Charles Lester Kerr
Commander Charles Lester Kerr, DSO was a British naval officer and submarine commander.
He became a Naval Cadet at the age of fifteen and qualified for a career with the Royal Navy. He was later a submarine commander, but was transferred to shore duties because of nearsightedness. He spent a period in the coastguards before returning to active service at the beginning of World War I where he commanded a battery of land based naval guns in support of the Serbian army. During his time in Serbia he was credited with sinking an Austrian warship by using a picket boat to launch a torpedoes attack, for which he received the DSO. After his return to the UK he was posted to Belgium in command of a land based battery of heavy naval guns. He was later transferred to Egypt, where he co-ordinated convoy movements in the Mediterranean Sea before returning to coastguard duties after the war.
He left the navy in 1923 and purchased the luxury 300 ft yacht Istar with the intention of using it for a business venture, but the refurbishment costs proved to be prohibitive. He formed a partnership with others, including Alfred Ehrenreich, with the intention of using the vessel as a factory ship to catch and process sharks in Australia. In 1930 he was arrested and charged with blackmailing a prospective parliamentary candidate. He was cleared of this charge, and at the beginning of the Second World War he returned to the navy in a training role during which time he was seriously injured.
Background
Kerr was born 16 November 1886 in Folkestone, Kent. His mother was Ada Jessie Wilson, a daughter and granddaughter respectively of the painters John James Wilson and John "Jock" Wilson. His father was Captain Schomberg Kerr, formally of the Rifle Brigade, who was descended from General William John Kerr, 5th Marquess of Lothian. Kerr's mother died when he was ten years old; his father remarried in 1904 to divorcee, Rosa Williamina Williams.Kerr attended private schools, first in Eastbourne, Sussex, and then Fareham, Surrey, in preparation for his entry examinations to the Royal Naval training establishment at Dartmouth. Several members of the Kerr family had careers in the military. Kerr's father had been in the army whilst others were in the Royal Navy including Lord Walter Kerr, who was the First Sea Lord. Kerr passed his entry exams, coming sixteenth in order of merit out of about 200, and in September 1901 began his training in Dartmouth. This was before the construction of the current Britannia Royal Naval College when the training was undertaken onboard two hulks, HMS Britannia and HMS Hindostan.
In January 1903 Kerr received his first appointment as a naval cadet on the newly commissioned armoured cruiser HMS Drake. He served under Francis Bridgeman and John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, both of whom would become First Sea Lords. In 1905 Kerr's cousin, Mark Edward Frederic Kerr, became captain of the Drake. In 1906 Kerr was promoted from midshipman to sub-lieutenant and left the Drake to return to the UK for training at various establishments including the Royal Naval College, Greenwich.
Submarines
Kerr had applied for transfer to the submarine service but was frustrated with refusals. He served on various ships during this period including HMS Dee,, HMS Roxburgh and HMS Donegal. In 1908 he finally got his transfer and after about five months of training was appointed to HMS Thames, the parent ship of the Harwich submarine flotilla. He was second in command of HMS C2 and after about 18 month was given his own command of submarine HMS A8 at Devonport. Later he was given command of HMS C15 and later HMS C8. In 1913 questions were raised about his eyesight. He was instructed to attend a medical, the outcome of which was that he was relieved of his command and reduced to half pay. He took his appeal to the top and was given an interview with the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill. As a result, he was offered a post as a divisional officer with the Coastguards in Ireland, which he accepted.Coastguard
At this time the Admiralty were responsible for the Coastguard service, which was almost exclusively manned by personnel from the Royal Navy on half pay. Kerr was stationed at Newcastle, County Down, at a time when gun smuggling had become an issue. His area of control was from Portaferry to Kilkeel and he had about thirty people working for him. It was in the next district to the north that a large consignment of rifles and ammunition were smuggled in for the Ulster Volunteer Force during April 1914.After Britain's declaration of war with Germany in August 1914, Kerr wrote to the head of the submarine service hoping for a return to an active role in the Royal Navy. In September he was told to report to HMS Vulcan, the submarine depot ship in Leith. Kerr hoped to be given command of a submarine but came to realise that the issue of his eyesight weakness precluded this. He made enquiries at the Admiralty about other opportunities and was offered the job as Rear Admiral Troubridge's flag lieutenant during a military mission to Serbia. He accepted and was given the rank of Lieutenant-Commander.
