Vice-Admiral Lancelot Ernest Holland, (13 September 1887 – 24 May 1941) was a Royal Navy officer who commanded the British force in the Battle of the Denmark Strait in May 1941 against the German battleship Bismarck. Holland was lost when he stayed at his post during the sinking of . Early life Lancelot Holland was one of six sons and a daughter of a doctor who was also a brewer for the firm Hunt Edmunds. He was born in Middleton Cheney and was raised in the Banbury area. He entered the Royal Navy on 15 May 1902. On leaving HMS Britannia in September 1903, he was drafted to the China Station to join . He served in the Far East until August 1905. The latter part of his time there was spent in . Returning home, Holland saw brief service during the summer of 1908 in the Admiralty surveying ship HMS Research. However, the surveying service proved not to be Holland's forte and three years later on 14 September 1911 the young Lieutenant Holland joined , the Royal Navy's gunnery school at Whale Island, Portsmouth to start the 'Long Course' which would qualify him as a lieutenant (G). Having qualified as a gunnery lieutenant and gone on to take the advanced gunnery course at Greenwich, Holland spent the First World War in a teaching role aboard HMS Excellent. After the war he was promoted to commander on 31 December 1919 and captain on 30 June 1926. During the period May 1929 to February 1931, Holland was flag captain to the 2nd Cruiser Squadron, aboard . From May 1931 to September 1932, Holland headed the British Naval Mission to Greece. He was subsequently flag captain aboard the battleship from July 1934 to July 1935. Senior officer After a stint as naval aide-de-camp to King George VI in 1937, Holland became Assistant Chief of Naval Staff and then, following promotion to rear admiral, commander of the 2nd Battle Squadron in January 1939. In September, following the outbreak of the Second World War, he was appointed Rear Admiral Commanding, Channel Force. He then became Admiralty representative at the Air Ministry. He was promoted to vice admiral, backdated to August 1940, after commanding Cruiser Force H during the Battle of Cape Spartivento on 27 November. Second World War From November 1940, Holland commanded the 18th Cruiser Squadron, serving in the Mediterranean. During the course