Hubert Lynes facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Hubert Lynes
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|---|---|
| Born | 27 November 1874 |
| Died | 10 November 1942 (aged 67) Holyhead, Wales |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/ |
 Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1888–1919, 1939–1941 |
| Rank | Rear Admiral |
| Commands held | HMS Venus HMS Cadmus HMS Penelope HMS Warspite |
| Battles/wars | First World War |
| Awards | Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George |
Hubert Lynes (born 27 November 1874, died 10 November 1942) was a British admiral. He is well-known for his important role in the First World War. He helped lead the famous Zeebrugge and Ostend raids. These raids aimed to stop German ships from using the port of Bruges in Belgium.
Besides his naval career, Lynes was also a very skilled ornithologist. This means he was an expert in studying birds. He wrote many books and articles about birds, especially those in Africa. Many people thought he was the best expert on African birds during his time.
Hubert Lynes started his journey in the Royal Navy when he was just 13 years old in 1888. He went to Stubbington House School, which was a school known for preparing students for the navy. He quickly moved up through the ranks.
In 1902, he became a lieutenant and took command of a small gunboat called HMS Kite. By 1905, he was promoted to captain. He then commanded the cruiser HMS Venus in the Mediterranean Sea until 1908.
After some time back in England, he commanded HMS Cadmus in China from 1910 to 1912. He was on shore duty when the First World War began.
When the war started, Lynes was given command of a new cruiser, HMS Penelope. This ship sailed in the Atlantic Ocean looking for German U-boats (submarines). In 1916, Penelope was hit by a torpedo from a German U-boat, SM UB-19. The ship was badly damaged and needed a lot of repairs.
This event allowed Lynes to get a new job. He became the second-in-command to Admiral Roger Keyes. Admiral Keyes was in charge of a special department that planned daring raids and commando operations against German-held areas.
Zeebrugge and Ostend Raids
The most famous operations Lynes worked on were the Zeebrugge Raid in April 1918 and the Ostend raids in April and May of the same year. The main goal of these missions was to block the canals that connected Zeebrugge and Ostend to the important German naval base at Bruges.
The plan was to sink old ships, called "blockships," in these canals. This would trap the German ships and U-boats inside the Bruges base. This would stop them from attacking Allied merchant ships.
These raids were very dangerous, and many sailors and marines were injured or lost their lives. However, the blockships were successfully sunk, and the canals were partly blocked. This made it harder for the Germans to use the port.
At the end of the war, Lynes was the Captain of the powerful battleship HMS Warspite. He was present when the German High Seas Fleet surrendered at Scapa Flow. For his bravery and service, he received many awards. These included the Companion of the Order of the Bath and the Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George. He also received awards from France and Belgium.
In 1919, Hubert Lynes decided to retire from the navy. He left the sea with the rank of rear admiral and settled down in the countryside.
Ornithology
Hubert Lynes had a passion for nature and birds since he was a boy. While serving in the navy, he turned this interest into a scientific study of birdlife. During his time in the Mediterranean, he carefully observed and wrote notes about how European and African birds migrated.
He made 12 trips to Africa to study its native birds. His observations were published in well-known bird magazines like The Ibis and British Birds. He became a member of the British Ornithologists' Union and continued to write for these journals throughout his life.
In 1910, while on duty in England, Lynes joined an expedition to the Pyrenees mountains. When he was stationed in China, he also made many notes and collected information about birds there. Sadly, all these notes and collections were lost when his ship, the Penelope, was torpedoed in 1916.
After retiring from the navy, Lynes traveled to the Darfur region of Sudan. He spent a lot of time observing birds there. His detailed study was published in 1930 in The Ibis as Review of the genus Cisticola. This work was highly praised, and Lynes received the Godman-Salvin Medal for his important contributions to the study of African birds.
In the same year, he became the vice-president of the British Ornithologists' Union. He was also made a member of the American Ornithologists' Union. He was also a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Zoological Society of London.
In 1936, he studied birds in Egypt. However, two years later, he became very ill with shingles while in Sudan. He had to return home, and his health never fully recovered. He could not travel again.
When World War II started in 1939, Lynes took on a light administrative job in North Wales due to his poor health. He retired again in 1941 because he was still unwell. He continued to write about birds of the Sudan until he passed away in November 1942, at the age of 67, in a naval hospital. He was buried in St. Seiriol Churchyard in Holyhead. He never married and lived with his sister, who took care of him when he was not at sea.
