Andrew Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope

Andrew Browne Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope, KT, GCB, OM, DSO ( born 7 January 1883 in Rathmines, County Dublin, Ireland, † June 12, 1963 in London) with two clasps, British Commodore; 1939-42 and 1943 supreme commander of the British Mediterranean fleet; 1943-46 First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff of the Navy. His younger brother was the General Sir Alan Cunningham.

Cunningham joined the Navy in January 1897. During the First World War, he took over as captain of the destroyer HMS Scorpion in part on Dardanellenfeldzug. He served during the next 20 years mainly in the destroyer flotillas. At the outbreak of the Second World War he was commander of the Mediterranean fleet. In this capacity, he commanded the British naval forces during the air attack on the Italian battle fleet at Taranto on 12 November 1940 and in the Battle of Cape Matapan on March 28, 1941. In July 1943, Cunningham Supreme Commander of the Allied naval forces during the landing on Sicily ( → operation Husky ), in October 1943, he was appointed First Sea Lord and chief of Naval staff.

After he was knighted in 1945 already as a baronet and recorded in the Scottish Thistle Order, Cunningham in 1946 was elevated to Viscount. In the same year he retired. His successor, Sir John Cunningham was not related to him. At the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, Cunningham served as Lord High Steward and was the highest-ranking Great Officers of State.

Cunningham is one of the most famous British admirals of the 20th century. From him comes the famous phrase: " It takes three years to build a ship; it takes three centuries to build a tradition " ( " It takes three years to build a ship, but three centuries to build a tradition " ), he said, during the Battle of Crete in the British army, the concern arose the Navy will cancel the evacuation of the troops after heavy ship losses due to air raids.