Sir Charles Edward Madden, 2nd Baronet, GCB (15 June 1906 – 23 April 2001) followed his father in a career with the Royal Navy that culminated in his serving as the Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet from 1963 to 1965.
A recognized expert in gunnery, Madden helped in the introduction of radar into the Royal Navy. He participated in the Battle of Calabria, the Battle of Taranto, the Battle of Cape Matapan, and the Battle of Crete during the Second World War. Following the war, Madden introduced the General List for officers which abolished many of the distinctions between the executive and other branches within the Royal Navy. He also served as the Chief of Naval Staff of the Royal New Zealand Navy.
Following his retirement from the Royal Navy, Madden served as Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London from 1969 to 1981.
Early life and family
Charles Edward Madden was born on 15 June 1906, the son of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Charles Madden, for whom the baronetcy was created in 1919. His mother Constance was a daughter of Sir Charles Cayzer, 1st Baronet, the distinguished shipowner, and his aunt Gwendoline had married Admiral of the Fleet John Rushworth Jellicoe when he was a captain in 1902.
Pre-war service
Madden was educated at Sandroyd School then the Royal Naval College, Osborne, and joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in 1920 after graduating from the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, at a ceremony in which the prizes were given out by his father, who was serving as the Commander-in-Chief of the Atlantic Fleet.
Madden initially serviced on board the battleship Iron Duke, the flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet. He subsequently served on the heavy cruiser Kent, the flagship of the 5th Cruiser Squadron, on the China Station. Madden participated in the annual gatherings at the British-owned anchorage and island of Wei-hai-wei, visited Japan, and attended the funeral of Sun Yat-sen, the president of the Republic of China.
In 1932, Lt. Madden joined the battleship Queen Elizabeth as its second gunnery officer. He was subsequently appointed as the flotilla gunnery officer, on board the flagship Exmouth, while the destroyer flotilla served in the Mediterranean Sea during the Second Italo–Abyssinian War.
Newly promoted to lieutenant commander, Madden joined the cruiser Sussex as its gunnery officer in 1935. During the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine, Madden was involved in running the lightly armoured train (making it vulnerable to attack by Arab terrorists) from Haifa to Samak as well as protecting army encampments with naval field guns landed from the Sussex and light cruiser Arethusa.
Influenced by Kent’s gunnery officer, the future Admiral Sir Philip Vian, Madden joined HMS Excellent Gunnery School at Portsmouth in September 1929 and qualified as an advanced gunnery officer ("dagger"). He returned to the Experimental Department at HMS Excellent Gunnery School as First Lieutenant in 1937. During this two-year stint, he was involved in the development gunnery fire control systems and supervised the arrangement for the funeral of Admiral Sir William Fisher, the Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth.
Second World War
Madden was promoted to commander in 1939 and was part of the pre-commissioning crew for the new battleship King George V, which was followed by staff work involving British operations in the Baltic Sea and research on the applications of shipboard radar.
Commander Madden was appointed as the executive officer for the battleship Warspite, the flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet, in May 1940. He participated in the Battle of Calabria, the Battle of Taranto, the Battle of Cape Matapan, the Battle of Crete, and the bombardment of Tripoli during operation in the Mediterranean theatre.
Madden was cited for official praise involving his damage control, fire-fighting, and casualty-relief efforts aboard the Warspite and the cruiser Orion during the Battle of Crete. An eyewitness account described Madden as being "cool, calm and collected, at least on the outside" during the battle and its aftermath. Madden also sustained a neck injury during a German bombing attack against the Warspite on 23 June 1941.
Madden remained with the Warspite during her subsequent overhaul at the U.S. Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, from August to December 1941, and following the refit, as the flagship of Admiral Sir James Somerville, the Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Fleet, operating in the Indian Ocean beginning in January 1942.
Madden undertook a two-year stint as the deputy director of the gunnery division within the Admiralty with the rank of acting captain. In late 1944, he took command of the escort aircraft carrier Emperor which, after convoy duty, operated against the Japanese bases in Burma, the Nicobars, and Sumatra as a unit of the Far East Fleet during the closing stages of the Burma campaign.
Elected 1948-1956: Captain or below Sir Charles Madden Bt Naval Member
1957-1962: Rear Admiral Sir Charles Madden Bt CB Nal Member
1963: Vice Admiral Sir Charles Madden Bt CB Naval Member