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94-640: SS San Flaviano was a British oil tanker owned by Eagle Oil and Shipping Company , a British subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell . She was built by Cammell Laird in England in 1956 and attacked and sunk by the CIA in Borneo in 1958. San Flaviano had a sister ship , San Fortunato , built by Cammell Laird in the same year. The two ships were part of a substantial investment programme to renew Eagle Oil's fleet with larger and more modern tankers. Between 1950 and 1960

188-761: A French veto of the United Kingdom's entry into the European Economic Community and independent French acquisition of nuclear weapons in 1960 . Near the end of his premiership, his government was rocked by the Vassall Tribunal and the Profumo affair , which to cultural conservatives and supporters of opposing parties alike seemed to symbolise moral decay of the British establishment. Following his resignation, Macmillan lived out

282-469: A bulwark against Soviet totalitarianism and to prevent a recurrence of the horrors of Nazi rule. Although Macmillan played an important role in drafting the " Industrial Charter " ("Crossbencher" in the Sunday Express called it the second edition of The Middle Way ) he now, as MP for a safe seat, adopted a somewhat more right-wing public persona, defending private enterprise and fiercely opposing

376-536: A collision with a submerged object while inward bound on 13 October 1929. Completed by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd., Newcastle in December 1912 Torpedoed off Stornoway but it was quickly towed in and repaired for service on 10 March 1917 Arrived at Port Glasgow to be scrapped by Smith & Houston Ltd in 1934. Completed by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd., Newcastle in April 1913. Mined in

470-659: A long retirement as an elder statesman, being an active member of the House of Lords in his final years. He died in December 1986 at the age of 92. Macmillan was born on 10 February 1894, at 52 Cadogan Place in Chelsea , London, to Maurice Crawford Macmillan, a publisher, and the former Helen (Nellie) Artie Tarleton Belles, an artist and socialite from Spencer, Indiana . He had two brothers, Daniel, eight years his senior, and Arthur, four years his senior. His paternal grandfather, Daniel MacMillan , who founded Macmillan Publishers ,

564-645: A mine and sank in the North Sea off the Moray Firth . San Casimiro (8,045 tons) and San Conrado (7,982 tons) were sister ships launched by Blythswood at Scotstoun in 1936. San Casimiro was captured off Cape Race , Newfoundland by the German battleship Gneisenau on 15 March 1941 and scuttled off the Azores five days later. San Conrado was bombed and sunk by enemy aircraft off The Smalls on

658-580: A move which Churchill favoured. In June 1944 he argued for a British-led thrust up the Ljubljana Gap into Central Europe (Operation "Armpit") instead of the planned diversion of US and Free French forces to the South of France ( Operation Dragoon ). This proposal impressed Churchill and General Alexander , but did not meet with American approval. Eden sent out Robert Dixon to abolish the job of Resident Minister, there being then no job for Macmillan back in

752-634: A narrow escape in the same air raid. Another 24 from San Flaviano followed a few days later on MV  Dromus , leaving the Master (Captain Jack Bright) and his senior officers as the only people from San Flaviano still in Balikpapan. In June 1958 both the Indonesian and UK governments claimed that the aircraft had been flown by Indonesian rebels . In fact only the radio operator was from

846-690: A particular target in Germany's economic warfare against the Allies. Enemy action sank 17 Eagle Oil ships, killing at least 206 officers, men and DEMS gunners. San Calisto (8,018 tons) was launched by Lithgows on the Clyde in 1937. On 2 December 1939 she struck a mine off the Tongue Lightship in the Thames Estuary and sank with the loss of six men. On 4 May 1940 San Tiburcio struck

940-734: A pro-British regime to remain in power, as Churchill had demanded in the Percentages agreement the previous autumn. In 1947 the US would take over Britain's role as "protector" of Greece and Turkey, to keep the Soviets out of the Mediterranean, the so-called " Truman Doctrine ". Macmillan was also the minister advising General Keightley of V Corps , the senior Allied commander in Austria responsible for Operation Keelhaul , which included

1034-418: A public career even for the "innocent party". Macmillan and Lady Dorothy lived largely separate lives in private thereafter. The stress caused by that may have contributed to Macmillan's nervous breakdown in 1931. He was often treated with condescension by his aristocratic in-laws and was observed to be a sad and isolated figure at Chatsworth in the 1930s. John Campbell suggests that Macmillan's humiliation

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1128-615: A series of operations. He was still on crutches at the Armistice of 11 November 1918 . His hip wound took four years to heal completely, and he was left with a slight shuffle to his walk and a limp grip in his right hand from his previous wound, which affected his handwriting. Macmillan saw himself as both a "gownsman" and a "swordsman" and would later display open contempt for other politicians (e.g. Rab Butler , Hugh Gaitskell , Harold Wilson ) who, often through no fault of their own, had not seen military service in either World War. Of

