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{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2017}}
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Sir Percy Noble
| honorific_suffix =
| image = Admiral Sir Percy Noble.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Sir Percy Noble in 1946, by [[Oswald Birley]]
| birth_name = Percy Lockhart Harnam Noble
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1880|01|16|df=y}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1955|07|25|1880|01|16|df=y}}
| placeofburial_label =
| placeofburial =
| birth_place = Bengal, India
| death_place = London, UK
| placeofburial_coordinates = 
| nickname =
| allegiance = {{flag|United Kingdom}}
| branch = {{navy|United Kingdom}}
| serviceyears = 1894–1945
| rank = [[Admiral (Royal Navy)|Admiral]]
| servicenumber =
| unit =
| commands =
{{plainlist|
*[[HMS Calliope (1914)|HMS ''Calliope'']] (1918);
*[[HMS Calcutta (D82)|HMS ''Calcutta'']] & [[Flag Captain]];
*[[HMS Barham (04)|HMS ''Barham'']] & Flag Captain (1922–1924);
*[[HMS Ganges (shore establishment)|HMS ''Ganges'']] Training Establishment & Captain-in-Charge, [[Harwich]] (1925–1927);
*[[HMS St Vincent (Gosport shore establishment)|HMS ''St Vincent'']] Cadet Training Establishment, CO (1927–1928);
*[[Royal Naval Supply and Transport Service|RN Director of Operations Division]] (1928–1930);
*[[List of squadrons and flotillas of the Royal Navy|2nd Cruiser Squadron]] (1932–1934);
*[[Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty]] & [[Fourth Sea Lord]] (1935–1937);
*[[China Station|Commander-in-Chief, China Station]] (1937–1940);
*[[Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches]] (1941–1942);
*[[Washington Conference (1943)|Head of British Naval Delegation to Washington DC]] (1942–1944)
}}
| battles =
{{plainlist|
*'''[[World War I]]'''
*:[[Battle of Jutland]]
*'''[[World War II]]'''
*:[[Battle of the Atlantic]]
}}
| battles_label =
| awards =
{{plainlist|
*[[Knight Grand Cross of the British Empire|GBE]] (1944);
*[[Order of the Bath|KCB]] (1936);
*[[Royal Victorian Order|CVO]] (1920)
}}
| relations = Colonel Charles Noble (father);<br/>[[Allan Noble|Sir Allan Noble MP]] (son)
| laterwork =
}}
[[File:GBE star.jpg|thumb|right|120px|'''GBE breast star''']]

[[Admiral (Royal Navy)|Admiral]] '''Sir Percy Lockhart Harnam Noble''', [[Order of the British Empire|GBE]], [[Order of the Bath|KCB]], [[Royal Victorian Order|CVO]] (16 January 1880 – 25 July 1955) was a Royal Navy officer who served in both [[World War]]s.

Noble rose to the rank of [[admiral]] and was [[Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches]] for two crucial years during the [[Second World War]], before being posted to the [[United States]] as [[Board of Admiralty|Head of the RN Admiralty Delegation]].

==Naval career==
The son of an Indian Army officer, Colonel Charles Noble and Anne ''née'' Hay,<ref>[http://www.corstorphineoldparish.org.uk/graveyard-records/headstone-information/headstone-information-numbers-351-to-425/ www.corstorphineoldparish.org.uk]</ref> he was educated at [[Edinburgh Academy]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.edinburghacademy.org.uk/seniorprospectus/alumni.htm |title=Edinburgh Academy Prospectus |access-date=24 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060214024333/http://www.edinburghacademy.org.uk/seniorprospectus/alumni.htm |archive-date=14 February 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref> before being commissioned in the [[Royal Navy]] on 15 January 1894.<ref name=lh>[http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/NOBLE.shtml Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives]</ref>

Promoted as [[Lieutenant (Royal Navy)|lieutenant]] on 1 April 1902,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27422|page=2281|date=4 April 1902}}</ref> Noble was posted to the [[battleship]] [[HMS Hannibal (1896)|HMS ''Hannibal'']] serving in the [[Channel Fleet]].<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Naval & Military intelligence |date=2 April 1902 |page=8 |issue=36731}}</ref> He served in the [[Grand Fleet]] during the [[First World War]].<ref name=lh/> From 1918 to 1925 he commanded the cruisers [[HMS Calliope (1914)|HMS ''Calliope'']] and [[HMS Calcutta (D82)|HMS ''Calcutta'']] and then the battleship [[HMS Barham (04)|HMS ''Barham'']]<ref name=lh/> before being appointed Senior Naval Officer, [[Harwich]] in 1925.<ref name=lh/> He then commanded [[HMS St Vincent (Gosport shore establishment)|HMS ''St Vincent'']] based at [[Forton, Hampshire|Forton]], [[Gosport]] from 1927.<ref name=lh/> He was appointed Director of Operations Division at the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] in 1928.<ref name=lh/> He was then [[Royal Naval Supply and Transport Service|Director of Naval Equipment]] from 1931<ref name=lh/> before returning to sea in command of the [[List of squadrons and flotillas of the Royal Navy|2nd Cruiser Squadron]] in 1932.<ref name=lh/> He then returned to the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] as [[Fourth Sea Lord]] in 1935,<ref name=lh/> before returning as [[China Station|Commander-in-Chief, China Station]] in 1938.<ref name=lh/>
[[File:Inspection of RAF Regiment at RAF Jurby, 1942.jpg|thumb|right|Sir Percy Noble inspects members of [[No. 2778 Squadron RAF Regiment|2778 Squadron RAF Regiment]] at [[RAF Jurby]] in 1942.]]
On his return to London, Admiral Noble was appointed [[Commander-in-Chief]], [[Western Approaches Command|Western Approaches]],<ref name=lh/> headquartered at [[Derby House]], [[Liverpool]], from February 1941 to November 1942.<ref name=lh/> His work in reorganising [[Arctic convoys of World War II|escort groups]], and revamping escort training methods are widely regarded as having been crucial foundational elements of the eventual success of the Allied navies in the [[Theater (warfare)|Atlantic theatre]].<ref name=bi96>{{cite book
| last = [[Bernard Ireland|Ireland]]
| first = Bernard
| author-link =
| title = Battle of the Atlantic
| publisher = [[Pen and Sword]]
| year = 2003
| location = [[Barnsley]]
| page = 96
| url =
| doi =
| isbn = 1-84415-001-1 }}
</ref> Noble was remembered by those who worked with him at Derby House as an easy-going [[Navy officer|commander]], and an agreeable person to work with. Always conciliatory, Noble was an expert at building consensus around his chosen courses of action. Noble was, although not forced, certainly pushed out of Western Approaches to make room for [[Max Horton|Admiral Sir Max Horton]], whose combative personality and experience in the [[Submarine|submarine service]] made him the ideal candidate in the eyes of some to take the [[World War II|war]] to the [[U-boat]]s.<ref name=bi96 />

