Captain Stanley Brian de Courcy-Ireland (deceased)

Stanley de Courcy-Ireland was born on 5th May 1900. He joined the Royal Navy as a Naval Cadet at the Royal Naval College, Osbourne in January 1913 and went on to the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth in January 1915 from which he graduated as Midshipman in December of that year. He joined the super-dreadnought HMS Bellerophon in January 1916 and was in charge of Q Turret during the Battle of Jutland. The following is a graphic account of his involvement :

We had just dealt with a German destroyer which we sank. During a lull in the firing some of us climbed out of the gunhouse to get some fresh air. The ship was steaming through masses of debris and bodies. Some of us began to cheer thinking they were German. Alas, they were our from HMS Invincible, I think.

He was aboard Bellerophon when the battleship HMS Vanguard blew up on 7th July 1917 following an explosion of unstable cordite in her magazine.

A large chunk of metal from one of her boilers finished up on top of our Q Turret. A packet of pound notes from the Paymaster's safe was found outside a crofter's cottage on the island of Flotta nearly a mile away. There were only two survivors from the company of 800. I was in charge of one of the boats landed on Flotta. We had buckets in which to collect human remains washed up on the beach.

He spent much of 1917 serving aboard destroyers. He returned to Bellerophon to pass examinations which led to promotion to Acting Sub-Lieutenant. In that rank he served aboard the destroyer HMS Pellow from January until 1918 when the ship was torpedoed. He was trapped below but fought his way out just in time. His next appointment was to HMS Westcott. He was present at the surrender of the German Fleet in Scapa Flow, on duty in Hamburg as a junior member of the Reparations Committee and then saw action in the Baltic where his ship was in support of the White Russians fighting in Estonia. In December 1919 he was ordered home to complete his education and spent six months at Cambridge University. He served on HMS Venomous with the Home Fleet from September 1920 to December 1921, aboard HMAS Cerberus attached to the Royal Australian Navy from March 1922 to July 1924. From September 1924 to February 1926 he served on HMS Frobisher, flagship of the 1st Cruiser Squadron, Mediterranean Fleet. Between 1926 and 1935 he served on the aircraft carriers HMS Furious, HMS Argus, HMS Hermes, HMS Courageous and HMS Glorious, and ashore at Kai Tak, Hong Kong. Promoted to Commander in June 1935, he was Staff Officer to Admirals, Aircraft Carriers in 1935 and 1936. He was Director of Training and Staff Duties at the Air Ministry from December 1936 to December 1938. From January 1939 to March 1941 he was second in command aboard HMS Newcastle. Between March 1941 and September 1942 he was Liaison Officer between the Air Ministry and Admiralty. He was promoted to Captain. From September 1942 to February 1944 he was in command of HMS Owl, an Royal Navy Air Service station at Fearn, training for anti-submarine duties. From February 1944 to December 1945 he was Deputy Director (Naval) at Combined Operations HQ. He was in command of HMS Ajax, 1st Cruiser Squadron, Mediterranean Fleet from March 1946 to March 1948. From August 1948 until March 1951 he was Deputy Director of Naval Equipment and appointed ADC to King George VI. He retired in September 1951. He died in 2001.

Items Signed by Captain Stanley Brian de Courcy-Ireland (deceased)

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