1222-620: A successful civil engineering contractor, S. Pearson and Sons , that had contracts in Mexico from 1889. He initiated oil prospecting there in 1901 and founded the Mexican Eagle Petroleum Company in 1909, which had its first major oil strike in 1910 (near Tampico on the Gulf of Mexico coast). Before Pearson struck oil, he started to order oil tankers to carry the oil that he hoped to produce. Armstrong Whitworth on

1316-555: A tank and was under sniper fire at the British Embassy. Despite the hostility of large sections of British and American opinion, who were sympathetic to the guerrillas and hostile to what was seen as imperialist behaviour, he persuaded a reluctant Churchill, who visited Athens later in the month, to accept Archbishop Damaskinos as Regent on behalf of the exiled King George II . A truce was negotiated in January 1945, enabling

1410-799: The Anglo-Mexican Petroleum Company in the UK to sell Mexican Eagle's products outside Mexico. Eagle Oil Transport immediately ordered 20 modern steam tankers at a cost of £ 3 million. The company gave all the ships the Spanish names of Christian saints , most of them ending in "o" . Swan Hunter launched San Dunstano (6,238 tons) and San Eduardo (6,225 tons) in 1912, San Fraterno (11,929 tons) San Silvestre (6,223 tons), San Tirso (6,236 tons) and San Gregorio (12,093 tons) in 1913 and San Lorenzo (12,097 tons) in 1914. Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company , also on

1504-803: The Battle of the Somme ) in September 1916, he was severely wounded, and lay for over twelve hours in a shell hole, sometimes feigning death when Germans passed, and reading Aeschylus in the original Greek . Raymond Asquith , eldest son of the prime minister, was a brother officer in Macmillan's regiment and was killed that month. Macmillan spent the final two years of the war in King Edward VII's Hospital in Grosvenor Gardens undergoing

1598-847: The Dominican Republic in the Caribbean with the loss of 26 lives. In 1942 the Ministry of War Transport placed the Empire ships Empire Airman , Empire Cobbett and Empire Norseman under Eagle Oil and Shipping's management. In 1943 two U-boats torpedoed and sank Empire Norseman (9,811 tons) in the Atlantic south of the Azores. After the Second World War the company bought Empire Airman and Empire Cobbett from

1692-577: The East Kalimantan Province of Borneo , when a Douglas B-26 Invader bomber aircraft, flown by the CIA and painted black and with no markings, bombed and sank her. San Flaviano had nearly finished discharging a cargo of crude oil, leaving her tanks full of highly flammable gas. The CIA aircraft hit San Flaviano with one or more 500-pound (227-kg) bombs amidships on her starboard side. Fire and explosions spread rapidly along that side of

1786-655: The Firth of Forth and beached on the 11th February 1917, later to be repaired and returned to service. Sank in the Straits of Magellan on 29 July 1927 after striking a rock off of Carlos Island while on passage from Buenos Aires to San Pedro . Completed by Armstrong Whitworth & Co. Ltd. , Newcastle in June 1913. Seized by the Mexican Government in 1939 and transferred to Petroleos Mexicanos S.A. , where it

1880-698: The Free French leader Charles de Gaulle . Macmillan wrote in his diary during the Casablanca conference: "I christened the two personalities the Emperor of the East and the Emperor of the West and indeed it was rather like a meeting of the late Roman empire". For Macmillan, the "remarkable and romantic episodes" as President Roosevelt met Prime Minister Churchill in Casablanca convinced him that personal diplomacy

1974-472: The Free French government in Algeria (after the liberation of mainland France , he later continued as Ambassador to France from November 1944) and Noel Charles as Ambassador to Italy to reduce Macmillan's influence. In May 1944 Macmillan infuriated Eden by demanding an early peace treaty with Italy (at that time a pro-Allied regime under Badoglio held some power in the southern, liberated, part of Italy),

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2068-517: The House of Commons for his old seat in 1931 . Macmillan spent the 1930s on the backbenches. In March 1932 he published "The State and Industry" (not to be confused with his earlier pamphlet "Industry and the State"). In September 1932 he made his first visit to the Soviet Union. Macmillan also published "The Next Step". He advocated cheap money and state direction of investment . In 1933 he

2162-537: The Permesta rebels in North Sulawesi . The B-26, its 500 lb (230 kg) bombs and its pilot, former United States Army Air Forces officer William H. Beale , were sent by the CIA as part of US covert support for the rebellion. The CIA pilots had orders to target commercial shipping to drive foreign merchant ships away from Indonesian waters, thereby weakening the Indonesian economy and destabilising

2256-583: The River Mersey . In April 1958 a Douglas B-26 Invader bomber aircraft, painted black and with no markings, bombed and sank San Flaviano in Balikpapan Harbour, Borneo , killing two of her crew. The aircraft, its bombs and its pilot, William H. Beale , were sent by the CIA as part of US covert support for the Permesta rebellion in North Sulawesi . UK Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and Foreign Secretary Selwyn Lloyd supported

