Rear Admiral

ROBERT (RUPERT)

ST. VINCENT SHERBROOKE

VC, CB, DSO.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BORN: 8^th January, 1901, Oxton, Nottinghamshire.

He was the son of Captain Henry Graham Sherbrooke and Flora Maude Francklin. He married Rosemary Neville Buckley, daughter of Lt.-Col. Percy Neville Buckley, in 1929.

SERVED: The Royal Navy

Sherbrooke attended the Royal Naval Colleges of Osborne and Dartmouth, before joining the Royal Navy in 1916 as a Midshipman aboard HMS Canada. He was promoted to Commander in 1935, and served aboard the aircraft carrier HMS Courageous. His wartime commands were all Destroyers.

Ranks achieved

15^th April 1921 Lieutenant

15^th April 1929 Lieutenant Commander

31^st December 1935 Commander

30^th June 1942 Captain

7^th July 1951 Rear Admiral

4^th March 1954 Retired

DATE OF GAZETTE: 12^th January, 1943.

V.C. CITATION: Sherbrooke was 41 years old, and a Captain in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. On the 31st December, 1942, off the North Cape of the Barents Sea, Captain Sherbrooke was in command of HMS Onslow and a destroyer escort to a very important convoy making for Murmansk, when he was confronted with a vastly superior enemy force. Four times the enemy attacked the convoy and were repelled. He was seriously wounded in the face, but continued to direct the ships under his command. Further hits to HMS Onslow forced him to disengage and seek aid, but he insisted on receiving all reports on the continuing action until the convoy was out of danger.

Rear-Admiral Robert St. Vincent Sherbrooke, V.C., was invested as a Companion, Order of the Bath (C.B.). He was also decorated with the award of Companion, Distinguished Service Order (D.S.O.).

DIED: 13TH JUNE 1972

BURIED: St.Peter & St.Paul Churchyard, Oxton, Nottinghamshire, in the family plot.

 

The above church has the original Ensign from HMS Onslow, and other articles relating to the Sherbrooke family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Medal Entitlement

12^th January 1943 VC

1^st June 1953 CB

28^th June 1940 DSO

General Service Medal 1914 - 1918

Victory Medal 1914 - 1918

Victory Medal 1939 - 1945

Atlantic Star

George V Coronation Medal

Elizabeth II Coronation Medal

Freedom Cross of Norway

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Warship Commands

 

HMS Wakefield, Destroyer, Commander 31^st July 1939 – 18^th Dec 1939

HMS Cossack, Destroyer, Commander, 31^st Dec 1939 – 18^th Jan 1940

HMS Afridi, Destroyer, Commander, 18^th Jan – Mar 1940

HMS Cossack, Destroyer, Commander, Mar 1940 – 13^th April 1940

HMS Matabele, Destroyer, Commander, 23^rd Jun 1940 – 15^th Apr 1941

HMS Onslow, Destroyer, Captain, 28^th Nov 1942 – 3^rd June 1943

HMS Aurora, Light Cruiser, Captain, Jul 1945 – Oct 1945?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The wording on two Brass Plaques in Southwell Minster, Nottinghamshire.

Brass plaques read:

THIS ENSIGN
WAS FLOWN BY
H.M.S. TARANTULA
COMMANDER HENRY SHERBROOKE D.S.O., R.N.
DURING OPERATIONS IN MESOPOTAMIA IN 1917
RESULTING IN THE CAPTURE OF
BAGHDAD
AND THE EXPULSION OF THE TURKS
AND GERMANS
FROM THE COUNTRY

 

THIS ENSIGN
WAS FLOWN BY
H.M.S.ONSLOW
CAPTAIN ROBERT ST. VINCENT SHERBROOKE, D.S.O., R.N.
ALSO COMMANDING THE 17TH DESTROYER FLOTILLA
DURING AN ACTION IN THE BARENTS SEA
WHEN PROTECTING A CONVOY TO NORTH RUSSIA
ON 31ST DECEMBER 1942
THE ENEMY FORCE CONSISTING OF THE
GERMAN SHIPS DEUTSCHLAND, HIPPER, AND
SEVERAL DESTROYERS WERE SUCCESSFULLY
DRIVEN OFF AND THE CONVOY REACHED
HARBOUR SAFELY
CAPTAIN SHERBROOKE
AN IMMEDIATE AWARD
OF THE VICTORIA CROSS