Serbia
As a consequence of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in 1914, the Austrian government declared war on Serbia on 28 July of the same year. Their forces were initially repelled by the Serbian army and a standoff developed across the rivers Danube and Sava. Russia, France and Britain allied themselves with the Serbians and sent in small detachments to provide support. To restrict the movement of Austrian warships on the Danube and Sava the British deployed mines and installed static torpedo tubes on the banks of the rivers. Rear Admiral Troubridge, commanding a small force with eight 4.7 inch guns on Scott Carriages and a 56 ft picket boat, deployed to the front line. The guns were divided into four batteries of two guns with a Serbian artillery officer in command of each. Men from the Royal Navy and Royal Marine Artillery operated the guns; they were supported by as many as ninety Serbians, many of whom were responsible for the oxen used to move the guns.The picket boat had been transported overland from Salonika on the railroad, requiring some ingenuity to overcome various logistic difficulties. It was fitted with two cradles, one per side, to hold torpedoes that could be lowered into the water if and when required. On the nights of 22 and 23 April 1915 Kerr was using the picket boat to reconnoitre the reaches of the Danube west of Zemun. He was instructed by Troubridge not to endanger the craft. Eventually the crew spotted the silhouette of the Austrian monitors. As they approached they were challenged by a lookout and Kerr immediately ordered the first torpedo to be fired. This dramatically affected the trim the picket boat which swung off course. Corrective action was taken and Kerr fired the second torpedo. The first one failed to explode but as they turned away the second torpedo hit the target and there was a large explosion. After this attack the Austrians took defensive action to reduce the risk to their ships by installing protective booms. Kerr was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for the "enterprise being boldly and skillfully conducted". Later he was awarded the Serbian medals Order of Kara-George, with swords and Order of the White Eagle . In 1917 the British Prize Court found that the crew of the picket boat were entitled to a total of £405 for the sinking of the monitor.
When the Austrian offensive started in October 1915 the picket boat was destroyed at its mooring by Austrian shell fire. Kerr was ordered to evacuate from Belgrade and report to Torlak. Two of the British 4.7 inch guns had been destroyed during an exchange of fire, but the remaining six were still serviceable. Kerr was instructed by Troubridge to place himself and these guns at the disposal of the Serbian command. Orders came to move the guns to Nish to help combat the Bulgarian incursion into Serbia. They used the guns in an attempt to slow the Bulgarian advance over the Morava River, but another two guns were lost during this action. The remaining four were ordered to withdraw further west to Mitrovica, via Prokuplje, Zuršumlija and Prishtina. The journey took seven days, slowed by the congestion of retreating Serbian troops, the blizzards and the exhaustion of oxen and men. When they arrived at Prishtina the situation was such that Kerr was told to use his judgement in regard to the future of the guns. He referred to Troubridge who approved the movement of the guns west to Petch. After setting out on the 22 November one of the guns sunk into a swamp on the road. The combined effort of oxen, lorries and men could not shift it, so eventually it had to be wrecked and within a few hours a second gun suffered a similar fate. On 26 November a third gun was lost when it fell through a bridge and had to be wrecked. The final gun was destroyed on the 28 November and all remaining ammunition buried.
With the loss of the guns, and the Serbian army in retreat, Kerr's priority was to get his men to safety through the mountains of Montenegro and Albania. They had little food, no transport, it was winter and progress was slowed by the retreating Serbian army and refugees. This part of their journey began on the 3 December and the detachment arrived in Scutari, Albania on the 16 December. A further two days march was required to get to the port of San Giovanni di Medua, and from there by ship the troops were sent to Brindsi, Italy and Malta. Kerr remained behind with Troubridge, who had been assisting the Serbian High Command with co-ordinating relief supplies. The small harbour was under threat from air and sea attack and the invading armies had advanced to within a few miles when the British contingent left for Brindisi on 19 January 1916.
Kerr, Troubridge and their party made their escape on an Italian destroyer and transferred to the Royal Navy HMS Queen based in Taranto on the 21 January. From there they travelled to Rome for a debrief with the diplomatic corps. Kerr, who was from a Catholic family, made tentative enquiries at the Vatican about being granted an audience with Pope Benedict XV. To his surprise this was granted, and after a brief discussion with the Pope he was given the Apostolic Benediction.