Harold Farncomb
Harold Bruce Farncomb (born February 28, 1899 in Sydney , New South Wales , † February 12, 1971 in Darlinghurst , New South Wales) was a senior Australian naval officer and lawyer.
Life
Origin and education (1899–1920)
Harold Bruce Farncomb was the second child of forest surveyor Frank Farncomb and his wife Helen Louisa, nee Sampson. The father came from England, the mother from the Australian state of Victoria . After studying at public schools in Sydney, Farncomb entered the Royal Australian Naval Academy in Geelong near Melbourne in 1913 . He was one of the first cadets of the recently established facility of the Australian Navy . The school was relocated to the newly formed federal territory of Jervis Bay in 1915 . He was a very good student and also played cricket successfully . The later Vice Admiral John Collins was trained in his class .
Farncomb was established in January 1917. Midshipman (equals: midshipman ) transported and the British Grand Fleet commanded to Europe, where he received his service on the April battleship HMS Royal Sovereign took. The warship was not directly involved in any combat during the First World War . Farncomb stayed in England until 1921. He took part in officer candidate courses, which he completed with top marks. The 21-year-old was promoted to sub lieutenant (about: Unterleutnant ) in 1920 .
Interwar period (1921–1939)
After returning home, Farncomb was used as an artillery officer on the Australian destroyer HMAS Stalwart between 1921 and 1922 . He then served on the staff of Commodore Percy Addison on his flagship , the light cruiser HMAS Melbourne .
The following year the young Australian officer returned to England to continue his education at the Royal Naval College , Greenwich . After completing his training, Farncomb was used in staff duty on various ships from 1925.
On March 31, 1927, Harold Bruce Farncomb married Jean Ross Nott in Sydney. The marriage remained childless. Jean proved to be a reliable, loyal life partner for the unsteady life of a naval officer and hard-working man.
In the same year Farncomb reached the rank of lieutenant commander (about: Kapitänleutnant ). He went back to England to study at Imperial Defense College . At 31 he was one of the youngest graduates of the British training academy. He was then used in the Navy Ministry in Melbourne and on June 30, 1932 promoted to commander (about: frigate captain ). His further career led him in April 1933 as first officer on the heavy cruiser HMAS Australia . He was considered tough but fair by the occupation . The commander, Captain Macleod, was impressed with the skills of his first officer and proposed him for promotion.
After serving on the cruiser, the Farncomb etc. a. also moved to England again, in 1935 he was transferred to the intelligence department of the Admiralty. He traveled to Germany in 1937, where he deepened his German language skills. Harold Bruce Farncomb was appointed captain on June 30, 1937 as the first graduate of the Royal Australian Naval Academy (about: Captain of the Sea ). His first command of his own was the sloop HMAS Yarra , which he commanded between October 1937 and November 1938.
Combat use
HMAS Perth (1939-1940)
Captain Farncomb returned to England in 1939 to put the newly built HMAS Perth into service in June and to take command of the light cruiser. At the time of the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, the new building was on the march to Australia. The journey home was interrupted. The Australian ship patrolled the Caribbean for the next six months .
HMAS Canberra (1940)
In June 1940 Farncomb was entrusted with the command of the heavy cruiser HMAS Canberra . In the following 18 months, under Farncomb's command, the warship escorted Allied convoys in the Indian Ocean and took part in the unsuccessful hunt for the German auxiliary cruiser Pinguin and the ironclad Admiral Scheer .
On March 4, 1941, southeast of the Seychelles, the German armed supply ship Coburg and the former Norwegian tanker Ketty Brovig were cleared up by the Canberra's aircraft . Farncomb had the fire opened from over 19 km away and, with constant fire, approached the enemy up to 17 km. Farncomb kept the distance because he feared that the enemy has torpedoes . After the German ships caught fire, he stopped the fire. The German crews sank their badly damaged and burning ships themselves. After interrogating the prisoners of war, Farncomb warned the Admiralty of the danger posed by Admiral Scheer, who was still operating unmolested . The naval command did not take the warnings seriously, but criticized Farncomb's overcautiousness in the fight , he had opened fire too early and thus wasted ammunition.