2350-953: The River Tees , San Alberto (7,397 tons) launched by Lithgows on the River Clyde , San Alvaro (7,385 tons) launched by Swan Hunter, San Amado (7,316 tons) launched by the Blythswood Shipbuilding Company on the Clyde, San Ambrosio (7,410 tons) launched by Hawthorn Leslie and Company on the Tyne and San Arcadio (7,419 tons) launched by Harland and Wolff in Belfast , Northern Ireland. New additions continued until 1939, when Lithgows launched San Eliseo (8,042 tons), Harland and Wolff launched San Emiliano (8,071 tons) and Furness Shipbuilding launched San Ernesto (8,078 tons). Eagle Oil and Shipping

2444-560: The River Tyne launched San Cristobal (2,041 tons) in 1906 and Swan Hunter , also on Tyneside, launched San Antonio (5,251 tons) in 1909. Pearson also bought James Brand (3,907 tons), which had been built by Armstrong Whitworth in 1893, and renamed her San Bernardo . In 1912 Pearson founded the Eagle Oil Transport Company in the UK to take over his ships and carry Mexican Eagle's products. He also founded

2538-719: The River Wear and Armstrong Whitworth launched San Claudio (2,712 tons). In 1919 Viscount Cowdray sold his group of oil companies to Royal Dutch Shell . Eagle Oil Transport renewed and expanded its fleet, and some of the new ships were very large by the standards of the day. Armstrong Whitworth launched San Fernando (13,056 tons) in 1919, San Felix (13,037 tons) in 1921 and San Fabian (13,013 tons) in 1922. Swan Hunter launched San Florentino (12,842 tons) in 1919 and Palmers launched San Gaspar (12,910 tons) in 1921 and San Gerardo (12,915 tons) in 1922. Eagle Oil also bought new medium-sized tankers. Swan Hunter built

2632-671: The appeasement of Germany practised by the Conservative government. He rose to high office during the Second World War as a protégé of Prime Minister Winston Churchill . In the 1950s Macmillan served as Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer under Anthony Eden . When Eden resigned in 1957 following the Suez Crisis , Macmillan succeeded him as prime minister and Leader of the Conservative Party . He

2726-809: The decolonisation of Africa. Reconfiguring the nation's defences to meet the realities of the nuclear age, he ended National Service , strengthened the nuclear forces by acquiring Polaris , and pioneered the Nuclear Test Ban with the United States and the Soviet Union. After the Skybolt Crisis undermined the Anglo-American strategic relationship, he sought a more active role for Britain in Europe, but his unwillingness to disclose United States nuclear secrets to France contributed to

2820-516: The CIA involvement of which both governments were well aware. The CIA pilots had orders to target commercial shipping in order to frighten foreign merchant ships away from Indonesian waters, thereby weakening the Indonesian economy and destabilising the Indonesian government of President Sukarno . In this they were at least partly successful: Royal Dutch Shell suspended its tanker service to Balikpapan and evacuated shore-based wives and families to Singapore . Several new ships delivered to Eagle Oil in

2914-571: The Cabinet list, was a poisoned chalice, writing in his diary (28 October 1951) that it was "not my cup of tea at all ... I really haven't a clue how to set about the job". It meant obtaining scarce steel, cement and timber when the Treasury were trying to maximise exports and minimise imports. 'It is a gamble—it will make or mar your political career,' Churchill said, 'but every humble home will bless your name if you succeed.' By July 1952 Macmillan

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3008-699: The Conservatives faced landslide defeat after the war, causing Channon to write (6 Sep 1944) of "the foolish prophecy of that nice ass Harold Macmillan". In October 1942 Harold Nicolson recorded Macmillan as predicting "extreme socialism" after the war. Macmillan nearly resigned when Oliver Stanley was appointed Secretary of State in November 1942, as he would no longer be the spokesman in the Commons as he had been under Cranborne. Brendan Bracken advised him not to quit. After Harry Crookshank had refused

3102-463: The Duke's daughter Lady Dorothy was announced on 7 January 1920. He relinquished his commission on 1 April 1920. As was common for contemporary former officers, he continued to be known as 'Captain Macmillan' until the early 1930s and was listed as such in every general election between 1923 and 1931. As late as his North African posting of 1942–43 he reminded Churchill that he held the rank of captain in

3196-570: The Elder . Her nephew William Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington , married Kathleen Kennedy , a sister of John F. Kennedy . In 1929, Lady Dorothy began a lifelong affair with the Conservative politician Robert Boothby , an arrangement that scandalised high society but remained unknown to the general public. Philip Frere, a partner in Frere Cholmely solicitors, urged Macmillan not to divorce his wife, which at that time would have been fatal to

3290-714: The First World War. On 3 August 1914 San Wilfrido struck a mine and sank off Cuxhaven in the North Sea, making her the first merchant ship sunk in the First World War . German submarines torpedoed and sank San Hilario in April 1917 and San Urbano and San Onofre in May 1917, all in the North Atlantic to the west of Ireland. In 1915 the company had bought a dry cargo steamship , Drumlanrig , which

