John Fenwick Hutchings
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Christchurch, Hampshire, England
Bishopsteignton, Devon, England
John Fenwick Hutchings | |
|---|---|
 On board the cable laying ship HMS Sancroft | |
| Born | 17 May 1885 Christchurch, Hampshire, England |
| Died | 20 September 1968 (aged 83) Bishopsteignton, Devon, England |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service | Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1900–1934, 1939–1942, 1942–1946 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Commands | |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | |
Captain John Fenwick Hutchings, CBE, DSO (17 May 1885 – 20 September 1968) was a British Royal Navy officer who served in the First and Second World Wars. During the latter, he commanded Operation Pluto, the project to construct submarine oil pipelines under the English Channel.
John Fenwick Hutchings was born in Christchurch, Hampshire, on 17 May 1885, the son of Charles Robert Hutchings, a solicitor, and his wife Lizetta Mary née Atkin. He entered the Britannia Royal Naval College as a cadet on 15 January 1900, and was commissioned as a midshipman in the Royal Navy on 30 May 1901. He served on the armoured cruiser HMS Cressy,[1][2] and was promoted to sub-lieutenant on 30 July 1904,[3] and lieutenant on 31 December 1906.[4] He applied for duty in submarines, and assumed command of the submarine HMS A2 on 20 August 1908, and then the submarine HMS C24 on 13 March 1909. This was followed by duty on the dreadnought battleship HMS Colossus. He married Dorothy Stewart Kennedy at St Stephen's Church, Broughty Ferry on 18 October 1913.[1] They had three sons and a daughter; one son was lost at sea in 1940.[2]
Great War
Hutchings commanded the submarine HMS C34 from 25 November 1913 to 13 November 1915, with the rank of lieutenant commander from 31 December 1914.[1][5] He was mentioned in despatches on 13 April 1915 for operations off the Belgian coast.[6] After a time as an instructor at HMS Dolphin he commanded the submarine HMS K5 from 27 April 1917 until 12 April 1920.[1] This period in command was marred on 31 July 1918, when two of her crew, George Booker and Michael Jordan, drowned. Hutchings was blamed to "a certain extent" for not making them put on and blow up their life belts.[1] For "distinguished services in command of submarines throughout the war", he was made a companion of the Distinguished Service Order on 11 June 1919,[7] and promoted to commander on 31 December 1919.[8][9] A senior officer's assessment of him was that he:
Has rather an extraordinary brain; verges on genius but is apt to be too clever at times. Produces many sound and original ideas but occasionally radically unsound ones which he adheres to with equal tenacity. Brilliant at times but inclined to be over theoretical to the detriment of his practical work. Inclined to be disobedient at times, not with the intention of being insubordinate, but through failing to appreciate when an order should be obeyed implicitly and when discretion should be exercised. Apt to interpret the simplest orders as having some extraordinary ulterior motive.[8]
