A VERY FINE CAPTAIN’S O.B.E. AND GOLD RUSSIAN ORDER OF ST STANISLAS, 2ND CLASS FOR THE , TO THE NAVIGATION COMMANDER OF H.M.S. BARNHAM, FLAGSHIP OF THE , A SHIP THAT WAS IN THE THICK OF THE ACTION. LATER SECONDED TO THE ROYAL CANADIAN NAVY

THE MOST EXCELLENT ORDER OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE, C.B.E. (MILITARY) COMMANDER’S 1ST TYPE NECK BADGE, SILVER-GILT AND ENAMEL, SHORT RIBBON, 1914/15 STAR ‘COMMR. H. G. H. ADAMS, R.N.’, BRITISH WAR AND VICTORY MEDALS ‘CAPT. H. G. H. ADAMS, R.N.’, RUSSIAN ORDER OF ST STANISLAS, 2ND CLASS NECK BADGE WITH SWORDS, BY DIMITRI OSIPOV, ST. PETERSBURG, Gold and enamel, with maker’s mark on reverse, 56 (zolotniki) and kokoshnik mark on eyelet, along with Assayers mark; ‘AP’ for Alexander Romanov of St. Petersburg and clear 1896-1908 kokoshnik mark on hilts of swords, eyelet and suspension ring, with short neck cravat.

Captain Henry George Homer Adams, C.B.E., R.N. was born on 10 April 1879 in Lancaster, the son of the Reverend C.E. Adams. Adams entered the Royal Navy on 15 July 1893 as a Naval Cadet HMS Britannia, gaining an extra nine months time on passing out of H.M.S. Britannia. Serving as a aboard H.M.S. Empress of from 15 September 1895 and H.M.S. Cordelia from 12 November 1895, the crew from this ship helped subdue riots on St. Kitts and Nevis that broke out during the 1896 harvest season of the sugar cane. Joining H.M.S Resolution in January 1899 and H.M.S. Terrible in March, he was promoted Sub Lieutenant on 15 April 1899. Service aboard H.M.S. Collingwood and Jackal followed, with Adams being promoted Lieutenant, 30 June 1901. Over the next seven years, he served aboard H.M.S. Cruizer, Hazard, Mercury and Dido, having passed in Pilotage for 1st Class Ships (2nd class certificate) in 1905. He joined H.M.S. Natal on 5 March 1907, being on 8 April 1910 admitted to Chatham Hospital due to a Fractured Rib Caused by the breaking of a coaling derrick. A court of inquiry found that this was due to an error of judgment on Lieutenant Adams part.

On 24 September 1910, Adams joined H.M.S. Dryad, the Royal Naval Navigation and Direction School at . Served as an Instructor on the Staff of the Navigation School and a year later joined H.M.S. Good Hope, followed by H.M.S. Bacchante and H.M.S. Shannon. Adams joined H.M.S. Russell on 19 December 1913 and was promoted Commander 31 on December 1913.

ADAMS EARLY GREAT WAR SERVICE

H.M.S. Russell was a Duncan class , which at the time of Adams joining, was serving as Flagship, 6th Battle Squadron, and Flagship, Rear Admiral, Home Fleet, at the Nore. At the outbreak of the Great War, Russell was transferred to the Channel Fleet to reinforce that fleet in the face of German Navy activity in the Channel Fleet's area. She became flagship of the 6th Battle Squadron on 14 November 1914. This squadron was given a mission of bombarding German bases on the coast of Belgium and was based at Portland, although it transferred to Dover immediately on 14 November 1914. However, due to a lack of antisubmarine defences at Dover, the squadron returned to Portland on November 19th. Russell participated in the bombardment of German submarine facilities at Zeebrugge on 23 November 1914.

