Geoffrey Layton
| Sir Geoffrey Layton | |
|---|---|
Layton in 1915
|
|
| Born |
20 April 1884 Liverpool, England |
| Died | 4 September 1964 (aged 80) Portsmouth, England |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom
|
| Service/branch |
 Royal Navy
|
| Years of service | 1899–1947 |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Commands held |
Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth (1945–47) Commander-in-Chief, Ceylon (1942–45) Eastern Fleet (1941–42) China Station (1940–41) 1st Battle Squadron (1939–40) Battlecruiser Squadron (1938–39) HMS Renown (1937–38) HMS Swordfish (1916–17) HMS E13 (1914–15) |
| Battles/wars |
First World War Second World War |
| Awards |
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Distinguished Service Order Knight of the Legion of Honour (France) Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands) |
Admiral Sir Geoffrey Layton GBE, KCB, KCMG, DSO (20 April 1884 – 4 September 1964) was a Royal Navy officer.
He was the son of a Liverpool solicitor, George Layton and was educated at Eastman's Royal Naval Academy. He joined the Royal Navy as a naval cadet on 15 May 1899 on HMS Britannia. Following this he served as a midshipman aboard cruisers in the English Channel and off the south coast of the United States.
He took his Lieutenant's course and was promoted to that rank on 30 November 1905. Layton then he joined the submarine branch of the navy, in which he had his first command. From 1910 he did two years general service and returned to submarines in 1912, commanding several of them during the First World War.
On 18 August 1915 his submarine HMS E13 was ordered to the Baltic to assist the Russians, but he ran aground on Saltholm off the Danish coast. E13 was destroyed early the following morning by a German torpedo boat, killing half his men. Layton and the others were interned at Copenhagen. Three months later, disguised as a local sailor, he managed to return to Britain. In 1916–17 he commanded the experimental steam submarine S-1. At the end of the war he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order.
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