Vice Admiral Robert Don Oliver CB CBE DSC DL was a Royal Navy officer who was appointed Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff.
The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet.
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Michael Le Fanu was a Royal Navy officer. He fought in the Second World War as gunnery officer in a cruiser operating in the Home Fleet during the Norwegian campaign and the Battle of the Mediterranean and then as gunnery officer in a battleship operating in the Eastern Fleet before becoming liaison officer between the British Pacific Fleet and the United States Third Fleet. After the War he commanded a frigate, a training establishment and an aircraft carrier. He served as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff in the late 1960s. In that role, in the face of economic difficulties, he worked hard to reshape the Navy as an anti-submarine force operating primarily in the Atlantic Ocean.
Admiral Sir Henry Harwood Harwood, was a Royal Navy officer who won fame in the Battle of the River Plate during the Second World War.
Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Henry Dacres Cunningham was a Royal Navy officer. A qualified senior navigator, he became Director of Plans at the Admiralty in 1930. He saw action as Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet during the Second World War with responsibility for the allied landings at Anzio and in the south of France. He served as First Sea Lord in the late 1940s: his focus was on implementing the Government's policy of scrapping many serviceable ships.
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Rhoderick Robert McGrigor, was a senior Royal Navy officer. He fought in the First World War and saw action during the Gallipoli Campaign and then the Battle of Jutland. He also served in the Second World War, taking part in the sinking of the Bismarck in May 1941, carrying out the office of Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Weapons) and commanding the 1st Cruiser Squadron during operations off the Norwegian coast and convoys to North Russia. Furthermore, he served as First Sea Lord in the early 1950s and is most remembered as a leading proponent of carrier-based air power.
Admiral Sir John David Luce, was a Royal Navy officer. He fought in the Second World War as a submarine commander before taking part in the Dieppe Raid and becoming Chief Staff Officer to the Naval Forces for the Normandy landings. He also commanded a cruiser during the Korean War. He served as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff in the mid-1960s and in that role resigned from the Royal Navy along with Navy Minister Christopher Mayhew in March 1966 in protest over the decision by the Labour Secretary of State for Defence, Denis Healey, to cancel the CVA-01 aircraft carrier programme.
Vice-Admiral Sir Ian Lachlan Mackay McGeoch, KCB, DSO, DSC was a commissioned officer in the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. He commanded the submarine HMS Splendid during the Second World War, and was later Flag Officer Submarines (FOSM) and Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland (FOSNI).
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Charles Morton Forbes, was a Royal Navy officer. He served in the First World War, seeing action in the Dardanelles campaign and at the Battle of Jutland and, as captain of a cruiser, was present at the surrender of the German fleet. During the Second World War, he served as Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet: his fleet suffered heavy losses including the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious and nine destroyers during the Norwegian campaign in Spring 1940. He went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth in May 1941 and in that capacity he organised the defence of Plymouth from air attack, prosecuted attacks on enemy shipping using the harbour at Brest as well as other ports along the French coast, and also initiated the St Nazaire Raid in March 1942 before retiring in August 1943.
Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Donald Kelly was a Royal Navy officer. He served in the First World War as commanding officer of the cruiser HMS Dublin which came close to intercepting the German battlecruiser SMS Goeben. After the War he took charge of a naval force dispatched to strengthen the Mediterranean Fleet during the Chanak Crisis. After serving as Fourth Sea Lord and then commander of the 1st Battle Squadron, Kelly, known for his skill in personnel matters, was asked to take command of the Atlantic Fleet in the aftermath of the Invergordon Mutiny. He rapidly restored discipline and issued a report which was quite critical of the Admiralty Board's handling of the pay cuts issue in the first place. He went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth.
Rear Admiral Otto Humphrey Becher, & Bar was a senior officer in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Born in Harvey, Western Australia, Becher entered the Royal Australian Naval College in 1922. After graduating in 1926, he was posted to a series of staff and training positions prior to specialising in gunnery.
Vice Admiral Sir Henry Mackay Burrell, was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). He served as Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) from 1959 to 1962. Born in the Blue Mountains, Burrell entered the Royal Australian Naval College in 1918 as a 13-year-old cadet. His first posting at sea was aboard the cruiser HMAS Sydney. During the 1920s and 1930s, Burrell served for several years on exchange with the Royal Navy, specialising as a navigator. During World War II, he filled a key liaison post with the US Navy, and later saw action as commander of the destroyer HMAS Norman, earning a mention in despatches.
Admiral of the Fleet Sir George Elvey Creasy, was a senior Royal Navy officer. After serving as a junior officer in the First World War, during which he took part in operations at Heligoland Bight in 1917, he trained as a torpedo officer.
Admiral Sir William Gerrard Andrewes was a Royal Navy officer who served in World War I and World War II, commanded the British and Commonwealth Naval Forces and Task Force 91 for the Inchon Landing during the Korean War, and went on to command of the America and West Indies Squadron and served as Deputy Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic.
Vice-Admiral Arthur Edward Frederick Bedford, CB, CSI was a Royal Navy officer. He served in HMS Kent at the Battle of the Falkland Islands of 1914 and rose to command the Royal Indian Navy from 1934 to 1937, when he retired. A year later he rejoined the colours and served until the end of the Second World War.
Admiral Jayant Ganpat "Podgy" Nadkarni, PVSM, AVSM, NM, VSM, ADC was an Indian Navy Admiral who served as the 12th Chief of the Naval Staff of the Indian Navy from 1 December 1987 to 30 November 1990.
Vice Admiral Wilfred Tomkinson, was a Royal Navy officer who served as commander of the Battlecruiser Squadron from 1931 to 1934.
Rear Admiral John Stuart Weale, is a former Royal Navy officer who served as Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland, Assistant Chief of Naval Staff Submarines and Rear Admiral Submarines.
Vice Admiral Sir William Godfrey Crawford KBE, CB, DSC was a Royal Navy officer who served as Flag Officer Sea Training.
United Kingdom
Royal Navy