Admiral Sir Francis Charles Bridgeman Bridgeman (born Bridgeman-Simpson, 7 December 1848 – 17 February 1929) was a Royal Navy officer. As a captain he commanded a battleship and then an armoured cruiser and then, after serving as second-in-command of three different fleets, he twice undertook tours as Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet with a stint as Second Sea Lord in between those tours. He became First Sea Lord in November 1911 but clashed with First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill on technical issues as well as matters relating to a perceived overriding of naval traditions by Churchill: this led to Bridgeman's resignation just a year later.
Naval career
Born the son of Reverend William Bridgeman-Simpson and Lady Frances Laura Wentworth FitzWilliam (herself daughter of the 5th Earl Fitzwilliam), as Francis Simpson he joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in the training ship in 1862. He was posted to the sloop on the Australia Station in 1868 and, having been promoted to sub-lieutenant in 1869 and to lieutenant on 8 April 1873, he specialised in gunnery. He was posted to the corvette on the China Station as gunnery officer in 1874 and then to the battleship in the Mediterranean Fleet also as gunnery officer. Promoted to commander on 30 June 1884, he joined the battleship on the Pacific Station in 1885 and then went to the gunnery training ship in 1888.
He was promoted to captain on 1 January 1890, and that year requested he be referred to as Bridgeman-Simpson. He became Captain of the battleship and Flag Captain of the Mediterranean Fleet in October 1893.
Having shortened his name to Bridgeman in 1896, he became Flag Captain at Portsmouth Command in September 1897. Appointed Naval Aide-de-Camp to the King on 24 May 1901, he was in June 1902 posted to for service during the 1902 Coronation Fleet review, but the appointment was cancelled when the coronation was postponed. He was given command of the armoured cruiser on its first commission in January 1903, and was appointed a Member of the 4th Class of the Royal Victorian Order on 5 May 1903. Promoted to rear admiral on 12 August 1903, he became Second-in-Command of the Channel Fleet in June 1904, Second-in-Command of the Atlantic Fleet in December 1904 and Second-in-Command of the Mediterranean Fleet in March 1906.
Promoted to vice admiral on 20 February 1907 and advanced to Commander of the Royal Victorian Order on 27 February 1907, Bridgeman went on to be Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet in March 1907, hoisting his flag in the battleship and then in the battleship . Having been advanced to Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order on 3 August 1907 and appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 26 June 1908, he became Second Sea Lord in March 1909. Having taken part in the funeral of King Edward VII in May 1910, he became Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet again in March 1911. He was promoted to full admiral on 12 April 1911 and was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order on 24 June 1911.