John Gower (British naval officer)

Last updated

John Gower

CB OBE
Born(1960-07-28)28 July 1960
Carshalton, England
Died12 February 2024(2024-02-12) (aged 63)
AllegianceFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Service / branchNaval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  Royal Navy
Years of service1978 - 2014
Rank Rear-Admiral
Commands HMS Trafalgar (S107)
HMS Unicorn (S43)
Alma mater University of Salford
Spouse(s)Diana Steven

John Howard James Gower (28 July 1960 - 12 February 2024), CB OBE, was a former British Royal Navy commander. He served as the Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Nuclear & Chemical, Biological) in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) until his retirement in 2014.

Contents

Early life

Gower was born in 1960 to Howard Gower and his wife Josephine (maiden name, Smart) in Carshalton, Surrey and moved to Solihull when he was four years old. His father died in a holiday seaside accident in 1969. Josephine remarried Tim Adkin who was a teacher at Solihull School and headed a Royal Air Force section of the school's Combined Cadet Force. Barred early on from becoming a fighter pilot due to poor eyesight, John was subsequently persuaded to join the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in 1978. By deferring his naval cadetship, Gower took the time to earn a degree in electrical engineering from Salford University. [1]

Royal Navy career

John entered the Navy in 1978 and earned the rank of Sub Lieutenant in 1980 [2] and Lieutenant in 1983. [3] He steadily rose up the naval ranks and was promoted from Lieutenant Commander to Commander in 1994. [4] In 1995 he took command of the HMS Trafalgar. [1] In 1998 he received the O.B.E honorific recognition, "To be Ordinary Officers of the Military Division of the said Most Excellent Order," bestowed by the Crown. [5] Gower's continued upward movement commanding naval vessels was forestalled by an incident of having grounded the HMS Trafalgar off the coast of Scotland, which rendered him ineligible for commanding a larger vessel. [1]

Subsequently he took administrative posts on land. These included the Naval Staff's Assistant Director of Nuclear Deterrence, and he served at the British Embassy in Washington as a naval attaché. [1] He also served at Shrivenham on the Advanced Command and Staff course as the Director for Underwater Capability. [1] He was promoted from Commander to Captain in 2000. [6] He achieved the prestigious rank of Rear Admiral in his promotion from Commodore to Rear Admiral in 2011. [7]

The vectorial diagram by Gower demonstrating nuclear deterrence responses at different alertness levels and the correlated effects of threat mitigations. Tridentreview.png
The vectorial diagram by Gower demonstrating nuclear deterrence responses at different alertness levels and the correlated effects of threat mitigations.

Gower's final professional naval post as Rear Admiral, in 2011-14, was to serve as Former Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Nuclear, Chemical, Biological) in the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence. [8] [9] In that role, Gower presided over the 2013 publication of the HM Government Trident Alternatives Review. [10] Having commanded nuclear-armed submarines, Gower was attentive to these weapons systems' role in the United Kingdom, as well as in NATO's strategic defenses. This report analyzes the role and credibility of nuclear deterrence and contrasts the effectiveness of various nuclear weapons systems. [10] : 4  Examining the topic of "credibility and constraints," the document puts forward clear statements about the nature of the UK's nuclear doctrine, deterrence credibility, extended and collective deterrence relevant to NATO, and legal constraints. The report delivers a detailed analysis of various nuclear warhead delivery platforms from large aircraft and submarines to mobile ballistic missile launchers. [10] : 16-17  It also compares different types of warheads from free fall bombs and cruise missile bombs to the UK Trident bomb. [10] : 19  It assesses several nuclear deterrence postures and credibility criteria, and considers the vulnerability of second strike forces. The Report concludes with a diagrammatic figure contrasting nuclear deterrence attributes of cruise and ballistic missiles, showing how as the perception of the threat of attack rises, the risks of attack are mitigated by increasing the readiness of deterrent forces. [10] : 58 

Retirement

After retiring from his active role in the Royal Navy, John Gower published numerous articles in strategic outlets that address nuclear deterrence and existential risk mitigation. He published with the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, [11] BASIC, [12] the Council on Strategic Risks, [13] the Nautilus Institute, [14] and the Carnegie Endowment. [15] He gave public lectures, such as a Fireside Chat with the Centre for Effective Altruism, [16] and a participated in panel discussions, including on nuclear risk. [17]

