Herbert Fitzherbert

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Admiral Sir Herbert Fitzherbert (10 August 1885 – 30 October 1958) was a Royal Navy officer who led the Royal Indian Navy as its third Flag Officer Commanding from 1937 to 1943. He was born in Kingswear, Devon, the son of Samuel Wyndham Fitzherbert, and joined the Navy in 1900, training on the cadet ship HMS Britannia. He became acting Sub-Lieutenant in 1905, was confirmed in 1906, and promoted to Lieutenant in 1907.

In World War I he served as Flag Lieutenant to Admiral Jellicoe at the Battle of Jutland and received the Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1919, along with the Legion d’Honneur and the Russian Order of St Anne. He was promoted to Commander in 1917 and Captain in 1924. He commanded HMS Coventry from 1926 to 1928, then served as naval assistant to the First Sea Lord. After the Imperial Defence Course (1931–32), he captained the Signal School at Portsmouth aboard HMS Victory until 1934, then commanded HMS Devonshire in the Mediterranean and was promoted to rear-admiral in 1936.

He was awarded the Companion of the Bath (CB) in 1937 and, after the Senior Officers’ War Course, became Flag Officer Commanding, Royal Indian Navy. He was promoted to vice-admiral in 1939, knighted in 1941 as Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (KCIE), and retired in 1943. He later served as Flag Officer in Charge, Tunisia, until 1944. In 1946 he was promoted to admiral on the retired list. Fitzherbert died in 1958 at the age of 73. He was married to Rachel Hanbury, and they had one son.