Ernle Chatfield, 1st Baron Chatfield

Admiral of the Fleet The Right Honourable The Lord Chatfield GCB OM KCMG CVO PC DL
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Ernle Chatfield
Minister for Coordination of Defence
In office 29 January 1939 – 10 May 1940
Prime Minister	Neville Chamberlain
Preceded by	Sir Thomas Inskip
Succeeded by	Winston Churchill as Minister of Defence
Personal details
Born	(1873-09-27)27 September 1873 Southsea, Hampshire
Died	15 November 1967(1967-11-15) (aged 94) Farnham Common, Buckinghamshire
Military service
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch/service	Royal Navy
Years of service	1886–1938
Rank	Admiral of the Fleet
Commands	First Sea Lord Mediterranean Fleet Atlantic Fleet 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron HMS Queen Elizabeth HMS Iron Duke HMS Lion HMS Southampton HMS Aboukir RMS Medina HMS London HMS Albemarle
Battles/wars	First World War
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Member of the Order of Merit Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Commander of the Royal Victorian Order

Admiral of the Fleet Alfred Ernle Montacute Chatfield, 1st Baron Chatfield, GCB, OM, KCMG, CVO, PC, DL (27 September 1873 – 15 November 1967) was a Royal Navy officer. During the First World War he was present as Sir David Beatty's Flag-Captain at the Battle of Heligoland Bight in August 1914, at the Battle of Dogger Bank in January 1915 and at the Battle of Jutland in May 1916. After the war he became Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet and then Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet before serving as First Sea Lord in the mid-1930s in which role he won arguments that the Royal Navy should have 70 cruisers rather than the 50 cruisers that had been agreed at the Naval Conference of 1930, that the battleship still had an important role to play despite the development of the bomber and that the Fleet Air Arm should be part of the Royal Navy rather than the Royal Air Force. He subsequently served as Minister for Coordination of Defence in the early years of the Second World War.