H.M.S. BARNHAM DURING U-BOAT ATTACK The Squadron then returned to Dover in December and transferred to Sheerness on 30th to relieve the 5th Battle Squadron in guarding against a German invasion of the United Kingdom. Between January and May 1915, the 6th Battle Squadron was dispersed. Russell left the squadron in April 1915 and rejoined the 3rd Battle Squadron in the a Rosyth. The Captain of H.M.S .Russell; William Bowden-Smith entered the following comments on Adams service record;

‘A very good navigator has Shown great zeal and attitude in making himself acquainted with the pilotage of the Belgian coast. Showed marked ability when navigation was difficult during the bombardment of Zeebrugge. Also showed coolness and promptitude when in charge of the bridge when Russell was attacked by . He is a thoroughly trustworthy Pilot’

On 1 July 1915 Adams joined H.M.S. Barham as Navigating Officer. H.M.S. Barnham, a Queen Elizabeth Class Battleship which was Commissioned at Clydebank on 19 August 1915 and joined 5th battle Squadron as Flagship, arriving at Scapa on 2 October 1915. On 31 May 1916, Barnham took part in the battle of Jutland, where she was the flagship of Rear-Admiral H. Evans-Thomas. During the battle, in which she was heavily engaged, coming under heavy German fire and herself engaging Von Scheer’s . During the battle, Barnham was hit by six large shells, suffering 26 dead and 37 wounded during, she fired 337 rounds and received 6 hits.

For his service during the battle, Commander Adams was awarded the Russian Order of “St. Stanislas 2nd. Class with Swords; Gazette 8 June 1917. Promoted Captain on 30th June 1918, on leaving Barnham, on 24 September 1918, Capitan H. T. Buller Secretary to 2nd Sea Lord stated about Captain Adams;

‘Extremely able and reliable. Will do well in command of a light ’ and gain on 1 October he adds; ‘Exceptional Navigator a most skilful pilot and a very good executive officer’

CAPTAIN ADAMS AND SHIPS CREW

FURTHER DETAILS OF H.M.S. BARNHAM’S WARTIME SERVICE AT THE BATTLE OF JUTLAND

‘In an attempt to lure out and destroy a portion of the Grand Fleet, the , composed of 16 , 6 pre dreadnoughts, 6 light , and 31 torpeado boats, departed the Jade early on the morning of 31 May. The fleet sailed in concert with Rear Admiral Von Hipper’s five battlecruisers and supporting cruisers and boats. The Royal Navy's had intercepted and decrypted German radio traffic containing plans of the operation. In response the Admiralty ordered the Grand Fleet, totalling some 28 dreadnoughts and 9 battlecruisers, to sortie the night before to cut off and destroy the High Seas Fleet. Barham slipped her mooring at 22:08 and was followed by the rest of Beatty's ships.

When dawn broke Beatty ordered his forces into cruising formation with the 5th Battle Squadron trailing his battle cruisers by five nautical miles (9.3 km; 5.8 mi). At 14:15, Beatty ordered a turn North by East to rendezvous with the Grand Fleet. Shortly before the turn, one of his escorting light cruisers, Galatea spotted smoke on the horizon and continued on her course to investigate. Ten minutes later, the ship radioed "Two cruisers, probably hostile, in sight..." They were actually two German that had stopped to check a Danish merchant ship's papers. At 14:32, Beatty ordered a course change to south-southeast in response to the spot report. Barham's signallers were unable to read the signal and her Officer of the Watch presumed that it was the expected point zigzag to the left of the base course and signalled that course change to the rest of the squadron. After several minutes it became apparent that the squadron was not conforming to Beatty's other ships, but Evan-Thomas refused to change course until clear instructions had been received despite entreaties from the Barham's Captain.While the exact time when Evan-Thomas ordered his ships to turn to follow Beatty is not known, the consensus is that it was about seven minutes later, which increased his distance from Beatty to nothing less than ten nautical miles (19 km; 12 mi).

Hipper's battlecruisers spotted the Fleet to their west at 15:20, but Beatty's ships did not see the Germans to their east until 15:30. Two minutes later, Beatty ordered a course change to east-southeast, positioning the British ships to cut off the German's line of retreat, and signalled action stations. Hipper ordered his ships to turn to starboard, away from the British, to assume a south-easterly course, and reduced speed to 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) to allow three light cruisers of the 2nd Scouting Group to catch up. With this turn, Hipper was falling back on the High Seas Fleet, 60 miles (97 km) behind him. Beatty then altered course to the east, as he was still too far north to cut Hipper off. This was later characterised as the "Run to the South" as Beatty changed course to steer east-southeast at 15:45, now paralleling Hipper's course less than 18,000 yards (16,000 m) away. By this time the 5th Battle Squadron was about seven point five nautical miles (13.9 km; 8.6 mi) northwest of Beatty. The Germans opened fire first at 15:48, followed by the British battlecruisers.

