Beatty, << BEE tee, >> David (1871-1936), First Earl Beatty of the North Sea and Brooksby, was a famous British naval officer. He commanded part of the force that stopped the German fleet in the Battle of Jutland in 1916. He accepted the surrender of the German Navy in 1918. Beatty served in the Admiralty as first sea lord from 1919 to 1927.
Beatty was born on Jan. 17, 1871, in Cheshire, England. He served in the Sudan under Lord Horatio Kitchener from 1896 to 1898, and in China during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. At 29, he became the youngest British naval captain in 100 years. He rose to rear admiral in 1910, and commanded the First Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet when World War I began. Beatty became commander in chief of the Grand Fleet in December 1916, and an admiral of the fleet in 1919. He died on March 11, 1936.
