Admiral of the Fleet · 1883 — 1963
Andrew Browne
Cunningham
“ABC” — 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope
The fighting admiral Churchill called “the Nelson of the 20th century.”
Cunningham believed the Royal Navy's business was to seek out and destroy the enemy's fleet. Three years commanding the Mediterranean Fleet gave him that chance at Calabria, Taranto, Matapan and Crete. He was, by every measure, the finest fighting admiral of the Second World War.
Career Timeline
- 1883
Born
Born in Dublin, son of an anatomy professor at Trinity College.
- 1897
Naval cadet
Enters HMS Britannia aged 14.
- 1939
C-in-C Mediterranean
Flag hoisted in HMS Warspite.
- Jul 1940
Calabria
Warspite scores a 26,000-yard hit on Giulio Cesare — the longest-range gunnery hit between moving battleships in history.
- Nov 1940
Taranto
21 Swordfish cripple three Italian battleships in a single night — the first all-aircraft strike on a capital fleet. Japan studied it closely.
- Mar 1941
Cape Matapan
Three Italian heavy cruisers and two destroyers sunk in a night action. Italian heavy units will not challenge the Royal Navy at sea again.
- May 1941
Crete
"It takes three years to build a ship; three centuries to build a tradition. The evacuation will continue."
- Sep 1943
Italian fleet surrenders
"The Italian battle fleet now lies at anchor under the guns of Malta."
- Oct 1943
First Sea Lord
Succeeds Dudley Pound. Serves on the Combined Chiefs for D-Day planning.
- 1963
Death
Buried at sea off Portsmouth from HMS Hampshire, aged 79.
“It takes the Navy three years to build a new ship. It would take three hundred years to build a new tradition. The evacuation will continue.”
— Cunningham's signal at the evacuation of Crete, May 1941