Percival Clive Wickham Manwaring

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Captain (retired) Percival Clive Wickham Manwaring, (16 April, 1892 – 29 April, 1953) served in the Royal Navy.

Life & Career

The son of a farmer, P. Manwaring.[1]

Manwaring was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 15 May, 1914. When the war began, he was appointed to the dreadnought Benbow. He left the ship in September 1915 and in November was appointed to the light cruiser Champion. He served in Champion through the end of the war, including at the Battle of Jutland where she led the twelve ships of Thirteenth Destroyer Flotilla as they screened the First Battle Cruiser Squadron.[2]

Manwaring was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Commander on 15 May, 1922.[3]

Manwaring was promoted to the rank of Commander on 31 December, 1927.[4]

Manwaring was promoted to the rank of Captain on 30 June, 1935.[5]

World War II

Manwaring was appointed in command of the heavy cruiser H.M.S. Cornwall in November 1940. She sank the German raider Pinguin in the Indian Ocean in May 1941, but the Admiralty opined that his ship's fighting organisation was such that the enemy might well have escaped and/or inflicted much more serious damage upon Cornwall, and that "this can only be considered a serious reflection on [Manwaring] as commanding officer."[6] This assessment was based on a series of hardware failures the cruiser suffered at exactly the wrong moment as the smaller vessel took her under fire.[7]

Immediately after Cornwall was lost to Japanese dive-bombers, Vice-Admiral Arbuthnot, C-in-C, East Indies Station wrote that Manwaring was, "a somewhat selfish officer who suffers from the delusion that he is irresistible to the female sex." This was not an isolated perspective. Admiral Noble wrote in greater detail in September that "[s]ocially, however, he has lowered the prestige of the Navy. He has broken up a brother Captain's home by carrying on an affair with the wife so openly as to be notorious in local circles, and a divorce is now in hand. Apart from this, his conversation and actions generally in society show a certain perversion of morals much to be deplored. ... It is recommended that he is never again sent to an appointment in which social rectitude is looked upon as an asset."[8]

Manwaring was placed on the Retired List on 7 July, 1944.[9]

He as reverted to the Retired List on 20 November, 1946.

See Also

Bibliography

Naval Appointments
Preceded by
Robert N. Marshall
Captain of H.M.S. Moorhen
8 May, 1919[10] – 19 Jun, 1921[11]
Succeeded by
Victor P. Alleyne
Preceded by
George A. Scott
Captain of H.M.S. Stormcloud
29 Jun, 1921[12] – 18 Mar, 1922[13]
Succeeded by
William S. Bardwell
Preceded by
Charles F. Bush
Captain of H.M.S. Venturous
21 Apr, 1922[14][15] – 1 Feb, 1923[16]
Succeeded by
George A. Scott
Preceded by
Ambrose T. N. Abbay
Captain of H.M.S. Sepoy
1 Feb, 1923[17] – Jul, 1923[18]
Succeeded by
Kenneth G. Ramsey
Preceded by
Kenneth G. Ramsey
Captain of H.M.S. Wild Swan
Aug, 1923[19] – Feb, 1925[20]
Succeeded by
Alban T. B. Curteis
Preceded by
Hugh B. Wrey
Captain of H.M.S. Wolfhound
4 May, 1925[21] – 28 Dec, 1927[22]
Succeeded by
Robert A. Cassidi
Preceded by
William S. Bardwell
Captain of H.M.S. Cockchafer
20 Aug, 1928[23][24] – Sep, 1930[25]
Succeeded by
Douglas Young-Jamieson
Preceded by
Charles W. V. T. S. Lepper
Captain of H.M.S. Wallace
30 May, 1932[26][27] – 8 Aug, 1932[28]
Succeeded by
Arthur L. St. G. Lyster
Preceded by
Victor A. C. Crutchley
Senior Officer, First Minesweeping Flotilla
2 Apr, 1936[29][30] – 14 Apr, 1938[31][32]
Succeeded by
Robert O. FitzRoy
Preceded by
Charles F. Hammill
Captain of H.M.S. Cornwall
20 Nov, 1940 – 7 Jun, 1942
Succeeded by
Vessel Lost

Footnotes

  1. Manwaring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/54/92. f. 93.
  2. Manwaring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/54/92. f. 93.
  3. Manwaring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/54/92. f. 93.
  4. Manwaring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/54/92. f. 93.
  5. Manwaring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/54/92. f. 93.
  6. Manwaring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/54/92. f. 93.
  7. Wikipedia page on Pinguin.
  8. Manwaring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/92/198. f. 198.
  9. Manwaring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/54/92. f. 93.
  10. Manwaring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/54/92. f. 93.
  11. Manwaring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/54/92. f. 93.
  12. Manwaring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/54/92. f. 93.
  13. Manwaring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/54/92. f. 93.
  14. The Navy List. (January, 1923). p. 828.
  15. Manwaring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/54/92. f. 93.
  16. Manwaring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/54/92. f. 93.
  17. Manwaring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/54/92. f. 93.
  18. Manwaring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/54/92. f. 93.
  19. The Navy List. (July, 1924). p. 289.
  20. Manwaring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/54/92. f. 93.
  21. Manwaring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/54/92. f. 93.
  22. Manwaring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/54/92. f. 93.
  23. Manwaring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/54/92. f. 93.
  24. The Navy List. (February, 1929). p. 225.
  25. Manwaring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/54/92. f. 93.
  26. Manwaring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/54/92. f. 93.
  27. "Naval Appointments." The Times (London, England), Thursday, May 26, 1932, Issue 46143, p.19.
  28. Manwaring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/54/92. f. 93.
  29. The Navy List. (July, 1937). p. 246.
  30. Manwaring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/54/92. f. 93.
  31. Manwaring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/54/92. f. 93.
  32. "1st Minesweeping Flotilla." The Times (London, England), 14 Apr. 1938, p. 17.