Pound, Admiral of the Fleet Sir (Alfred) Dudley

Pound, Admiral of the Fleet Sir (Alfred) Dudley (1877–1943),British naval officer who served as First Sea Lord and a member of the British Chiefs of Staff committee from the outbreak of war in September 1939.

After serving in the First World War—he commanded a battleship at the battle of Jutland—Pound became C-in-C Mediterranean in 1936, and then, in June 1939, First Sea Lord when the first choice fell ill. He was promoted Admiral of the Fleet the following month.

Pound was shy, and shunned the limelight. Unlike the other two service departments, the Admiralty was an operational centre and he was overinclined to interfere with the conduct of operations; and, partly through not appointing a Deputy First Sea Lord until 1942, he was badly overworked. There was widespread, though unjust, criticism of him when a German squadron sailed the length of the English Channel in February 1942 (see CERBERUS); and it was Pound's decision to order the Arctic convoy PQ17 to scatter, with disastrous results. But there were also many notable successes, the sinking of the Bismarck in May 1941 and victory in the battle of the Atlantic, to name but two. Early on, as chairman of the Chiefs of Staff, he was a steadying influence on Churchill with whom he worked closely and to whom, some have argued, he too often deferred. In March 1942 he resigned as chairman, possibly in protest at Mountbatten's promotion to vice-admiral and his appointment to the committee. But he remained a member under Brooke, who questioned his effectiveness because of his habit of ‘cat-napping’ in meetings. Some of those who worked with him have vouched for his vigour and stamina, but there was a question mark over his health. At the Quebec conference in August 1943 (see QUADRANT) he began to feel the effects of the tumour which was to kill him, and he was forced to resign the following month. He had already declined a peerage early in 1943, and he died on Trafalgar Day that year before he was able to receive the high awards that were undoubtedly due to him. He was knighted in 1933. See also sea power.