the Foreign Office on the establishment of the permanent international Danube commission , but when this representative , and a representative favoured by the Admiralty both departed , Troubridge was recalled in June 1920 . He had been created a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in June 1919 . His tenure as president of the commission lasted until March 1924 , during which time he was placed on the retired list by the Admiralty , on the grounds that his salary came from the commission . Personal life . Troubridge married Edith Mary Duffus on 29 December 1891 . The couple had one surviving son , Thomas Hope Troubridge , who followed his father into the navy and became a vice - admiral . Edith died in 1900 , and Ernest remarried on 10 October 1908 . His second wife was the sculptor Margot Elena Gertrude Taylor , more commonly known as Una Vincenzo . The couple had a daughter , but separated in 1919 , Una having begun a relationship in 1915 with Marguerite Radclyffe - Hall . Admiral Ernest Troubridge died suddenly in Biarritz on 28 January 1926 , and was buried there .