3384-443: The Greeks in the American empire. You will find the Americans much as the Greeks found the Romans—great big, vulgar bustling people, more vigorous than we are and also more idle, with more unspoiled virtues, but also more corrupt. We must run AFHQ ( Allied Forces Headquarters ) as the Greek slaves ran the operations of the Emperor Claudius ". At the Casablanca Conference Macmillan helped to secure US acceptance, if not recognition, of

3478-417: The Guards reserve. On his return to London in 1920 he joined the family publishing firm Macmillan Publishers as a junior partner. In 1936, Harold and his brother Daniel took control of the firm, with the former focusing on the political and non-fiction side of the business. Harold resigned from the company on appointment to ministerial office in 1940. He resumed working with the firm from 1945 to 1951 when

3572-451: The House of Commons Chamber. Macmillan finally attained office by serving in the wartime coalition government as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Supply from 1940. Channon commented (29 May 1940) that there was "some amusement over Harold Macmillan's so obvious enjoyment of his new position". Macmillan's job was to provide armaments and other equipment to the British Army and Royal Air Force . He travelled up and down

3666-460: The Indonesian government of President Sukarno . Shell's suspension of operations and partial evacuation of personnel was exactly what the CIA attack was intended to achieve. For some months previously, UK Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and Foreign Secretary Selwyn Lloyd had supported US policy to aid Permesta. On 6 May 1958, more than a week after the CIA sank San Flaviano , Lloyd secretly told US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles that this

3760-402: The Italian armistice in August 1943, between the fall of Sicily and the Salerno Landings . This caused friction with Eden and the Foreign Office. He was based at Caserta for the rest of the war. He was appointed UK High Commissioner for the Advisory Council for Italy late in 1943. He visited London in October 1943 and again clashed with Eden. Eden appointed Duff Cooper as Representative to

3854-439: The Labour government in the House of Commons. With the Conservative victory in 1951 Macmillan became Minister of Housing & Local Government under Churchill, who entrusted him with fulfilling the pledge to build 300,000 houses per year (up from the previous target of 200,000 a year), made in response to a speech from the floor at the 1950 Party Conference. Macmillan thought at first that Housing, which ranked 13 out of 16 in

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3948-399: The Liberal vote let him win in 1924 . In 1927, four MPs, including Boothby and Macmillan, published a short book advocating radical measures. In 1928, Macmillan was described by his political hero, and now Parliamentary colleague, David Lloyd George, as a "born rebel". Macmillan lost his seat in 1929 in the face of high regional unemployment. He almost became Conservative candidate for

4042-435: The Mediterranean (SACMED), which proved helpful in his career, and Richard Crossman later recalled that Macmillan's "Greeks in the Roman Empire" metaphor dated from this time (i.e., that as the US replaced Britain as the world's leading power, British politicians and diplomats should aim to guide her in the same way that Greek slaves and freedmen had advised powerful Romans). Macmillan told Crossman: "We, my dear Crossman, are

4136-471: The November 1945 by-election in Bromley . In his diary Harold Nicolson noted the feelings of the Tory backbenchers: "They feel that Winston is too old and Anthony (Eden) too weak. They want Harold Macmillan to lead them." He was a member of the British delegation to the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe from 1949 to 1951, and played a prominent role – as a key aide and ally of Winston Churchill – in pressing for greater European integration as

4230-568: The Tyne, launched San Hilario (10,157 tons) and San Valerio (6,493 tons) in 1913 and San Melito (12,286 tons) in 1914. William Doxford & Sons launched San Jeronimo (12,398 tons), San Nazario (12,029 tons) and San Zeferino (6,433 tons) in 1914. Armstrong Whitworth launched San Ricardo (6,465 tons) and San Urbano (6,458 tons) in 1913, San Wilfrido (6,458 tons), San Isidoro (9,718 tons) and San Onofre (9,717 tons) in 1914 and San Patricio (12,092 tons) in 1915. Eagle Oil Transport suffered significant war losses in

4324-440: The UK, but he managed to prevent his job being abolished. Churchill visited Italy in August 1944. On 14 September 1944 Macmillan was appointed Chief Commissioner of the Allied Control Commission for Italy (in succession to General Noel Mason-MacFarlane ). He continued to be British Minister Resident at Allied Headquarters and British political adviser to "Jumbo" Wilson , now Supreme Commander, Mediterranean. On 10 November 1944 he

4418-452: The US policy to supply Permesta and on 6 May 1958, more than a week after the CIA sank San Flaviano , Lloyd secretly told US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles that this was still his position. On 18 May, Indonesian forces shot down a different Permesta B-26 and captured its CIA pilot, Allen Pope . Nevertheless, in June 1958 both Indonesia and the UK publicly claimed that the aircraft had been flown by Indonesian rebels , concealing

