Adrian Nance | |
|---|---|
| Allegiance | Great Britain |
| Service |  Royal Navy |
| Rank | Commodore |
| Commands | HMS Ark Royal 6th Frigate Squadron HMS ‘’Montrose’’ HMS Cardiff HMS Nottingham |
| Battles / wars | Falklands War First Gulf War |
| Awards | Officer of the Order of the British Empire |
Commodore (retired) Adrian Nance OBE is a former Royal Navy officer and founder of several startup companies, as well as an international charity called "Wings Like Eagles" which provides disaster relief in Africa.
Nance was educated at Eltham College and graduated from Birmingham University with a BSc in chemical engineering in 1976. [1]
Nance started his long association with naval operations and military aviation in 1978, achieving the rank of commodore by the end of his time in the navy. He survived the sinking of HMS Sheffield (D80) in the Falklands Conflict in 1982. [2] [3] HMS Sheffield was part of the task force sent to the Falkland Islands during the Falklands War. She was struck by an Exocet air-launched anti-ship missile from a Super Etendard aircraft belonging to the Argentine Navy on 4 May 1982 and foundered on 10 May 1982. Nance was awarded the South Atlantic Medal in 1982. He was twice the senior anti-air warfare officer for all British naval forces in the Tanker war, [2] and was awarded the General Service Medal (Gulf clasp). As a result of that high intensity front line experience, Nance became a senior trainer on the elite staff of the Flag Officer Sea Training, [2] and for 18 months he was the trainer of UK frigate, destroyer and aircraft carrier commanding officers, with other commanders from Holland, Germany, Portugal, Belgium and Italy. He was promoted to command of the destroyer HMS Nottingham in 1990, becoming one of the youngest commanding officers in the Royal Navy at the time. Later, Nance was appointed commander aboard the destroyer HMS Cardiff during the Gulf War, being awarded an OBE for his role. During the war, HMS Cardiff's Lynx helicopter claimed two Iraqi TNC-45 fast attack craft, two ZHUK fast patrol craft and one Landing Craft resupplying Iraqi forces in Saudi Arabia. [2]
Nance then commanded the 6th Frigate Squadron, the Navy's largest at the time, comprising 7 frigates based from HMS Montrose, from 1997 to 1998. After a brief stint at the Ministry of Defence, he was given the position of commanding officer of HMS Ark Royal from 2003 to 2004. [4] From 2004 to 2006, Nance was based at the Royal Navy Maritime Warfare School based in HMS Collingwood, training commanding officers and 20,000 other naval personnel per year. [2] [4] Nance was also involved in hosting dignitaries attending celebrations for the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar.
Overall, Nance served for 33 years in the Royal Navy. [2]
Since his retirement in 2006, Nance has worked on disaster relief activities in southern Africa, amongst other work. In 2007 he founded the charity Wings Like Eagles, who send relief to disasters in southern Africa. [1] Wings Like Eagles accompanied Mercy Air in providing help for people affected by cyclone Idai in Mozambique in 2019, [5] and also coordinated the disaster response air group with the UN, [6] which peaked at 23 aircraft. Nance's charity also helped provide aid after cyclone Eloise hit the East coast of Africa in 2021. [6] Nance also founded a helicopter company which owns a Bell Jet Ranger helicopter, based in South Africa, which aids in disaster relief and humanitarian work for the local area. [1]
In 2012, Nance and his wife, Barbara, opened the refurbished Sea Survival Training Centre in Portsmouth. [3]
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HMS Cardiff was a British Type 42 destroyer and the third ship of the Royal Navy to be named in honour of the Welsh capital city of Cardiff.
HMS Avenger was a Type 21 frigate of the Royal Navy. Built by Yarrow Shipbuilders Ltd, Glasgow, Scotland, she was completed with Exocet launchers in 'B' position.
RFA Olwen (A122) was an Ol-class "fast fleet tanker" of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), the naval auxiliary fleet of the United Kingdom. She was the lead ship of her class, and launched in 1964 as RFA Olynthus, the second ship to bear this name.
HMS Intrepid (L11) was one of two Fearless-class amphibious warfare ships of the Royal Navy. A landing platform dock (LPD), she served from 1967 until 1999. Based in HM Naval Base, Devonport, Plymouth, Devon and HM Naval Base Portsmouth, she saw service around the world over her 32-year life.
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825 Naval Air Squadron is a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm Naval Air Squadron which was re-commissioned on 10 October 2014 and currently flies the AgustaWestland Wildcat HMA2.
Rear Admiral Philip Lawrence Wilcocks, was a British senior Royal Navy officer who served as Rear Admiral Surface Ships.
Sir Anthony Peter Woodhead, is a former Royal Navy officer who served as Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic from 1991 to 1993.
Vice Admiral Sir Charles Anthony Johnstone-Burt, is a retired Royal Navy officer who is currently serving as the Master of the Household. In this role, he took part in the 2023 Coronation.
Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Pentreath McClement, is a former Royal Navy officer who served as Deputy Commander-in-Chief Fleet from 2004 to 2006.
The Type 965 radar was VHF long-range aircraft warning radar used by warships of the Royal Navy from the 1960s onwards. The Type 965M, Type 965P, Type 965Q and Type 965R were improved versions; the Type 960, 965M and 965Q used the single bedstead AKE(1) aerial, whilst the Type 965P and 965R used the double bedstead AKE(2) aerial.
Rear Admiral Anthony John Whetstone CB was a British Royal Navy officer who served as Flag Officer Sea Training.
Commodore Nicholas Henry Charles Tindal is a senior Royal Navy officer who served as the commanding officer of RNAS Yeovilton until July 2020.
Exercise Spring Train was an annual Royal Navy-led NATO maritime exercise conducted in the Eastern Atlantic. It is most notable for the 1982 exercise which involved seven warships that were subsequently sent to the South Atlantic after the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands. Because the vessels involved already had full crews and were able to crossdeck supplies from other ships in the exercise the British response was more rapid than would have otherwise been possible. Two of the vessels involved in the exercise, the Type 42 destroyers Sheffield and Coventry, were sunk during the war. There has been speculation that some of the ships sent to the Falklands from Exercise Spring Train were carrying tactical nuclear weapons, which were routinely carried when on NATO deployments. The 1983 edition of the exercise was criticised by the Spanish and Soviet government who considered it provocative.