William Boyle, 12th Earl of Cork and Orrery

Who was William Boyle, 12th Earl of Cork and Orrery?

Admiral of the Fleet William Henry Dudley Boyle, 12th Earl of Cork, 12th Earl of Orrery GCB GCVO RN was a career Royal Navy officer who had achieved the rank of full Admiral before succeeding a cousin in 1934 to the family titles, chief of which is Earl of Cork. He was, at the time, serving as Commander-in-Chief of the British Home Fleet. His life is of interest as he was a member of a somewhat impoverished branch of the British aristocracy and had an active career spanning some 54 years in the Royal Navy throughout the last years of the era when his country was the supreme naval power.