Doveton Sturdee Admiral of the Fleet Sir Frederick Charles Doveton Sturdee , 1st Baronet , GCB , KCMG , CVO ( 9 June 1859 – 7 May 1925 ) was a British admiral . Naval career . Coming from a family of British mariners , born in Lewisham , London and educated at the Royal Naval School at New Cross , Sturdee entered the Royal Navy in July 1871 as a cadet on the training ship " Britannia " , at the age of twelve years . After two years he became a midshipman and served in the Channel Squadron and the East India Station . In June 1878 , he was promoted to sub - lieutenant , and after two years at the naval gunnery school in Portsmouth , he became a lieutenant and left for the Mediterranean Fleet . He took part in the bombardment of Alexandria in 1882 . After completing a course on torpedo es , at what is now he served as a torpedo officer on for three years before returning as an instructor . In June 1893 he was promoted to commander and transferred to the Admiralty as Director of Naval Ordnance . At the end of 1897 he was sent to the Australian Station to command , where in 1899 it fell to him to manage the tensions with Germany and the USA over the Samoan Islands , earning him his promotion to captain . He returned to the Admiralty as assistant to the director of naval intelligence and in 1902 was appointed Chief Staff Officer of the Mediterranean Fleet in 1905 . In 1906 he took command of and in 1907 he became Chief of Staff of the Channel Fleet . Promoted to rear - admiral in 1910 , he became Rear Admiral commanding the First Battle Squadron of the Home Fleet . The following year he chaired the Submarine Committee of the Admiralty , and in 1912 took command of the cruiser s of the Home Fleet . Promoted to vice - admiral in 1913 he became Chief of War Staff at the Admiralty shortly before the First World War . The recall of Admiral John Fisher , to whom he had always been opposed , as First Sea Lord seemed about to blight his career . Nevertheless , after the defeat at Coronel , Fisher sent Sturdee to the South Atlantic at the head of a powerful squadron . On 8 December 1914 , whilst coaling at Stanley , he was surprised by the squadron of Graf Maximilian von Spee and the Battle of the Falkland Islands ensued . Von Spee , finding that he was engaged with a superior force , was forced to flee . In the course of the pursuit Sturdee ' s forces sank the entire German group , with the exception of the light cruiser " Dresden " , which was not hunted down until some months later . For this victory Sturdee was created baronet in January 1916 . He later commanded the Fourth Battle Squadron at the Battle of Jutland , becoming admiral in 1917 . After the War he became Commander - in - Chief , The Nore , and was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet in 1921 . He was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath ( GCB ) in the 1921 New Year Honours , having already been appointed Knight Commander . Sturdee retired to Camberley , in Surrey , and died there on 7 May 1925 . He was buried in the churchyard of St . Peter ' s Church in nearby Frimley . His gravestone incorporates a cross made from the timbers of Nelson ' s ship , . His grandson William Staveley and grandson - in - law Edward Ashmore were also Admirals of the Fleet . According to Anna Smith in her book " Johannesburg Street Names " ( Juta , 1971 ) , Sturdee Avenue in Rosebank , Johannesburg ( South Africa ) , is " believed that it commemorates Admiral Sir Frederick Charles Doveton Sturdee ( 1859 – 1925 ) of World Ward 1 fame . The Town Engineer in writing to the township - owners on 3 November 1919 stated that Sturdee was in the ' Falklands Battle ' . "