He succeeded [[Andrew Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope|Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham]] as [[Washington Conference (1943)|Head of the British Naval Delegation]] to [[Washington DC]] in 1942,<ref name=lh/> before retiring from active naval service in 1945.<ref name=lh/> By way of recognition, Noble was granted the [[title of honor|title]] of [[Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom]] (an honorary appointment) on 19 June 1945.

==Family==
Noble married, in 1907, Diamantina Isabella, only daughter of Allan Campbell.<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60623513 www.nla.gov.au]</ref> She died in 1909, having one son (''qv.'' [[Allan Noble|Sir Allan Noble MP]]). He married secondly, in 1913, Celia Emily (''later'' Lady Noble), daughter of Robert Kirkman Hodgson DL and Lady Norah ''née'' Boyle,<ref>{{cite book
| last = Mosley| first = Charles ([[editor|ed.]])
| title = [[Burke's Peerage|Burke's Peerage & Baronetage, 107th edn]]
| location = London
| publisher = Burke's Peerage & Gentry Ltd
| page = 901 (CORK AND ORRERY, E)
| date = 2003
| isbn = 0-9711966-2-1}}</ref> having another son, Charles Noble.

A [[memorial tablet|memorial]] to Admiral Sir Percy Noble was placed in the north choir aisle of [[Liverpool Cathedral]] in 1957.

==Honours and awards==
* [[File:Order of the British Empire (Military).jpg|45px]] [[Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire]] 1944
* [[File:Order of the Bath (ribbon).svg|45px]] [[Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath]] 1936 (CB 1932)
* [[File:Royal Victorian Order ribbon sm.jpg|45px]] [[Commander of the Royal Victorian Order]] 1920 (MVO 1901)
* [[File:US_Legion_of_Merit_Commander_ribbon.png|45px]] [[Legion of Merit|Commander, Legion of Merit]] (United States) 1946
* [[File:St Olavs Orden storkors stripe.svg|45px]] [[Order of St Olav|Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of St Olav]] 1948
* [[File:Legion Honneur GO ribbon.svg|45px]] [[Legion of Honour|Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour]] (France) 1948
* [[File:DNK Order of Danebrog Grand Cross BAR.png|45px]] [[Order of the Dannebrog|Grand Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog]] (Denmark) 1948
* {{flagicon|United Kingdom|naval}} [[Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom]] 1945
** [[Honorary degrees|Hon. LLD]]s from [[Liverpool University|Liverpool]] and [[University of Belfast|Belfast Universities]]

==References==
{{Commons category|Percy Noble (Royal Navy officer)}}
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw118582/Sir-Percy-Lockhart-Harnam-Noble www.npg.org.uk]
* [http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19410428,00.html ''Time Magazine'']
*[https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/repositories/9/resources/1738 The Noble Family Papers] held at [[Churchill Archives Centre]]

{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{succession box | title=[[Fourth Sea Lord]] | before=[[Geoffrey Blake (Royal Navy officer)|Sir Geoffrey Blake]]| after=[[Geoffrey Arbuthnot|Sir Geoffrey Arbuthnot]] | years=1935–1937}}
|-
{{Succession box| title=[[China Station|Commander-in-Chief, China Station]] | before=[[Charles Little (Royal Navy officer)|Sir Charles Little]] | after=[[Geoffrey Layton|Sir Geoffrey Layton]] | years=1938–1940}}
|-
{{S-hon}}
{{S-bef | before=[[Dudley Pound|Sir Dudley Pound]]}}
{{S-ttl | title=[[List of First and Principal Naval Aides-de-Camp|First and Principal Naval Aide-de-Camp]] | years=1943–1945}}
{{S-aft | after=[[John Tovey, 1st Baron Tovey|The Lord Tovey]]}}
{{Succession box | title=[[Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom]] | before=[[Hubert Brand|Sir Hubert Brand]] | after=[[John Edelsten|Sir John Edelsten]] | years=1945–1955}}
{{S-end}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Noble, Percy}}
[[Category:1880 births]]
[[Category:1955 deaths]]
[[Category:Military personnel of British India]]
[[Category:British people in colonial India]]
[[Category:Royal Navy personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Royal Navy admirals of World War II]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Legion of Merit]]
[[Category:Lords of the Admiralty]]
[[Category:Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur]]
[[Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of the Dannebrog]]
[[Category:Royal Navy admirals]]

Percy Noble (Royal Navy officer) - Revision history

Bot: robot: Create/update articles. If there is a mistake please report on my talk page.