Admiral Sir Hugh Evan-Thomas, G.C.B., K.C.M.G., M.V.O., Royal Navy (27 October, 1862 - 30 August, 1928) was a Royal Navy officer who commanded the Fifth Battle Squadron for most of the First World War, notably at the Battle of Jutland in 1916.
He joined the Royal Navy in 1876 and, as a cadet, knew the future King George V. Evan-Thomas would serve on and off with the Royal Family during his career. He became a signals specialist and was appointed secretary of a committee to revise the navy's signal book and later served as Second-in-Command of the Portsmouth Signal School.
He was appointed to his first command in 1900 and held appointments afloat until 1905 when he was appointed Private Secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty. He commanded the new dreadnought battleship Bellerophon from 1908 to 1910, when at the request of the King, now George V, he took command of the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth while the heirs to the throne were under training there. In 1912 he was promoted to Flag Rank and from 1913 to 1915 was Rear-Admiral in the First Battle Squadron, before being given command of the Fifth Battle Squadron which he led at Jutland.
He was superseded in the Fifth Battle Squadron in 1918 and went on half-pay until he was appointed Commander-in-Chief at the Nore in 1921. During his three-year tenure his performance at the Battle of Jutland came under attack from supporters of the First Sea Lord, David Beatty. Among the critics were Winston Churchill, a former First Lord: Evan-Thomas eventually felt compelled to respond to Churchill's accusations in a letter to the The Times newspaper in 1927. By this time his health had collapsed and he died in 1928, aged 65 years old.