The light cruisers of the 2nd Scouting Group were the first German ships visible to Evan- Thomas's ships and Barham opened fire on them at 15:58 until the cruisers disappeared into their own smoke screen at around 16:05. About three minutes later, the ship opened fire on the battlecruiser S.M.S. Von der Tann at a range of about 23,000 yards (21,000 m). A minute later she scored one hit on the German ship's stern before she was ordered to switch targets to the battlecruise S.M.S. Moltke, together with her sister Valiant . The shell struck just below the waterline and burst on impact with the belt armour. The impact was right on the joints between several armour plates and drove them inwards and destroyed part of the behind them. The damage allowed over 1,000 long tons (1,016 t) of water to flood the stern and nearly knocked out the ship's steering gear. Between them, Barham and Valiant hit Moltke four times from 16:16 to 16:26, but only one of those hits can be attributed to Valiant. Two of the others detonated upon striking the waterline armour, but failed to penetrate. The impacts drove in the plates and fragments caused much flooding by damaging the surrounding structure. The last shell passed all the way through the ship without detonating; it struck and dislodged a 100-millimetre (3.9 in) armour plate on the waterline on the other side of the ship that caused also some flooding. Barham was herself was struck twice during the "Run to the South": the first was a 28.3-centimetre (11 in) shell from von der Tann that failed to do any damage when it hit the waterline armour and the battlecruiser S.M.S. Lutzow fired a 30.5- centimetre (12 in) shell that detonated in the aft superstructure. This sent splinters in every direction and started a small fire, but otherwise did no significant damage.

At 16:30, the Southampton, scouting in front of Beatty's ships, spotted the lead elements of the High Seas Fleet coming north at top speed. Three minutes later, she sighted the topmasts of Vice-Admiral Scheer’s , but did not report this for another five minutes. Beatty continued south for another two minutes to confirm the sighting before ordering his force to turn north, towards the Grand Fleet in what came to be known as the "Run to the North". His order only applied to his own forces; the 5th Battle Squadron continued south until after it passed Beatty heading northwestwards at 16:51. Beatty then ordered Evan-Thomas to turn his ships in succession to follow the battlecruisers three minutes later. This meant that they were some 4,000 yards (3,700 m) closer to the rapidly advancing High Sea Fleet. And now within range of the battleships of the 3rd Squadron which opened fire on the 5th Battle Squadron as they made their turn.

Evan-Thomas continued his turn until his ships were steering due north, which interposed the 5th Battle Squadron between Hipper's battlecruisers, which had reversed course around 16:48 to follow Beatty north, and Beatty's ships. While making the turn, Barham was struck by two 30.5-centimetre shells beginning at 16:58, probably from the battlecruiser S.M.S. Derfflinge. The first of these struck the ship's upper before detonating upon striking the main deck above the medical store compartment, which was completely burnt out. The detonation blew a 7-by-7-foot (2.1 by 2.1 m) hole in the main deck, sent fragments through the middle and lower decks and burned out the for starboard No. 2 six-inch gun. Three minutes later another shell hit the aft superstructure, severing the antenna cables of the main wireless station. One fragment ricocheted off the upper deck and through the side plating on the opposite side of the ship. Either the first or the fourth of these shells destroyed the ship's sickbay, killing the staff and all of its patients, including eight ships boys. Barham returned fire at the battlecruisers at 17:02, together with Valiant, the two northernmost of Evan- Thomas's ships, and the two of them made three hits on the battlecruiser S.M.S. Seydlitz and Lützow between 17:06 and 17:13 while Barham was hit twice more by Derfflinger; although neither of them did any significant damage. In contrast, the hit on Lützow flooded a 15- centimetre (5.9 in) magazine and the hits on Seydlitz blew a 10-by-13-foot (3.0 by 4.0 m) hole in the side of her bow. Fragments from this hit caused flooding that spread throughout the bow, while the ship's speed caused water to enter directly through the hole in the side. Other fragments from the second hit caused damage that allowed the water to spread even further. These two hits were ultimately responsible for the massive flooding that nearly sank the ship after the battle. The third shell detonated on the face of the starboard wing turret, although some fragments entered the turret and caused minor damage.

