Gilbert Stephenson Sir Gilbert Owen Stephenson KBE , CB , CMG , DL ( 13 February 1878 – 27 May 1972 ) was a British Vice - Admiral in the Royal Navy , a pioneer of anti - submarine techniques in World War I , and most famous as an important Naval training commandant during World War II . Early life and career . Stephenson was born in London on 13 February 1878 . His father was a merchant in the Indian trade . Stephenson joined the Navy aged fourteen in 1892 when he began his training in Dartmouth . As a midshipman he was posted to and . Whilst with the " Forte " he was involved in the Punitive Expedition of 1897 in Benin . Following promotion to sub - lieutenant , he went first to First Destroyer Flotilla , and then , flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet . The following year he was given his first command , the torpedo boat , TB 90 . He was promoted lieutenant in June 1900 . Stephenson managed to make a strongly favourable impression on Admiral Sir Jackie Fisher , the then Commander - in - Chief , Mediterranean . As a result Stephenson , aged just 23 , was given command of the destroyer , . He then took the torpedo course at Royal Naval College , Greenwich and was posted to the staff of , the Royal Navy ' s torpedo school . This was followed by appointments as torpedo officer aboard the cruiser s and . After promotion to lieutenant - commander , he served as First Lieutenant on the battleship . He was promoted commander in 1912 . First World War and first retirement . At the outbreak of war , Stephenson was based in the Admiralty , attached to the Naval Intelligence Division . However , he soon managed to obtain a seagoing role as Executive Officer of . He was involved in operations in the Dardanelles , and then commanded a fleet of naval trawler s undertaking patrols from Crete . He went on to command the gunboat and ( as an acting Captain ) the Otranto Barrage , a fleet of small boats which attempted to control the exit from the Adriatic , particularly trying to prevent submarines of the Austro - Hungarian Navy breaking out into the Mediterranean . In this last role , he also undertook early experiments into the use of hydrophone s to detect submarines . He was Mentioned in Despatches in December 1918 , appointed Commander of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George ( CMG ) in the 1919 New Year Honours , awarded the Greek decoration of Commander of the Order of the Redeemer for his service in the Mediterranean and Adriatic , he was also awarded the American Distinguished Service Medal . These experiments led to Stephenson ' s first post - war role , as director of the anti - submarine division of the Admiralty . He found many of his fellow officers conservative in their approach , and struggled to get new techniques accepted . He left this role in 1921 to command the cruiser , and then in 1923 the battleship , where he had the young Louis Mountbatten as one of his junior officers . He then served ashore , first as Chief of Staff to the Commander - in - Chief , Portsmouth and then as Commodore of Portsmouth Naval Barracks , where he undertook many innovations to raise morale including regular community singing . In 1929 , he was part of the official British delegation at the funeral of Marshal Foch , acting as Naval ADC to Prince George , and later that year was placed on the retired list , with promotion to rear - admiral . He was appointed Companion of the Bath ( CB ) in 1930 . From 1932 – 1935 he was Secretary of the Navy League , and he was promoted to vice - admiral in 1934 . He also ran a boys ' club near his Hampshire home , where he was nicknamed " Monkey Brand " as the boys thought his heavily whiskered face was like the image used to advertise a well - known household cleaning product . Second World War . With the outbreak of war , Stephenson was recalled as Commodore , Royal Navy Reserve . Initially he served as a Commodore of Convoy and made several trips in that capacity . He was also involved in the Dunkirk evacuation . In 1940 he was tasked with setting up the training base at Tobermory on the Isle of Mull in the Scottish Inner Hebrides . This was to be the Royal Navy ' s Anti - Submarine Training School for the remainder of the war and Stephenson ' s greatest legacy was that his training methods had an influence within the service that lasted long after the cessation of conflict . He realised that the task of training war - time reservist officers and hostilities - only ratings required a different approach to that of training regulars . He believed that the most important priority was making the trainees determined to win ; then that they understood the importance of discipline ; next the importance of correct administration ; and finally technical proficiency — he felt that skill would be worthless if overall spirit were lacking . He emphasised strict discipline in his training combined with encouraging a willingness to adapt quickly to various situations with surprise inspections and orders to trainees as well as creative wargames to simulate difficult situations at sea . A frequently recounted anecdote is that when inspecting a corvette and its crew , he suddenly threw his hat on the deck and called it an unexploded bomb . A trainee ( variously reported as quartermaster , or a sub - lieutenant ) immediately kicked it into the water . After Stephenson commended him for quick action , but wanting his heavily gold - braided hat back , he then suddenly said the hat was now a man overboard and the trainee had to dive in to retrieve it . He had the reputation of being a very hard taskmaster , with officers being replaced before the ship was allowed to leave ( and even commanding officers being dismissed on occasion ) . However , he was reportedly very pleasant to those who matched his standards . Although he was disliked by the trainees , who called him " The Terror of Tobermory " and " The Monkey " , Stephenson was credited in producing capable sailors who were able to meet the demands of the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II . As such , Stephenson is credited with being a factor in turning the tide in favour of the Allies in that critical contest in the war . A noted fictionalised depiction of the Vice Admiral and his World War II assignment is presented in Nicholas Monsarrat ' s novel " The Cruel Sea " . Stephenson was reportedly very proud of this depiction . Over the four - and - a - half years he ran the school , 911 ships went through 1132 training courses at HMS " Western Isles " . He was again Mentioned in Despatches in 1940 , knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire ( KBE ) in the 1943 King ' s Birthday Honours , and was later given the decoration of Commander with Star of the Royal Norwegian Order of St . Olav . He retired for the second time in 1945 , with the anti - submarine battle won . Second retirement . This second retirement saw Stephenson just as active as he had been previously . He was appointed Honorary Commodore of the Sea Cadet Corps in 1949 , a post he held until the age of eighty in 1958 , when he finally felt it necessary to step down . He settled in Saffron Walden , and took a strong interest in local affairs , being known locally as " The Admiral " . He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Essex in 1949 , but resigned with 7 others in 1968 . His name was listed as a sponsor of the National Fellowship in a full - page advertisement placed in The Times by the Fellowship in 1962 . He died in Saffron Walden on 27 May 1972 , at the age of 94 .