4512-645: The War Standard Type Z tanker War Kookri (5,582 tons) for the UK Shipping Controller , but when she was launched in 1919 Cowdray bought her and renamed her San Zotico . Cowdray then turned to the US for new ships of this size. Standard Shipbuilding Company of Shooters Island , New York launched San Teodoro (6,137 tons), San Tiburcio (5,995 tons) and San Ubaldo (5,999 tons) in 1921. After 1921 Cowdray reverted to UK shipyards. Armstrong Whitworth launched San Roberto (5,890 tons) and San Rosendo (5,891 tons) in 1922, San Quirino (5,843 tons) in 1923 and San Salvador (5,805 tons) in 1924. In 1927 San Fraterno

4606-565: The War, Eagle Oil bought two US-built T2 tankers : Bryce Canyon in 1948 and Laurel Hill in 1949. The company renamed them San Leonardo and San Leopoldo respectively and kept them in service until 1961. Between 1950 and 1960 Eagle Oil acquired at least 16 new tankers. Two of the earliest were a second San Salvador (10,802 tons) and a second San Silvestre (10,953 tons), both launched by Furness Shipbuilding in 1950. Later ships included San Flaviano (12,278 tons) and San Fortunato (12,257 tons), both launched in 1956 by Cammell Laird on

4700-587: The actress wife of Irish dramatist Seán O'Casey , was another female friend, Macmillan publishing her husband's plays. Although she is said to have replaced Lady Dorothy in Macmillan's affections, there is disagreement over how intimate they became after the deaths of their respective spouses, and whether he proposed. Macmillan contested the depressed northern industrial constituency of Stockton-on-Tees in 1923 . The campaign cost him about £200-£300 out of his own pocket; at that time candidates were often expected to fund their own election campaigns. The collapse in

4794-406: The coast of west Wales on 1 April 1941. San Demetrio (8,073 tons), which Blythswood had launched at Port Glasgow in 1938, became famous for surviving a naval bombardment by the German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer in 1940. San Demetrio ' s crew succeeded in extinguishing the resultant fire and bringing the ship and her cargo of aviation spirit to Glasgow , Scotland. San Demetrio

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4888-411: The company took delivery of at least 16 new tankers. Cammell Laird built San Flaviano as yard number 1242. She was launched on 12 June 1956 and completed that September. Her registered length was 556.9 ft (169.7 m), her beam was 69.5 ft (21.2 m) and her depth was 39.0 ft (11.9 m). Her tonnages were 12,278  GRT , 6,953  NRT and 18,219  DWT . San Flaviano

4982-465: The country to co-ordinate production, working with some success under Lord Beaverbrook to increase the supply and quality of armoured vehicles . Macmillan was appointed Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies in 1942, in his own words "leaving a madhouse to enter a mausoleum". Though a junior minister he was a member of the Privy Council , and he spoke in the House of Commons for Colonial Secretaries Lord Moyne and Lord Cranborne . Macmillan

5076-442: The daughter of the 9th Duke of Devonshire , on 21 April 1920. Her great-uncle was Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire , who was leader of the Liberal Party in the 1870s, and a close colleague of William Ewart Gladstone , Joseph Chamberlain and Lord Salisbury . Lady Dorothy was also descended from William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire , who served as prime minister from 1756 to 1757 in communion with Newcastle and Pitt

5170-456: The eastern coast of the US with the loss of 51 lives. On 9 April 1942 U-203 torpedoed and sank San Delfino (8,072 tons) in the North Atlantic off Cape Hatteras, USA with the loss of 28 lives. On 17 May 1942 U-155 torpedoed and sank San Demetrio ' s sister ship San Victorio in the eastern Caribbean southwest of Grenada with the loss of 52 lives. On 27 August 1942 U-511 torpedoed and sank San Fabian between Jamaica and

5264-632: The end of 1918 Macmillan joined the Guards Reserve Battalion at Chelsea Barracks for "light duties". On one occasion he had to command reliable troops in a nearby park as a unit of Guardsmen was briefly refusing to reembark for France, although the incident was resolved peacefully. The incident prompted an inquiry from the War Office as to whether the Guards Reserve Battalion "could be relied on". Macmillan then served in Ottawa , Canada, in 1919 as aide-de-camp (ADC) to Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire , then Governor General of Canada , and his future father-in-law. The engagement of Captain Macmillan to

5358-445: The event of defeat. Macmillan returned to England after the European war, feeling himself 'almost a stranger at home'. He was Secretary of State for Air for two months in Churchill's caretaker government , 'much of which was taken up in electioneering', there being 'nothing much to be done in the way of forward planning'. Macmillan indeed lost Stockton in the landslide Labour victory of July 1945 , but returned to Parliament in

5452-585: The forced repatriation of up to 70,000 prisoners of war to the Soviet Union and Josip Broz Tito 's Yugoslavia in 1945. The deportations and Macmillan's involvement later became a source of controversy because of the harsh treatment meted out to Nazi collaborators and anti-partisans by the receiving countries, and because in the confusion V Corps went beyond the terms agreed at Yalta and Allied Forces Headquarters directives by repatriating 4000 White Russian troops and 11,000 civilian family members. Macmillan toyed with an offer to succeed Duff Cooper as MP for