Gower supported a Code of Nuclear Responsibility [18] that outlined 10 commitments to ensuring the stability of nuclear deterrence. These tenets entail: restraint, relevance, reassurance, readiness, reciprocity, and reduction. [19] [20] He also cautioned against the nuclear warfighting posture of nuclear deterrence, which is the status quo for the United States. [21] In his article, "The Dangerous Illogic of Twenty-First-Century Deterrence Through Planning for Nuclear Warfighting," [22] [23] [24] he critiques the United States Nuclear Posture Review's strategic posture of countering nonnuclear attacks with nuclear retaliation, and provides an alternative path. Gower assessed the UK's nuclear command and control systems. [25]

Personal life

Gower married Diana Steven, daughter of a Naval Officer, in 1986. They met when both joined the University Officers' Training Corps. The couple had two sons and a daughter. Gower's hobbies included poetry writing, cycling, and motorcycling. [1] He is remembered for having cycled to formal dinners in London dressed in full senior officer's attire. John Gower's lifetime contributions and achievements have been acknowledged by the European Leadership Network, [26] the Australian Naval Institute, [1] the Council on Strategic Risks, [27] as well as the Times. [28]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polaris Sales Agreement</span> Treaty between the United States and the United Kingdom

The Polaris Sales Agreement was a treaty between the United States and the United Kingdom which began the UK Polaris programme. The agreement was signed on 6 April 1963. It formally arranged the terms and conditions under which the Polaris missile system was provided to the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No first use</span> Refrainment from using weapons of mass destruction unless attacked with them first

In nuclear ethics and deterrence theory, no first use (NFU) refers to a type of pledge or policy wherein a nuclear power formally refrains from the use of nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in warfare, except for as a second strike in retaliation to an attack by an enemy power using WMD. Such a pledge would allow for a unique state of affairs in which a given nuclear power can be engaged in a conflict of conventional weaponry while it formally forswears any of the strategic advantages of nuclear weapons, provided the enemy power does not possess or utilize any such weapons of their own. The concept is primarily invoked in reference to nuclear mutually assured destruction but has also been applied to chemical and biological warfare, as is the case of the official WMD policy of India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Boyce, Baron Boyce</span> British Admiral of the Fleet and life peer (1943–2022)

Admiral of the Fleet Michael Cecil Boyce, Baron Boyce, was a British Royal Navy officer who also sat as a crossbench member of the House of Lords until his death in November 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Hill-Norton</span> Royal Navy Admiral of the Fleet (1915-2004)

Admiral of the Fleet Peter John Hill-Norton, Baron Hill-Norton, was a senior Royal Navy officer. He fought in the Second World War as gunnery officer in a cruiser operating on the Western Approaches and in the North Sea taking part in the Norwegian Campaign, then in a cruiser taking part in the Arctic convoys and finally in a battleship operating in the Eastern Fleet. After the War he commanded a destroyer and then an aircraft carrier. He served as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff and then Chief of the Defence Staff in early 1970s. In the latter role he gave the final commitment to Project Chevaline, the Polaris missile improvement programme. He went on to be Chairman of the NATO Military Committee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jock Slater</span> Royal Navy Admiral (born 1938)

Admiral Sir John Cunningham Kirkwood Slater,, known as Jock Slater, is a retired Royal Navy officer. He commanded a minesweeper, a frigate and then a destroyer before taking over the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious and then achieving higher command in the Navy. He served as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff from 1995 to 1998: in that capacity he played a key role in the 1998 Strategic Defence Review carried out by the Labour Government that had come to power a year earlier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flexible response</span> Military strategy of the Kennedy administration

Flexible response was a defense strategy implemented by John F. Kennedy in 1961 to address the Kennedy administration's skepticism of Dwight Eisenhower's New Look and its policy of massive retaliation. Flexible response calls for mutual deterrence at strategic, tactical, and conventional levels, giving the United States the capability to respond to aggression across the spectrum of war, not limited only to nuclear arms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear weapons of the United Kingdom</span> 3rd country to develop nuclear weapons