Beatty in the meantime had turned further west to open up the range between his battered battlecruisers and the Germans. At 17:45 he turned eastwards to take his position in front of the Grand Fleet and re-engage Hipper's ships. This meant that the 5th Battle Squadron and the light cruisers were the sole targets available for the German ships until after his turn, although the worsening visibility hampered both sides' shooting. Barham was not hit during this time and she and Valiant, later joined by their sister Warspite, continued to fire at Hipper's 1st Scouting Group until 18:02 when Valiant lost sight of the Germans. They hit Lützow, Derfflinger and Seydlitz three times each between 17:19 and about 18:05. Lützow was only slightly damaged by these hits, which essentially only knocked out the primary and back-up wireless rooms while the shells that hit Derfflinger hit the side of the ship's bow, knocking off several armour plates, while fragments opened holes that ultimately allowed roughly 2,000 tonnes (1,968 long tons) of water to enter the bow. One of these hits also started several major fires inside the hull. The hits on Seydlitz mostly opened up more holes that facilitated the flooding.

Hipper turned his ships southward around 18:05 to fall back upon Scheer's advancing battleships and then reversed course five minutes later. Evan-Thomas turned northeast at around 18:06 and then made a slow turn to the southeast once he spotted the Grand Fleet. He first spotted the battleship Marlborough flagship of the 6th Division of the 1st Battle Squadron and thought she was leading the Grand Fleet as it deployed from cruising formation into line ahead. At 18:17 he realised that Marlborough was actually at the rear of the formation and he ordered a turn to the north to bring his squadron into line behind the Grand Fleet. This took some time and his ships had to slow down to 12–18 knots (22–33 km/h; 14– 21 mph) to avoid overrunning the 6th Division and blocking its fire. The 5th Battle Squadron concentrated their fire on the German battleships after losing sight of the battlecruisers, with Barham opening fire at 18:14. No hits were observed and the ships stopped firing after making their turn north, but Barham opened fire for a short time when they fell in line with the Grand Fleet a few minutes later, probably without making any hits.

SOME OF THE DAMAGE TO H.M.S. BARNHAM AT JUTLAND Barham fired 337 fifteen-inch shells and 25 six-inch shells during the battle. The number of hits cannot be confirmed, but it is believed that she and Valiant made 23 or 24 hits between them, making them two of the most accurate warships in the British fleet. She was hit six times during the battle, five times by 30.5 cm shells and once by a 28.3 cm shell, suffering casualties of 26 killed and 46 wounded. ‘

CAPTAIN ADAMS FURTHER SERVICE INCLUDING THE ROYAL CANADIAN NAVY

On 5 October 1918 Captain Adams was posted to command of H.M.S. Lacona, a Light Cruiser serving on Mediterranean station. He was Senior Naval Officer between October 1918 to January 1919 and on 24 July 1919 joined H.M.S. President, London Headquarters for duty as the Duty Captain Temporary Employed He was Invested as a Commander of the British Empire 4 December 1919 at Buckingham Palace. On 11 August 1920 on loan to the Royal Canadian Navy which had been approved by the 1st Sea Lord on 4th August, for the command of a Light Cruiser. On 1 November 1920 he took command of H.M.C.S. Aurora an Arethusa class light cruiser and soon after her arrival in Canada Aurora was sent on a training cruise to the Caribbean then Esquimalt and British Columbia before returning to Halifax. The arrival of the Aurora in Costa Rica in 1921 was seized upon by diplomats to achieve closure on a dispute involving the Royal Bank of Canada, British oil interests and the government of Costa Rica. She also took part in Ship to Air communications trials with the Canadian Air Force using a Curtiss HS2L Flying Boat between Aug. 22 and 24 1921. On 23December 1920, Captain Adams was appointed Senior Officer Commanding Canadian Squadron but on 2 July 1922, he was Placed on the retired list at own request. The last entry on Captain Adams service papers notes; ‘President and Naval Representative on joint recruiting Board of War of Sheffield 31st August 1939 to 4th November 1939’ Adams Captain Adams died on 28 February, 1960 at Cheltenham at the age of eighty.

Condition NEF, Russian order with very minor chipping to green centre wreath, otherwise NEF and a superb and well marked award. A very fine group indeed. With copy research.