The official criticism, which totally underestimated the fighting power of the German auxiliary cruisers, was possibly one of the reasons for the loss of the HMAS Sydney, which is very popular in Australia, on November 19, 1941. The commander of the light cruiser, Captain Joseph Burnett, carelessly approached a suspicious ship , the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran disguised as a Dutch freighter , for identification up to 1000 m. When the German auxiliary cruiser opened fire, the Sydney received a torpedo and approx. 50 15 cm shell hit, which ultimately led to the cruiser's sinking. The entire crew of 645 men was killed. Without knowing it, the Admiralty was right on one point: the German ironclad had long since marched back and arrived in Kiel in April 1941 unscathed .
HMAS Australia (1941-1944)
In December 1941 Farncomb was transferred to the staff of Rear Admiral John Gregory Crace on his flagship Australia and at the same time commander of the heavy cruiser.
In this capacity he had to take part in a military tribunal against his will. On March 12, 1942, the stoker John Riley was stabbed to death by his comrades Albert Gordon and Edward Elias because he had threatened to report their homosexual relationship to the ship's command. The murder victim was still able to testify at the hour of his death and unequivocally name the perpetrators. The two killers were sentenced to death in the first instance. Farncomb studied legal texts autodidactically and stood up for the lives of the two seafarers, which was very unusual for a high-ranking officer and certainly not career-enhancing. He was ultimately able to achieve a conversion of the death penalty to prison terms.
During the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942, Farncomb's ship led a task force of destroyers and cruisers that were supposed to prevent a Japanese landing in Port Moresby in the Australian part of New Guinea . The Australia got into a violent air raid and was meanwhile lost. Farncomb proved his seafaring skills and leadership qualities when he was able to rescue the battered ship back home, for which he was "mentioned in despatches" in the daily report. Rear Admiral Crace proposed Farncomb for promotion to flag officer .
From June 1942 Farncomb took part together with the new Chief of Staff Rear Admiral Victor Crutchley in the Allied planning for the landing on Guadalcanal . Crutchley commanded by Australia from the Australian escort ships of the invasion fleet. The fighting turned out to be very costly for the Allies. So they lost four heavy cruisers and more than 1000 men in the battle of Savo Island on August 8th off the small volcanic island . The Japanese did not lose a single ship in the battle. As a result of this tactical defeat, 19,000 landed US soldiers could not be adequately replenished for a long time. Shortly before the sea battle, Crutchley had withdrawn his flagship from the combat area. Critics claim that this disaster could have been prevented if Rear Admiral Crutchley had deployed the Australia with her battle-hardened crew and experienced commanding officer.
After the landing on Guadalcanal , which was ultimately successful despite the failures and the tough Japanese defenses, Farncomb's cruiser escorted US aircraft carriers in the South Pacific and took part in the Battle of the Eastern Solomon Islands .
1943 was largely uneventful for Farncomb and his ship. In December of that year, the Australia took part in the bombardment of Japanese positions at Cape Gloucester in northwest New Britain , which initiated a subsequent Allied landing .
In 1944, the Australian together with the US Navy set up a joint fleet called Task Force 74 under Australian command. The Australian government appointed John Collins as Commander in Chief of the Fleet and Farncomb as his deputy. The government followed the recommendations of Rear Admiral Crutchley. As a result of this decision Farncomb lost his command of Australia . The cruiser served as Collins' flagship and his deputy should not be on the same ship for safety.