In 1952, the United Kingdom became the third country to develop and test nuclear weapons, and is one of the five nuclear-weapon states under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Fieldhouse, Baron Fieldhouse</span>

Admiral of the Fleet John David Elliott Fieldhouse, Baron Fieldhouse, was a Royal Navy officer. He commanded five submarines and a frigate before achieving higher command from the 1970s. Following the invasion of the Falkland Islands by Argentine forces in April 1982, Fieldhouse was appointed Commander of the Task Force given responsibility for "Operation Corporate", the mission to recover the Falkland Islands. The campaign ended in the surrender of Argentine forces in June 1982. He became First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff in December that year and, in that role, persuaded the British Government to fund the replacement of ships lost in the Falklands War. He went on to be Chief of the Defence Staff from 1985 until his retirement in 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julian Oswald</span>

Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Julian Robertson Oswald was a senior Royal Navy officer. After training as a gunnery specialist, Oswald commanded a frigate and then a destroyer before achieving higher command in the navy. He served as First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff in the early 1990s. In that capacity he advised the British Government on the reduction in the size of the fleet under the Options for Change restructuring programme and on the deployment of Naval Support for the Gulf War in 1991: he also made the decision that members of the Women's Royal Naval Service should be allowed to serve in Royal Navy ships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RNAD Coulport</span> UK nuclear warhead storage depot in Argyll, Scotland

Royal Naval Armaments Depot Coulport, shortened to RNAD Coulport, on Loch Long in Argyll, Scotland, is the storage and loading facility for the nuclear warheads of the United Kingdom's Trident programme.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trident (UK nuclear programme)</span> Weapon

Trident, also known as the Trident nuclear programme or Trident nuclear deterrent, covers the development, procurement and operation of nuclear weapons in the United Kingdom and their means of delivery. Its purpose as stated by the Ministry of Defence is to "deter the most extreme threats to our national security and way of life, which cannot be done by other means". Trident is an operational system of four Vanguard-class submarines armed with Trident II D-5 ballistic missiles, able to deliver thermonuclear warheads from multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRVs). It is operated by the Royal Navy and based at Clyde Naval Base on the west coast of Scotland. At least one submarine is always on patrol to provide a continuous at-sea capability. The missiles are manufactured in the United States, while the warheads are British.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Stanhope</span>

Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, is a retired Royal Navy officer. After serving as a submarine commander, he commanded a frigate and then commanded an aircraft carrier on operational patrol off Sierra Leone. He went on to be Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Transformation and then Commander-in-Chief Fleet. He served as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval staff, the professional head of the Royal Navy, from July 2009 to April 2013. In this role he advised the British Government on the deployment of naval forces during operations around Libya. He was succeeded by Admiral Sir George Zambellas in April 2013.

Rear-Admiral Sir Anthony Wass Buzzard, 2nd Baronet, was an officer in the Royal Navy who served as Director of Naval Intelligence from 1951 to 1954.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polaris (UK nuclear programme)</span> 1968–1996 British nuclear weapons programme

The United Kingdom's Polaris programme, officially named the British Naval Ballistic Missile System, provided its first submarine-based nuclear weapons system. Polaris was in service from 1968 to 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Bennett (Royal Navy officer)</span> Royal Navy admiral

Vice Admiral Paul Martin Bennett, is a former senior Royal Navy officer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Leaman</span> Royal Navy Rear Admiral (born 1956)

Rear Admiral Richard Derek Leaman, is a British charity executive and former senior Royal Navy officer. Since 2021, he has been Diocesan Secretary and CEO of the Diocese of Bristol. He was previously CEO of The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association and CEO of the Tall Ships Youth Trust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur David Torlesse</span> Royal Navy Rear Admiral (1902–1995)

Rear Admiral Arthur David Torlesse, was a Royal Navy officer. He commanded the escort carrier HMS Hunter during the latter part of the Second World War, and the aircraft carrier HMS Triumph during the early months of the Korean War. In 1952, he commanded the task force that supported Operation Hurricane, the first British nuclear weapons test.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keith Blount</span> Royal Navy Admiral (born 1966)