5546-414: The independent candidate, Lindsay , at the 1938 Oxford by-election . He wrote a pamphlet "The Price of Peace" calling for alliance between Britain, France and the USSR, but expecting Poland to make territorial "accommodation" to Germany (i.e. give up the Danzig corridor ). In "Economic Aspects of Defence", early in 1939, he called for a Ministry of Supply. Macmillan visited Finland in February 1940, then

5640-474: The job, Macmillan attained real power and Cabinet rank late in 1942 as British Minister Resident at Algiers in the Mediterranean, recently liberated in Operation Torch . He reported directly to the Prime Minister instead of to the Foreign Secretary , Anthony Eden . Oliver Lyttelton had a similar job at Cairo, while Robert Murphy was Macmillan's US counterpart. Macmillan built a rapport with US General Dwight D. Eisenhower , then Supreme Allied Commander in

5734-471: The later 1950s were in the order of 18,000 to 19,500 tons. One of the last new ships to be delivered for the fleet was also one of the largest; the second San Conrado (34,750 tons), launched by Furness Shipbuilding in 1960. By then Royal Dutch Shell had absorbed Eagle Oil and Shipping, which ceased to be a separate member of the group in 1959. Completed by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd., Newcastle in July 1912. Sank off Tampico after being in

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5828-446: The leadership of both the Labour and Conservative parties. Macmillan supported Chamberlain's first flight for talks with Hitler at Berchtesgaden, but not his subsequent flights to Bad Godesberg and Munich. After Munich he was looking for a "1931 in reverse", i.e. a Labour-dominated coalition in which some Conservatives would serve, the reverse of the Conservative-dominated coalition which had governed Britain since 1931. He supported

5922-488: The lifting of sanctions on Italy after her conquest of Abyssinia . "Chips" Channon described him as the "unprepossessing, bookish, eccentric member for Stockton-on-Tees" and recorded (8 July 1936) that he had been sent a "frigid note" by Conservative Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin . Baldwin later mentioned that he had survived by steering a middle course between Macmillan and John Gretton , an extreme right-winger. The Next Five Years Group, to which Macmillan had belonged,

6016-441: The ministry, renamed them San Wenceslao and San Wilfrido respectively and kept them in service until 1959. During the war Eagle Oil and Shipping bought several new tankers to replace war losses. Harland and Wolff launched San Veronico (8,198 tons) and San Vulframo (8,167 tons) in 1942 and San Vito (8,163 tons) in 1943. Hawthorn Leslie launched San Venancio (8,152 tons) in 1942 and San Velino (8,210 tons) in 1944. After

6110-415: The nation it had "never had it so good", but warned of the dangers of inflation, summing up the fragile prosperity of the 1950s. He led the Conservatives to success in 1959 with an increased majority. In international affairs, Macmillan worked to rebuild the Special Relationship with the United States from the wreckage of the 1956 Suez Crisis (of which he had been one of the architects), and facilitated

6204-505: The party was in opposition. According to Michael Bloch , there have long been rumours that Macmillan was expelled from Eton for homosexuality. Macmillan's biographer D. R. Thorpe is of the view that he was removed by his mother when she discovered that he was being "used" by older boys. Dick Leonard reports that Alistair Horne refers to "inevitable rumours" and that "he left for the 'usual reasons' for boys to be expelled from public schools". Macmillan married Lady Dorothy Cavendish ,

6298-410: The right hand and receiving a glancing bullet wound to the head in the Battle of Loos in September 1915, Macmillan was sent to Lennox Gardens in Chelsea for hospital treatment, then joined a reserve battalion at Chelsea Barracks from January to March 1916, until his hand had healed. He then returned to the front lines in France. Leading an advance platoon in the Battle of Flers–Courcelette (part of

6392-408: The safe Conservative seat of Westminster St George's . Criticised locally for his long absence, he suggested that Lady Dorothy stand for Stockton in 1945, as she had been nursing the seat for five years. She was apparently willing. However, it was thought better for him to be seen to defend his seat, and Lord Beaverbrook had already spoken to Churchill to arrange that Macmillan be given another seat in

6486-414: The safe seat of Hitchin in 1931. However the sitting MP, Guy Kindersley cancelled his retirement plans, in part because of his own association with the anti-Baldwin rebels and his suspicion of Macmillan's sympathy for Oswald Mosley 's promises of radical measures to reduce unemployment. Instead, the resignation of the new candidate at Stockton allowed Macmillan to be re-selected there, and he returned to

6580-414: The scholars and exhibitioners of his year, only he and one other survived the war. As a result, he refused to return to Oxford to complete his degree, saying the university would never be the same; in later years he joked that he had been "sent down by the Kaiser ". Owing to the impending contraction of the Army after the war, a regular commission in the Grenadiers was out of the question. However, at

6674-715: The ship, either destroying her starboard lifeboats or making them inaccessible. Nevertheless, her officers and crew launched both port lifeboats within four minutes, successfully evacuating everyone including a passenger, the Chief Officer's wife. San Flaviano sank near the entrance of Balikpapan harbour. In response, Royal Dutch Shell suspended its tanker service to Balikpapan and evacuated shore-based wives and families to Singapore. Most of San Flaviano ' s complement were also evacuated to Singapore, travelling on two oil tankers of Anglo-Saxon Petroleum , another of Royal Dutch Shell's British subsidiaries. The first 26 from San Flaviano left that same day on Daronia , which had had

6768-888: The subject of great sympathy in Britain as it was being invaded by the USSR , then loosely allied to Nazi Germany. His last speech from the backbenches was to attack the government for not doing enough to help Finland. Britain was saved from a potentially embarrassing commitment when the Winter War ended in March 1940. Macmillan voted against the Government in the Norway Debate of May 1940, helping to bring down Neville Chamberlain as prime minister, and tried to join in with Colonel Josiah Wedgwood singing " Rule, Britannia! " in

6862-479: The war not intervened. He obtained a First in Honour Moderations , informally known as 'Mods' (consisting of Latin and Greek, the first half of the four-year Oxford Literae Humaniores course, informally known as "Classics"), in 1914. With his final exams over two years away, he enjoyed an idyllic Trinity term at Oxford, just before the outbreak of the First World War. Volunteering as soon as war

6956-443: Was Third Scholar at Eton College , but his time there (1906–10) was blighted by recurrent illness, starting with a near-fatal attack of pneumonia in his first half (term); he missed his final year after being taken ill, and was taught at home by private tutors (1910–11), notably Ronald Knox , who did much to instil his High Church Anglicanism . He won an exhibition (scholarship) to Balliol College, Oxford . In his youth, he

7050-639: Was a One Nation Tory of the Disraelian tradition and supported the post-war consensus . He supported the welfare state and the necessity of a mixed economy with some nationalised industries and strong trade unions. He championed a Keynesian strategy of deficit spending to maintain demand and pursuit of corporatist policies to develop the domestic market as the engine of growth. Benefiting from favourable international conditions, he presided over an age of affluence , marked by low unemployment and high—if uneven—growth. In his speech of July 1957 he told

7144-529: Was a steamship . A pair of steam turbines drove her single screw . Her turbines' combined power output was rated at 8,250 SHP , giving her a speed of 14 kn (26 km/h). Eagle Oil registered San Flaviano in London . Her UK official number was 187459, which later became the IMO number 1187459. San Flaviano ' s career was cut short in 1958. On 28 April San Flaviano was in Balikpapan Harbour, in

7238-474: Was already criticising Butler (then Chancellor of the Exchequer) in his diary, accusing him of "dislik(ing) and fear(ing) him"; in fact there is no evidence that Butler regarded Macmillan as a rival at this stage. In April 1953 Beaverbrook encouraged Macmillan to think that in a future leadership contest he might emerge in a dead heat between Eden and Butler, as the young Beaverbrook (Max Aitken as he had been at

7332-650: Was also particularly impressed by a speech by Lloyd George at the Oxford Union Society in 1913, where he had become a member. Macmillan was a protégé of the president of the Union Society Walter Monckton , later a Cabinet colleague; as such, he became secretary then junior treasurer (elected unopposed in March 1914, then an unusual occurrence) of the Union, and would in his biographers' view "almost certainly" have been president had

7426-674: Was an admirer of the policies and leadership of a succession of Liberal prime ministers, starting with Henry Campbell-Bannerman , who came to power when Macmillan was 11 years old and H. H. Asquith , whom he later described as having "intellectual sincerity and moral nobility", and particularly of Asquith's successor, David Lloyd George , whom he regarded as a "man of action", likely to accomplish his goals. Macmillan went up to Balliol College in 1912, where he joined many political societies. His political opinions at this stage were an eclectic mix of moderate conservatism, moderate liberalism and Fabian socialism. He read avidly about Disraeli , but

7520-627: Was appointed Acting President of the Allied Commission (the Supreme Commander being President). Macmillan visited Greece on 11 December 1944. As the Germans had withdrawn, British troops under General Scobie had deployed to Athens, but there were concerns that the pro-communist Greek resistance, EAM and its military wing ELAS , would take power (see Dekemvriana ) or come into conflict with British troops. Macmillan rode in

7614-595: Was declared, Macmillan was commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant in the King's Royal Rifle Corps on 19 November 1914. Promoted to lieutenant on 30 January 1915, he soon transferred to the Grenadier Guards . He fought on the front lines in France , where the casualty rate was high, including the probability of an "early violent death". He served with distinction and was wounded on three occasions. Shot in

7708-449: Was first a major cause of his odd and rebellious behaviour in the 1930s then, in subsequent decades, made him a harder and more ruthless politician than his rivals Eden and Butler. The Macmillans had four children: Lady Dorothy died on 21 May 1966, aged 65. In old age, Macmillan was a close friend of Ava Anderson, Viscountess Waverley , née Bodley, the widow of John Anderson, 1st Viscount Waverley . Eileen O'Casey , née Reynolds,

7802-623: Was given responsibility for increasing colonial production and trade, and signalled the future policy direction when in June 1942 he declared: The governing principle of the Colonial Empire should be the principle of partnership between the various elements composing it. Out of partnership comes understanding and friendship. Within the fabric of the Commonwealth lies the future of the Colonial territories. Macmillan predicted that

7896-556: Was registered in the United Kingdom. Therefore, after 1938 although the Mexican government had nationalised Mexican Eagle Petroleum, Eagle Oil and Shipping remained a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell. After 1938 the fleet continued to carry oil from the Gulf of Mexico to the UK. During the Second World War the company played an important role in supplying petroleum and petroleum products to the United Kingdom. Oil tankers were

7990-684: Was renamed Santa Amalia . In December 1917 the German submarine SM  U-19 torpedoed and sank Santa Amalia in the North Atlantic to the west of Islay , with the loss of 43 officers and crew. San Zeferino was damaged by enemy action during the war. Eagle Oil Transport had at least one motor tanker by the end of the War; San Dario (1,137 tons), which had been launched in 1918 by Short Brothers of Sunderland . The company continued to buy new steam tankers until at least 1928, when J.L. Thompson and Sons launched San Casto (2,446 tons) on

8084-508: Was renamed to "18 de Marzo". Scrapping commenced in May 1964 in Astilleros de Veracruz, Veracruz Harold Macmillan Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton , (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Nicknamed " Supermac ", he was known for his pragmatism , wit, and unflappability . Macmillan

8178-518: Was repaired and returned to service, but the German submarine  U-404 torpedoed and sank her in the western Atlantic off Virginia on 17 March 1942 with the loss of 19 lives. On 2 October 1941 U-98 torpedoed and sank San Florentino north of the Azores with the loss of 22 lives. On 31 January 1942 U-107 torpedoed and sank San Arcadio north of Bermuda with the loss of 41 lives. On 31 March 1942 U-71 torpedoed and sank San Gerardo off

8272-477: Was seriously injured as an infantry officer during the First World War. He suffered pain and partial immobility for the rest of his life. After the war he joined his family book-publishing business , then entered Parliament at the 1924 general election for Stockton-on-Tees . Losing his seat in 1929, he regained it in 1931, soon after which he spoke out against the high rate of unemployment in Stockton. He opposed

8366-454: Was still his position. On 18 May, Indonesian forces shot down a different Permesta B-26 and captured its CIA pilot, Allen Pope . Nevertheless, in June 1958 both Indonesia and the UK publicly claimed that the aircraft had been flown by Indonesian rebels , concealing the CIA involvement of which both governments were well aware. Eagle Oil and Shipping Company Sir Weetman Pearson, Bart. (ennobled as Viscount Cowdray in 1910) headed

8460-472: Was the best way to deal with Americans, which later influenced his foreign policy as prime minister. On 22 February 1943, Macmillan was badly burned in a plane crash, trying to climb back into the plane to rescue a Frenchman. He had to have a plaster cast put on his face. In his delirium he imagined himself back in a Somme casualty clearing station and asked for a message to be passed to his mother, now dead. Together with Gladwyn Jebb he helped to negotiate

8554-417: Was the sole author of "Reconstruction: A Plea for a National Unity". In 1935 he was one of 15 MPs to write "Planning for Employment". His next publication, "The Next Five Years", was overshadowed by Lloyd George's proposed "New Deal" in 1935. Macmillan Press also published the work of the economist John Maynard Keynes . Macmillan resigned the government whip (but not the Conservative party one) in protest at

8648-711: Was the son of a Scottish crofter from the Isle of Arran . Macmillan considered himself a Scot. Macmillan received an intensive early education, closely guided by his American mother. He learned French at home every morning from a succession of nursery maids, and exercised daily at Mr Macpherson's Gymnasium and Dancing Academy, around the corner from the family home. From the age of six or seven he received introductory lessons in classical Latin and Greek at Mr Gladstone's day school , close by in Sloane Square . Macmillan attended Summer Fields School , Oxford (1903–06). He

8742-444: Was wound up in November 1937. His book The Middle Way appeared in June 1938, advocating a broadly centrist political philosophy both domestically and internationally. Macmillan took control of the magazine New Outlook and made sure it published political tracts rather than purely theoretical work. In 1936, Macmillan proposed the creation of a cross-party forum of antifascists to create democratic unity but his ideas were rejected by

8836-591: Was wrecked on a rock at Bonet Island in the Strait of Magellan and in 1929 San Dunstano was wrecked at the entrance to Tampico harbour. In about 1930 the Eagle Oil Transport Company was renamed the Eagle Oil and Shipping Company. In about 1935 the company started adding a new generation of motor tankers including San Adolfo (7,365 tons) launched by the Furness Shipbuilding Company on

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