Geoffrey Mackworth was born on 20 June 1879, the fifth son of Sir A Mackworth. He joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman on 15 July 1893. He is known to have served in the Channel Fleet as a lieutenant aboard the destroyer H.M.S. Arab (3rd Destroyer Flotilla) in 1906. He married Noel Mabel Langford in 1910.
He served during the First World War of 1914-1918. During this timeframe he was appointed to the rank of Commander. He received the D.S.O. and was mentioned in Despatches for his actions aboard H.M.S. Ferret during the battle of the Heligoland Bight. Between 1918 and 1921, he served in the Baltic as captain of H.M.S. Delhi and received the C.M.G. as a result.
From 1922-1924, he commanded the battle cruiser H.M.S. Hood under VADM Walter Cowan. Detailed review of the ship's logs as well as recollections of former crewmen show that both men were strict, often uneven and excessive disciplinarians. Mackworth in particular tended to over react to even the slightest infractions. He was particularly hard on Marines. This caused Hood to become a very unhappy ship during his tenure.
Mackworth left Hood in 1924 and subsequently served as the Captain of Dockyard, Devonport. He held this post until 1926. He was promoted to Rear-Admiral in 1930, and by 1935 had retired as a Vice-Admiral. He lived in Ivybridge, Devon until his death on 04 March 1952.
Sources and References
Who Was Who
ADM 53/78911 & ADM 53/78912- Ship's Logs, Mar 1921-10 Mar 1923
Various holdings of the H.M.S. Hood Association
Navy Lists (courtesy of J.N. Houterman)
The National Archives (ADMs 196/142, 196/91, 196/45 and 196/215)