English admiral and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Somerset (died 1949)

James Somerville

Admiral of the Fleet Sir James Fownes Somerville, was a Royal Navy admiral. He served in the First World War as fleet wireless officer for the Mediterranean Fleet where he was involved in providing naval support for the Gallipoli Campaign. He also served in the Second World War as commander of the newly formed Force H: after the French armistice with Germany, Winston Churchill gave Somerville and Force H the task of neutralizing the main element of the French battle fleet, then at Mers El Kébir in Algeria. After he had destroyed the French Battle fleet, Somerville played an important role in the pursuit and sinking of the German battleship Bismarck.

Born

1882

July 17

Died

1949

Era

1880s

Country

—

About

James, in brief

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Life timeline

Key dates

1882 Born
1949 Died

Also on July 17

What else happened on this day, through history

180 Twelve inhabitants of Scillium (near Kasserine, modern-day Tunisia) in North Africa are executed for being Christians. This is the earliest record of Christianity in that part of the world.
1048 Damasus II is elected pope, and dies 23 days later.
1203 The Fourth Crusade assaults Constantinople. The Byzantine emperor Alexios III Angelos flees from his capital into exile.
1402 Zhu Di, better known by his era name as the Yongle Emperor, assumes the throne over the Ming dynasty of China.

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The world in 1949

When James departed

april 1 Chinese Civil War: The Chinese Communist Party holds unsuccessful peace talks with the Nationalist Party in Beijing, after three years of fighting.
april 1 The Government of Canada repeals Japanese-Canadian internment after seven years.
april 18 The Republic of Ireland Act comes into force, declaring Éire to be a republic and severing Ireland's "association" with the Commonwealth of Nations.
april 20 Amethyst incident: The People's Liberation Army attacks HMS Amethyst (F116) travelling to the British embassy in Nanjing during the Chinese Civil War.

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Same-day contemporaries

Also born on July 17

Carlos Alberto Torres 1944–2016 Brazilian footballer and manager (died 2016) Connie Hawkins 1942– American basketball player (died 2017) Eleanor Hadley 1916– American economist and policymaker (died 2007) Frank Olson 1910–1953 American chemist and microbiologist (died 1953) Georges Lemaître 1894–1966 Belgian priest, astronomer, and cosmologist (died 1966) Jason Clarke 1969– Australian actor Lou Boudreau 1917–2001 American baseball player and manager (born 1917) Oliver Ekman-Larsson 1991– Swedish ice hockey player Paul Delaroche 1797–1856 French painter and academic (died 1856)

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Same-year contemporaries

Also born in 1882

Dora Marsden 1882–1960 English author and activist (born 1882) Franklin D. Roosevelt 1882–1945 American lawyer and politician, 32nd President of the United States (born 1882) Getúlio Vargas 1882–1954 Brazilian lawyer and politician, 14th President of Brazil (died 1954) Henry Burr 1882– Canadian singer, radio performer, and producer (died 1941) Henry J. Kaiser 1882–1967 American businessman, founded Kaiser Shipyards and Kaiser Aluminum (born 1882) Inayat Khan 1882–1927 Indian mystic and educator (born 1882) James Joyce 1882–1941 Irish novelist, short story writer, and poet (died 1941) John Barrymore 1882–1942 American actor (died 1942) Kâzım Karabekir 1882– Turkish general and politician, 5th Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (died 1948)

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More to explore

James's birthday July 17 James's zodiac Cancer When James departed 1949