Admiral Sir Keith Edward Blount, is a senior Royal Navy officer and pilot, who since July 2023 serves as NATO's Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe. He was Assistant Chief of Naval Staff and head of the Fleet Air Arm from 2015 to 2019. He served as Commander Allied Maritime Command, NATO, from 2019 to 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierre Vandier</span> French naval officer

Pierre Vandier is a French naval officer who served as Chief of Staff of the French Navy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hervé Bléjean</span> French Navy officer (born 1963)

Hervé Bléjean is a military officer of the French Navy who is currently serving as the Director-General of the European Union Military Staff since 1 July 2020, having been elected to take up the role on 22 May 2019. He previously served as the Deputy Commander of NATO Maritime Command.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Obituary: RADM John Gower". Australian Naval Institute. 18 February 2024.
  2. ↑ "No. 49496". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 October 1983. p. 12932.
  3. ↑ "No. 49460". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 August 1983. p. 11419..
  4. ↑ "No. 53724". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 July 1994. p. 9603.
  5. ↑ "No. 55155". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 June 1998. p. 5.
  6. ↑ "No. 55728". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 January 2000. p. 217.
  7. ↑ "No. 59979". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 November 2011. p. 22815.
  8. ↑ "John Gower (1960–2024)". European Leadership Network.
  9. ↑ "Release of information" (PDF). Ministry of Defense Navy Command Headquarters. 13 October 2014.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 John Gower (16 July 2013). "Trident Alternatives Review" (PDF). Cabinet Office.
  11. ↑ Gower, John (21 October 2022). "Rhetoric in Ukraine has reinforced the fallacy of limited nuclear exchange". Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.
  12. ↑ "Rear Admiral John Gower". BASIC. 10 November 2021.
  13. ↑ Gower, John (28 March 2023). "Briefer: Russian Nuclear Weapons and Belarus: NATO Should Continue to Stand Steady". Council on Strategic Risks.
  14. ↑ Gower, John (12 September 2019). "United Kingdom: Nuclear Weapon Command, Control, and Communications". Nautilus Institute.
  15. ↑ "John Gower". Carnegie Endowment.
  16. ↑ "Fireside chat: Rear Admiral John Gower | John Gower | EAG London 23". youtube.com.
  17. ↑ "Panel on nuclear risk | Rear Admiral John Gower, Patricia Lewis, Paul Ingram | EAG London 23". youtube.com. 28 June 2023.
  18. ↑ "Preventing Catastrophic Nuclear Risks and Exploring the Future of Arms Control". Council on Strategic Risks. April 2021.
  19. ↑ Gower, John (22 October 2019). "Improving Nuclear Strategic Stability Through a Responsibility-Based Approach" (PDF). Council on Strategic Risks.
  20. ↑ Gower, John (19 April 2021). "A Practical Strategy for Nuclear Risk Reduction and Disarmament: Fulfilling the Code of Nuclear Responsibility" (PDF). Council on Strategic Risks.
  21. ↑ Kroenig, Mathew (2018). the Logic of American Nuclear Strategy: Why Strategic Superiority Matters. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  22. ↑ Gower, John (6 March 2018). "The Dangerous Illogic of Twenty-First-Century Deterrence Through Planning for Nuclear Warfighting". carnegieendowment.org. Oxford.
  23. ↑ Lieber, Keir A.; Press, Daryl G. (2020). The Myth of the Nuclear Revolution: Power Politics in the Atomic Age. London: Cornell University Press.
  24. ↑ Amadae, S.M. (2016). "Deterrence". Prisoners of Reason: Game Theory and Neoliberal Political Economy (PDF). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 99–144.
  25. ↑ Gower, John (15 August 2019). "United Kingdom: Nuclear Weapon Command, Control, and Communications" (PDF). Technology for Global Security.
  26. ↑ "John Gower(1960–2024)". European Leadership Network.
  27. ↑ "Rear Admiral John Gower, CB OBE". Council on Strategic Risks. 8 May 2019.
  28. ↑ "Rear-Admiral John Gower obituary". Times. 14 February 2024.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.