Allegiance United Kingdom Name George Atkinson-Willes Rank Admiral | Years of service 1861 - 1912 Service/branch Royal Navy | |
Died 25 December 1921(1921-12-25) (aged 74) Commands held HMS Comus
HMS Indefatigable
HMS Agamemnon
HMS Hero
HMS Howe
Home Fleet
East Indies Station | ||
Admiral Sir George Lambart Atkinson-Willes, KCB (13 July 1847 – 25 December 1921) was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station.
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Naval career
Educated at Leamington College and at Burney's Royal Naval Academy in Gosport, Atkinson-Willes joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in 1861 and took part in the Abyssinian Expedition in 1868.
Promoted to Captain in 1886, he commanded HMS Comus, HMS Indefatigable, HMS Agamemnon, HMS Hero and then HMS Howe. He was appointed Commodore commanding the Training Squadron in 1895 and then commanded the Dockyard Reserve at Chatham from 1898. In 1901 he assumed the additional surname of Willes in compliance with the will of his uncle Admiral Sir George Ommanney Willes. Later the same year he was promoted to Rear Admiral, and in May 1902 he became Second-in-Command of the Home Fleet. He hoisted his flag on board the pre-dreadnought battleship HMS Resolution on 7 May 1902, as his flagship during the Coronation Fleet Review for King Edward VII. The following year, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station. He was at the head of a squadron of three ships which took part in the Somaliland Campaign in 1904. He retired in 1912.
Family
He married Alice Mort (1856–1938), daughter of Thomas Sutcliffe Mort.