Allegiance United Kingdom Name Claude Dobson Years of service 1899 - 1935 Role Armed force officer | Rank Rear Admiral Service/branch Royal Navy Commands held CMB 31BD Awards Victoria Cross | |
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Buried at Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham Battles/wars World War I
Russian Civil War Died June 26, 1940, Chatham, United Kingdom Place of burial Gillingham, United Kingdom Battles and wars World War I, Russian Civil War Similar People Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel, Joseph Stalin, Mikhail Tukhachevsky | ||
Rear-Admiral Claude Congreve Dobson VC, DSO (1 January 1885 – 26 June 1940) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
Dobson was born in Clifton, Bristol and was educated at Clifton College. He was an experienced submariner and small motor boat captain who served in World War I. He was 34 years old, and a commander in the Royal Navy serving with the North Russia Relief Force when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC:
On 18 August 1919 at Kronstadt, Russia, Commander Dobson was in command of the Coastal Motor Boat Flotilla which he led through the chain of forts to the entrance to Kronstadt harbour. CMB 31BD, a 55 ft boat, from which he directed the general operations then passed in under heavy machine-gun fire and hit the battleship Andrei Pervozvanny with both torpedoes, subsequently returning through heavy fire to the open sea.
His VC is currently displayed at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.