Stephen Wentworth Roskill
1 August 1903 – 4 November 1982
Place of birth	London, United Kingdom
Place of death	Cambridge, United Kingdom
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1921 to 1949
Rank	Captain
Commands held	HMS Leander
Battles/wars	Second World War
Awards	Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Cross
Relations	Eustace Roskill, Baron Roskill
Other work	Royal Navy Official Historian of the Second World War Senior Research Fellow at Churchill College, Cambridge University

Captain Stephen Wentworth Roskill, C.B.E., D.S.C., F.B.A., DLitt (1 August 1903 - 4 November 1982) was a career officer in the Royal Navy, serving during the Second World War and, after his enforced medical retirement, served as the official historian of the Royal Navy from 1949 to 1960. Events 30 BC - Octavian (later known as Augustus enters Alexandria, Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman Year 1903 ( MCMIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar or a Common year starting Events 1333 - Flood of the Arno River, causing massive damage in Florence as recorded by the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani Year 1982 ( MCMLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar) London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The city of Cambridge (ˈkeɪmbrɪdʒ is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore known as the Senior Service) For information specifically on the Royal Navy rank of captain see Captain (Royal Navy. History Leander was launched at Devonport on 13 July, 1929. She was commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Leander World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British Order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. Eustace Wentworth Roskill Baron Roskill PC ( 6 February 1911 &ndash 4 October 1996) was a British lawyer and public servant Churchill College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge and was founded in 1958 as the national and Commonwealth memorial to Winston The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University) located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British Order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The British Academy is the United Kingdom 's National academy for the Humanities and the Social sciences It was established by Royal Charter Doctor of Letters ( Latin: Litterarum doctor; DLitt; or Litt D Events 30 BC - Octavian (later known as Augustus enters Alexandria, Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman Year 1903 ( MCMIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar or a Common year starting Events 1333 - Flood of the Arno River, causing massive damage in Florence as recorded by the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani Year 1982 ( MCMLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar) The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore known as the Senior Service) World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including He is now chiefly remembered as a prodigious author of books on British maritime history.

Contents 1 Naval career 2 Career as a Naval Historian 3 Honours and Awards 4 Dates of Rank 5 Citations 6 Reference List 7 Published Works 8 Sources 9 External links

Naval career

The son of John Henry Roskill, K. C. a barrister, and Sybil Dilke, Stephen Roskill was born in London, England and joined the Royal Navy in 1917, attending the Royal Naval College at Osborne and then the Britannia Royal Naval College at Dartmouth. Osborne House is a former royal residence in East Cowes, Isle of Wight, England. Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC is the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy, located on a hill overlooking Dartmouth, Devon As a Midshipman he served on the light cruiser H.M.S. Durban on the China Station before returning to practice gunnery at Greenwich and Portsmouth. Early career Durban was initially assigned to the China Station as part of the 5th Light Cruiser Squadron in January 1922 and in 1928 she was transferred In 1930, he married Elizabeth van den Bergh, with whom he had seven children. Roskill served at sea as gunnery officer of the carrier H.M.S. Eagle on the China Station from 1933-1935. Afterwards he instructed at the gunnery school H. M. S. Excellent, and in 1936 he was given the prize gunnery appointment in the navy, that of the newly-reconstructed dreadnought H.M.S. Warspite till 1939, was a member of the Naval Staff, 1939-1941, then served as Commander of H.M.N.Z.S. Leander in 1941-1944. The dreadnought was the predominant type of Battleship of the 20th century Early career Warspite's first commanding officer upon commissioning in 1915 was Captain Edward Montgomery Phillpotts. History Leander was launched at Devonport on 13 July, 1929. She was commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Leander On 13 July 1943 Leander was part of a task group of predominantly American warships off the Solomon Islands, when they engaged a force of Japanese ships. Events 1174 - William I of Scotland, a key rebel in the Revolt of 1173-1174, is captured at Alnwick by forces loyal to Year 1943 ( MCMXLIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Solomon Islands is a country in Melanesia, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands During the action Leander was torpedoed and severely damaged. For his actions in helping keep the ship afloat, Roskill was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. The Distinguished Service Cross ( DSC) is the third level Military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993 ratings of the Royal Navy and formerly In March, 1944 he was promoted acting Captain and sent to join the British Admiralty Delegation in Washington, D.C. as Chief Staff Officer for Administration and Weapons. Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D He was the senior British observer at the Bikini Atomic tests in 1946, and served as Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence, 1946-48 before retiring as a captain, due to increasing deafness caused by exposure to gun detonations. Bikini Atoll (also known as Pikinni Atoll) is an Atoll in one of the Micronesian Islands in the Pacific Ocean, part of Republic of the Marshall

