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Christopher Theodore Jellicoe was born at Chailey, near Lewes, Sussex in June 1903, the son of a clergyman, and entered the Royal
Navy as Cadet at the R.N.C. Osborne in March 1917, but had not completed his training before the end of hostilities, when he was
attending the R.N.C. Dartmouth.
D.S.C.: anti-submarine patrols in home waters 1939
Gaining steady advancement between the Wars, Jellicoe was serving in the rank of Commander on the renewal of hostilities in
September 1939, when he held command of the destroyer H.M.S. Winchelsea. Deployed at Portland as part of the 11th Destroyer
Flotilla, the Winchelsea escorted convoys O.B. 2 and O.B. 3 in September, prior to removing to Western Approaches Command for
similar duties. And for his command in these opening months of the War in successful anti-submarine operations, Jellicoe was awarded
his first D.S.C., which distinction he received at a Buckingham Palace investiture held on 6 February 1940.
D.S.O. and “mention”: Malta convoys and the Mediterranean 1941-42
A brief period of service having ensued at the Admiralty, Jellicoe assumed command of another destroyer, the Southwold, in 1941, a
ship of the 5th Destroyer Flotilla which he also commanded. And it was in this capacity that he won his D.S.O. for great gallantry in
Malta convoy MW. 10, part of Operation “M.G. 1”, one of the most heavily contested convoys of the War, Jellicoe estimating that on
one occasion the escorts and merchantmen were under attack from no less than 60 bombers and nine torpedo-aircraft - and reporting
early on in the convoy that he had expended 40% of his 4-inch ammunition after nine successive attacks. Nor were the incoming
threats limited to enemy aircraft, Admiral Vian famously leading his force against capital Italian ships and compelling their hasty retreat
in what became known as the 2nd Battle of the Sirte. But it was while offering assistance to a crippled merchantman outside Malta
harbour on the 25th, that the Southwold met her end, striking a recently laid mine - official Admiralty sources take up the story:
‘Southwold was aiding Breconshire in the Mediterranean when a mine exploded under the engine room. The hull was severely
damaged, engine and gearing rooms wrecked, and the upper deck was split over the engine room. Slow flooding of the engine room
from the gearing room through bulkhead shaft glands, spread to the after boiler room through a fracture in the bulkhead. Both boiler
rooms were shut down and the ship listed slightly to starboard. All lighting was temporarily lost but it was later restored with diesel
generators.
Whilst in tow, the side plating port and starboard in the vicinity of the engine room split to the upper deck. During the tow an enemy
aircraft attacked Southwold and near miss bombs possibly caused further damage and flooding.
Southwold settled slowly with considerable sag and an increased list to starboard and was finally abandoned, afterwards sinking.’
For his own part, at the end of the same month, Jellicoe submitted no less than 16 recommendations for decorations or a mention in
despatches for his crew.
His own “mention” followed for like services in the destroyer Jackal in Operation “M.G. 2” (London Gazette 17 November 1942
refers), when his ship was again lost to enemy action on 11 May, the Evening Standard reporting:
‘Twice within a month has Commander Jellicoe, nephew of the famous Admiral, had his ship sunk under him. On 26 April it was
announced that the Southwold had been lost. Temporarily placed in command of the Jackal, Jellicoe, after a gallant stand against one
of the hottest attacks by Nazis in the Mediterranean, had to abandon his ship which was ablaze from stem to stern. Although wounded,
the Commander was the last man to leave the destroyer.’
This was, in fact, the famous occasion on which Jackal’s consorts Lively and Kipling were also sunk, a episode captured in some
spectacular footage (sse Destroyers at War, by Geoffrey Haines). Jackal lost nine crew.
Bar to D.S.C.: sinking of the Scharnhorst 1943
Returning home shortly afterwards, Jellicoe was appointed Staff Officer Operations (S.O.O.) to the C.-in-C. Home Fleet in the battleship
Duke of York - and was invested with his D.S.O. at a Buckingham Palace investiture held on 15 December 1942. As it transpired,
however, his new appointment in the Duke of York would result in yet another encounter with the King, for, famously, in December
1943, as the flagship of Admiral Bruce Fraser, she orchestrated the destruction of the mighty Scharnhorst on 26 December 1943:
‘Meanwhile, the Duke of York with the rest of Admiral Fraser’s force had been working up from the S.W. and the flagship made contact
with the Scharnhorst at 4.15 p.m., by which time darkness had closed in. Shortly afterwards the 14-inch guns of the Duke of York
obtained a hit below the water-line and the Scharnhorst turned away to the northward and then eastward with a slight diminution in
speed. Admiral Fraser ordered a torpedo attack by the destroyers Savage, Saumarez, Scorpion and Stor. These ships steamed ahead of
the raider beyond a point where they could expect any assistance from their heavy consorts, and then turned in and discharged their
torpedoes, securing at least three hits. There was an immediate drop in the German battleship’s speed and the Duke of York opened fire
with her 14-inch guns until the Scharnhorst lay with her engines stopped and smoke and flames issuing from her decks. At this juncture
the cruisers Jamaica and Belfast were ordered to attack with torpedoes from one side and the destroyers Matchless, Virago, Opportune
and Musketeer from the other. This concentrated volley exploded with tremendous force and at 7.45 p.m. the Scharnhorst sank at a
spot about 60 miles N.E. of North Cape. It is presumed that she carried her full complement of 1,461 and of these only 36 were saved.’
British casualties were few and damage to ships slight, although it is worth recording the fact that an 11-inch shell from Scharnhorst
severed the Duke of York’s radar cables, temporarily blinding her gunners - it was at that moment that Fraser feared victory had been
snatched from him. Jellicoe was awarded a Bar to his D.S.C., which honour he eventually received at a Buckingham Palace investiture
in May 1945.
Meanwhile, however, he commanded the anti-aircraft carrier Colombo from March until December 1944, in which period he served
on convoy escort work off Bizerta and in the Aegean, in addition to acting in support of Coastal Forces operations in the Adriatic. His
final wartime appointment was as Deputy Director in the Operations Division at the Admiralty.
C.B.: the post-war years
Post-war, Jellicoe served as Naval Assistant to the First Sea Lord and commanded the aircraft carriers Triumph and Illustrious in the
early 1950s, and was advanced to Rear-Admiral in July 1953 while employed at the Imperial Defence College. Gazetted for his C.B. in
1955, for his services as President of the Admiralty Interview Board, he attended his fourth Buckingham Palace investiture in July of the
same year.
The Admiral died at Storrington, Sussex in April 1977, aged 73 years; three portrait photographs of the Admiral are held in the
collection of the National Portrait Gallery.
Sold with a quantity of original documentation, including C.B. and D.S.O. warrants, dated 9 June 1955 and 8 September 1942
respectively, in their original forwarding envelopes; Admiralty letter of notification for the award of his second D.S.C., dated 17 March
1944; and M.I.D. certificate, dated 17 November 1942.
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