Frederic Wake - Walker Admiral Sir Frederic Wake - Walker CB CBE ( 24 March 1888 – 24 September 1945 ) was a British admiral who served in the Royal Navy during World War I and World War II , taking a leading part in the destruction of the German battleship " Bismarck " , and in Operation " Dynamo " , the evacuation at Dunkirk . Early days . Born William Frederic Wake - Walker , he was the son of Frederic George Arthur Wake - Walker and Mary Eleanor Forster , and the grandson of Baldwin Wake Walker , Surveyor of the Navy from 1848 to 1861 . He married Muriel Elsie Hughes , daughter of Sir Alfred Collingwood Hughes , 10th Bt . After attending Haileybury school , Wake - Walker entered the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth as a cadet in 1903 , and went to sea the following year as midshipman aboard , the flagship of the 1st Cruiser Squadron . World War I . By the start of World War I he had risen to the rank of lieutenant , and served as torpedo lieutenant on from 1913 to 1915 . He was promoted to lieutenant - commander in July 1916 and after training at , was appointed to the new battleship , serving in her until the end of the war . Inter - War Years . Commands and Promotions . Wake - Walker was promoted to commander in June 1920 , serving aboard from 1919 to 1921 . Between 1921 and 1925 he served at the Royal Naval College , Greenwich , on the naval staff , and then at the Tactical School , Portsmouth . He returned to sea as Commander of from 1925 to 1927 . He was promoted to captain in 1927 , and commanded from 1928 to 1930 on the Mediterranean and China Station s . From September 1932 to July 1935 he served as captain of on the America and West Indies station , and from January 1938 – 1939 as captain of in the Home Fleet . From 1930 to 1943 he was Deputy Director of the Training and Staff Duties Division of the Admiralty naval staff . From 1935 to 1938 he was also Director of Torpedoes and Mining at the Admiralty . Wake - Walker achieved flag rank on 10 January 1939 . Liability for Collision between H . M . S . Dragon and the Maplebranch . On 13 August 1934 , " Dragon " under Wake - Walker ' s command was entering the Market ( or Victoria ) Basin in the harbour of Montreal , Quebec , Canada , when it collided with an oil bunkering steamer , the " Maplebranch " , which was securely moored at the time of the collision . The " Maplebranch " sank . Its owners sued Wake - Walker for the damages to the " Maplebranch " and its cargo , alleged to have been caused solely by the improper and negligent navigation and mismanagement of " Dragon " by Wake - Walker . In his defence , Wake - Walker pled inevitable accident , caused by the maneuvering of a third vessel , the " Saguenay Trader " , which Wake - Walker was trying to avoid hitting . The admiralty action was heard by the Exchequer Court of Canada ( Quebec Admiralty District ) , which held that Wake - Walker was liable . Wake - Walker appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada , which upheld the finding of liability on a 3 - 2 majority . Speaking for the majority , Davis J . held that when a vessel under steam collides with a moored vessel , the commander of the vessel under steam is presumed liable for the collision , and has the onus of proving that he was not negligent . Wake - Walker had not done so . In addition , the trial judge had found actual fault by Wake - Walker in his navigation of " Dragon " and there was no basis to set aside that finding on appeal . Wake - Walker then appealed to the Judicial Committee of the Imperial Privy Council , at that time the highest court of appeal for the British Empire . That court dismissed the appeal . Speaking for the Judicial Committee , Viscount Sankey agreed with the courts below that Wake - Walker had not discharged the onus to prove that the accident had been inevitable . World War II . Wake - Walker ' s first appointment , in September 1939 , was rear - admiral commanding the 12th Cruiser Squadron . This appointment lasted only a short time as he soon returned to the Admiralty as head of a special group created to develop magnetic mine countermeasures . In May 1940 Wake - Walker was appointed rear - admiral , Dover , in command of all ships and vessels off the Franco - Belgian coast for the evacuation of Dunkirk . Wake - Walker reached Dunkirk in the minesweeper on 30 May . On 1 June his flagship , the destroyer , was sunk by Ju 87 Stukas , and he thereafter directed operations from the Motor Torpedo Boat " MTB 102 " in the harbour . For his role in the evacuation he was appointed Companion of the Bath . From June to December 1940 he commanded the 1st Mine Laying Squadron , responsible for setting up the east coast mine barrier , and after a brief time as commander of Force K , flying his flag in the aircraft carrier , he was made commander of the 1st Cruiser Squadron . Sinking the " Bismarck " . In late May 1941 , two of Wake - Walker ' s heavy cruisers – and his flagship - were positioned north west of Iceland to intercept and shadow the if she attempted to break out into the Atlantic . " Bismarck " sortied from Bergen towards the Denmark Straits on 21 May in company with the heavy cruiser . On 23 May 1941 at 7 . 22 pm the " Suffolk " sighted the " Bismarck " and " Prinz Eugen " . After a brief exchange of fire , the heavily out - gunned British ships took cover in nearby fog and tracked the enemy by radar . They maintained contact with the two German ships through the night despite appalling weather , and successfully guided Vice - Admiral Lancelot Holland ' s two capital ships and into position to intercept the " Bismarck " . The two forces came together in the battle of the Denmark Strait the next day . In the subsequent battle , Vice - Admiral Holland was killed when " Hood " was destroyed , and many of " Prince of Wales " ' s senior officers were killed or wounded , which left Wake - Walker in command of the surviving ships , " Norfolk " , " Suffolk " and the damaged " Prince of Wales " . He decided not to risk continuing the battle and decided to continue to shadow the German ships , believing that Admiral John Tovey , with powerful elements of the Home Fleet , was approaching . Wake - Walker stayed in the trail of the " Bismarck " , but radar contact was lost early on 25 May . Wake - Walker sent " Suffolk " to search to the southwest , and thus she played no further in the battle . However " Norfolk " turned east , and was present during the final part of the battle , the following day . Later , moves were made to court - martial Wake - Walker and Captain John Leach of " Prince of Wales " . The view was taken that they were wrong not to have continued the battle with " Bismarck " after " Hood " had sunk . John Tovey , Commander - in - Chief of the Home Fleet , was appalled at this criticism . A row ensued between Tovey and his superior , Admiral Sir Dudley Pound . Tovey stated that the two officers had acted correctly , not endangering their ships needlessly and ensuring that the German ships were tracked . Tovey threatened to resign his position and appear at any court - martial as ' defendant ' s friend ' and defence witness . No more was heard of the proposal . For his part in the destruction of the " Bismarck " , Wake - Walker was awarded the CBE . In April 1942 he was promoted to vice - admiral and was appointed Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy . His main task was the creation of the huge fleet of landing craft needed to carry out the amphibious landings that began with " Operation Torch " , and ended on D - Day . On 8 May 1945 he was promoted to full admiral , and in September was appointed Commander - in - Chief in the Mediterranean , but on 24 September 1945 he died unexpectedly at his home in London .