HMS Attacker (1944)
Farncomb was transferred to England in March to take a short course on aircraft carrier management. In May 1944 he was given command of the HMS Attacker . The British escort carrier was used in the Mediterranean as the lead ship of a group of aircraft carriers. The base was on Malta . The task force, under Farncomb's command, took part in the Allied landing in southern France in August and in operations in the Aegean Sea to liberate Greece in October . Farncomb's immediate superior, Rear Admiral Thomas Troubridge, was a big fan of the Australian naval officer, but criticized his increasing alcohol consumption at social gatherings.
Task Force 74 (1944-1945)
On October 21, 1944, Australia became the first victim of a kamikaze attack in the sea and air battle in the Gulf of Leyte when a Japanese pilot threw himself on the bridge in his plane. John Collins was badly wounded. Among the 30 crew members killed was Captain Emile Dechaineux , Farncomb's successor as the cruiser's commander.
Farncomb immediately left the Mediterranean and on December 9, with the rank of Commodore, took command of Task Force 74 involved in the extensive Allied landing efforts in the Philippines . His flagship was the well-known Australia . Under Farncomb's command, the association successfully supported the landing forces in various locations in the following months. The desperate Japanese resistance also demanded its price. In January 1945 alone, the Australia was badly hit five times by Kamikaze aircraft, killing 56 people. Farncomb was also injured in an attack. Despite the severe damage to the ship and his own injuries, Commodore Farncomb was able to fulfill his combat missions to the full satisfaction of his US American commander, Vice Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf .
Since the Australia had to be withdrawn for repairs because of the severe damage, Farncomb chose the heavy cruiser HMAS Shropshire as its new flagship on January 22, 1945 . Until the summer of that year, Farncombs Association supported the Allied landings in Corregidor , Wewak , Labuan and Borneo together with the 7th Fleet of the US Navy .
After his recovery, John Collins returned to command of the fleet on July 22, replacing Farncomb, who was transferred home.
Post-war period (1945–1951)
After a short time on the staff, Farncomb took over command of the training facilities of the Australian Navy at the Westernport naval base. He went back to sea in November 1946 and was promoted to Rear Admiral on January 8, 1947 .
From 1949 onwards, Rear Admiral Farncomb had less and less control of his alcohol consumption. Farncomb was bored with the frequent official appointments that his new role as flag officer required. Even so, he was sent to Washington (DC) as a liaison officer in January 1950 . There, however, his condition deteriorated noticeably, which is why he was called back in November of the same year. In April 1951, Rear Admiral Farncomb was retired.
Civil life (1951–1971)
When he was released, Farncomb gave up alcohol completely. He learned Latin to prepare for law school. He passed the entrance exam and successfully completed his legal training. He was admitted to the bar in 1958. In the following years he worked in this profession in Sydney.
Rear Admiral Harold Bruce Farncomb died in hospital on February 12, 1971, of complications from a heart attack.
His ashes were scattered in the sea from aboard his last flagship, the aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney .
Honors
Farncomb was one of the most capable Australian naval officers of his day. He served in the Navy for 38 years. During this time he received several important British and American awards and medals. In addition to the official awards, it should be noted that many veterans who fought under his command referred to themselves as Ferncomb men .
Selection:
- 1935 - Member of the Royal Victorian Order (GB) - for excellence as Australia's first officer
- 1942 - Distinguished Service Order (GB) - for use in the Battle of the East Solomon Islands
- 1944 - Companion des Order of the Bath (GB) - for use off the Philippines
- 1944 - Navy Cross (USA) - for use off the Philippines
- 1946 - Legion of Merit (USA) - for use as Commander of Task Force 74 1944/45
The Australian Navy honors Rear Admiral Bruce Farncomb with a modern Collins- class submarine named after him . The HMAS Farncomb was launched in 1995 and entered service on January 31, 1998.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Farncomb, Harold |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Farncomb, Harold Bruce; Fearless Frank |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Australian naval officer, commodore in World War II , later rear admiral and lawyer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 28, 1899 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Sydney , New South Wales , Australia |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 12, 1971 |
| Place of death | Darlinghurst, New South Wales , Australia |