Career as a Naval Historian

On retiring from active service in 1948, Roskill was appointed by the Cabinet Office Historical Section to write the official naval history of the Second World War. The Cabinet Office is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for supporting the Prime Minister and Cabinet of the United His three volume work "The War at Sea" was published between 1954 and 1961. The History of the Second World War is an extensive set of volumes published by HMSO about the British contribution to the Second World War. In 1961, he was elected a Senior Research Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge, where he was instrumental in the foundation of the Churchill Archives Centre. Churchill College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge and was founded in 1958 as the national and Commonwealth memorial to Winston The Churchill Archives Centre (CAC is one of the largest repositories in the United Kingdom for the preservation and study of modern personal papers The Centre holds 180 boxes of Roskill's personal and research papers. After retirement, he was a visiting lecturer at several universities, including being Lees-Knowles Lecturer in 1961, the Distinguished Visiting Lecturer at the U.S. Naval Academy in 1965, and Richmond Lecturer at Cambridge University in 1967. The Lees Knowles Lectureship were established at Trinity College Cambridge in 1912 and are given by distinguished experts in military and naval history The United States Naval Academy is an undergraduate college in Annapolis, Maryland, United States that educates and commissions officers of the United States The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University) located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the He was elected a vice president of the Navy Records Society in 1964 and an honorary vice president in 1974. The Navy Records Society was established in 1893 as a scholarly society to publish historical documents that illustrated the history of the Royal Navy.

Honours and Awards

Roskill was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) on 21 March 1944 as Commander in HMNZS Leander when she was torpedoed in the Pacific. The Distinguished Service Cross ( DSC) is the third level Military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993 ratings of the Royal Navy and formerly Events 630 - Byzantine emperor Heraclius restores the True Cross to Jerusalem. Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. In 1946 he was awarded the American Legion of Merit. The Legion of Merit is a military decoration of the United States armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding He was made a Commander of the British Empire in the 1971 New Year Honours and received an honorary Doctor of Literature degree from Cambridge University in 1970, from the University of Leeds in 1971, and from Oxford University in 1980. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British Order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University) located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the The University of Leeds is a major teaching and research University in Leeds, West Yorkshire; one of the largest in the United Kingdom with The University of Oxford (informally "Oxford University" or simply "Oxford" located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England is the He was an elected a Fellow of The British Academy. The British Academy is the United Kingdom 's National academy for the Humanities and the Social sciences It was established by Royal Charter

Dates of Rank

Midshipman[1]	Sub-Lieutenant	Lieutenant[1]	Lieutenant-Commander[1]	Commander[1]	Captain[1]
15 September 1921	30 July 1924	30 August 1925	30 August 1933	31 December 1938	30 June 1944

Citations

Reference List

Published Works

• Escort. The battle of the Atlantic by Denys Arthur Rayner and edited by S. W. Roskill (1955)
• H. M. S. Warspite. The story of a famous battleship (1957)
• The Secret Capture. (On the capture of the German submarine U. 110 during the second world war). (1959)
• The war at sea, 1939-1945 Three volumes (1954-61; 1994)
• The Navy at War, 1939-1945 Published in the USA as The White Ensign: The British Navy at War, 1939-1945(1960)
• The Strategy of Sea Power. Its development and application. Based on the Lees-Knowles Lectures . . . 1961 (1962)
• A Merchant Fleet in War. Alfred Holt & Co. , 1939-1945. (1962)
• The strategy of sea power (1962, 1984)
• The Art of Leadership (1964)
• Naval policy between the wars. Vol. 1, The period of Anglo-American antagonism, 1919-1929; Vol. 2, The period of reluctant rearmament, 1930-1939 (1968, 1976)
• Documents relating to the Naval Air Service (1969)
• Hankey, man of secrets (1970-74)
• The eventful history of the mutiny and piratical seizure of HMS Bounty, its causes and consequences by Sir John Barrow edited with an introduction by S. W. Roskill (1976)
• Churchill and the admirals (1977, 2004)
• Admiral of the Fleet Earl Beatty: the last naval hero: an intimate biography (1980)

Sources

• Eugene L. Rasor, English/British Naval History since 1815. New York: Garland, 1990, pp. 38-41.

External links

• Description of Roskill Papers in the Churchill Archives Centre

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