Rear-Admiral Henry Evelyn Charles Blagrove (26 April 1887 – 14 October 1939) was the first British Royal Navy officer of flag rank to be killed in the Second World War. An experienced staff officer and veteran of several actions of the First World War aboard the battlecruiser , Blagrove had only just received his appointment as commander of the 2nd Battleship Squadron of the Home Fleet when he was killed in the destruction of his flagship by . Biography Early life Henry Blagrove was born to Colonel Henry John Blagrove, CB of the 13th Hussars and Alice Evelyn Blagrove née Boothby at Harbledown, Kent in April 1887. His family owned the Blagrove Estate in the Browns Town & Orange Valley of St Ann's Jamaica. It had formerly been a slave plantation. In 1901 aged 14 he entered naval service and trained at , joining as a midshipman in 1903 aged 17. Three years later Blagrove departed the ship as a sub-lieutenant and over the next three years earned promotion to full lieutenant aboard several ships, including , and , the latter being the first of many appointments aboard capital ships. First World War Following promotion to lieutenant in 1909, Blagrove saw brief service aboard , and the battleship , before taking a course ashore at Dartmouth College, where the outbreak of the First World War found him. At the conclusion of his studies in October 1914, Blagrove received appointment aboard , a newly completed ship in the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron under Admiral David Beatty. Tiger was commissioned only days before Blagrove joined her and due to recruitment shortages she had a poor crew made up by deserters from other ships. Three months after joining Tiger Blagrove saw his first action, as Tiger joined her sister ships in the Battle of Dogger Bank. Tiger fired several hundred shells during the action, but her overall performance was poor, scoring few hits and suffering the loss of ten men to German counter fire. Nevertheless, Tiger was involved in the battle's final moments as the stricken German armored cruiser heeled over and sank with nearly 800 lives. In late May 1916, a much improved Tiger became involved in the war's largest naval action, the Battle of Jutland. Tiger was engaged in the action from start to finish and despite the loss of three of her compatriots to German fire, Tiger escaped mortal damage, taking