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Description: | A three-quarter length portrait to the left, showing Harwood in his rear-admiral's undress uniform with his hands in the jacket pockets and his cap under his left arm. Painted from a wartime photograph, it is signed 'Wales Smith'.
Henry Harwood Harwood became a ?Britannia? cadet in 1903, gaining first-class certificates in every subject in his lieutenant?s examinations. In 1911 he chose to specialize in torpedoes, serving as torpedo officer in a number of ships. He saw no action in the First World War, but was made an OBE in 1919.He was promoted commander in 1921 and captain in 1928. In 1936 he was appointed commodore in command of the South American squadron. It was in this role that he received acclaim for his action against the German pocket battleship the ?Admiral Graf Spee?, which three British cruisers engaged at the Battle of the River Plate in December 1939. Trapped in Montevideo harbour, and believing a much larger British force lay in wait, the German commander scuttled his ship on 17 December, providing the British with some welcome propaganda. Harwood was promoted rear-admiral and appointed KCB, the news reaching him by wireless.
Becoming a favourite of Churchill, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean in succession to Sir Andrew Cunningham. This was a huge promotion for his rank and experience; he proved less than successful in the role and was moved to the Orkneys and Shetlands command in 1943. He was invalided out of the Navy in 1945 with the rank of admiral.
Signed. | Publisher: | "http://collections.rmg.co.uk/" | Subjects: | Henry Harwood Harwood paintings | Source: | Royal Museums Greenwich | Identifier: | http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections... | Go to resource |
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