Admiral of the Fleet Sir Alfred Dudley Pickman Rogers Pound, (29 August 1877 – 21 October 1943) was a British senior officer of the Royal Navy. He served in the First World War as a battleship commander, taking part in the Battle of Jutland with notable success, contributing to the sinking of the German cruiser . He served as First Sea Lord, the professional head of the Royal Navy, for the first four years of the Second World War. In that role his greatest achievement was his successful campaign against the German U-boats and the winning of the Battle of the Atlantic but his judgment has been questioned over the failed Norwegian Campaign in 1940, and his dismissal of Admiral Dudley North in 1940. His order in July 1942 to disperse Convoy PQ 17 and withdraw its covering forces, to counter a threat from heavy German surface ships, led to its destruction by submarines and aircraft. His health failed in 1943 and he resigned, dying shortly thereafter. Early life Born the son of Alfred John Pound, an Eton-educated barrister, by his marriage to Elizabeth Pickman Rogers, an American from Boston, Pound's maternal grandfather was Richard Saltonstall Rogers, but was also descended on his mother's side from Dudley Leavitt Pickman, an early Salem, Massachusetts, merchant. He was educated at Fonthill School in East Grinstead, Sussex. Early career Pound joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in the training ship HMS Britannia in January 1891 and was posted as a midshipman to the battleship in the Channel Squadron in January 1893. He transferred to the cruiser in May 1894 on the China Station and then joined in the Training Squadron. Promoted to sub-lieutenant on 29 August 1896, he joined the destroyer in October 1897 and the battleship in January 1898. Promoted to lieutenant on 29 August 1898, he joined the torpedo school in September 1899 and qualified as a torpedo specialist in December 1901. He served as a torpedo officer in the cruiser on the Pacific Station before transferring to the battleship in the Atlantic Fleet in January 1905 and then to the battleship in the Mediterranean Fleet in March 1907. Pound joined the staff at the Ordnance Department of the Admiralty in January 1909 and then, having been promoted to commander on 30 June 1909, he transferred to the battleship in the Home Fleet in May 1911. He joined the staff