William Boyle 12th Earl of Cork: Encyclopedia II - William Boyle 12th Earl of Cork - Early Career

William Boyle 12th Earl of Cork - Early Career

William Boyle was the second of four sons in a family of nine, born to Colonel Gerald Edmund Boyle, a grandson of the 8th Earl of Cork, and to Lady Elizabeth Theresa Pepys, daughter of the Ist Earl of Cottenham.

"Ginger" Boyle joined the navy at the age of 11, in 1886, training for two years on HMS Britannia, a shore establishment. His first seagoing appointment was in 1888 to HMS Monarch, a turret battleship. After serving in the Mediterranean, and back in England, he went out to China for service during the first Sino-Japanese War and then on to Australia and patrols around the South Seas in HMS Lizard. He was promoted Lieutenant in 1895. He was on the China station during the time of the Boxer Rebellion.

In 1902, he married Lady Florence Keppel, beginning a long and happy union. Later that year he took up his first command, a torpedo boat destroyer, HMS Spitfire, soon to be transferred to the destroyer, HMS Hazard. His next appointment was as first officer of the cruiser HMS Astraea which was transferred to the Mediterranean and then to the China station.

Promoted Commander on December 31, 1906, he was soon commander (not to be confused with captain) of the new battleship, HMS Hibernia, attached to the Channel Fleet. After a year ashore in the Admiralty, Boyle was back to sea as commander on the armoured cruiser HMS Good Hope, based with the Atlantic fleet at Gibraltar, commanded by Sir John Jellicoe. Then back to the home fleet in command of the scout, HMS Skirmisher. Boyle was promoted Captain on June 30, 1913.

He was appointed British naval attache in Rome in June, 1913 and was still there at the outbreak of World War I in July, 1914. At this post, he was involved as an observer during the Second Balkan War.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Early Career", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki