In the short story The Submarine Plans, Admiral Sir Harry Weardale is the First Sea Lord, the professional head of the Royal Navy. In the story, he is a guest of Lord Alloway at his country home at Sharples when the plans for the new z-class submarine were stolen.
Sir Harry had a direct and no-nonsense attitude. He disagreed openly with Lord Alloway, his superior, who claimed he saw the shadow of a person cross the terrace and run off. Sir Harry said he had spent a lifetime at sea and would back his eyes against that of any landsman. All that had happened was that Alloway's imagination had played a trick on him.
Captain Hastings took an instant liking to the admiral. He considered him a "square, bluff sailor of the good old-fashioned type."