Sir Caspar John
1903 – 1984
Admiral of the Fleet Rank Insignia
Place of birth	London
Place of death	Hayle, Cornwall
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Rank	Admiral of the Fleet
Commands	First Sea Lord
Battles/wars	Second World War: Norwegian Campaign

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Caspar John, born 1903, died 1984 was the British First Sea Lord from 1960 to 1963. He was pioneer in the Fleet Air Arm, and rose to become Vice-Chief of Naval Staff to Sea Lord Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma in 1957 and subsequently First Sea Lord from 1960 to 1963. 1903 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links UK-Navy-OF10. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Hayle (Cornish: Heyl) is a town and civil parish in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, UK. The parish was created in 1888 from part of the now defunct Phillack parish, with which it was later combined in 1935, and incorporated part of St Erth in 1937. ... Cornwall (Cornish: Kernow) is a county in South West England, United Kingdom, on the peninsula that lies to the west of the River Tamar. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... Image File history File links Naval_Ensign_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore the Senior Service). ... Royal Navy Insignia The flag of an Admiral of the Fleet is the Flag of the United Kingdom, and is in 1:2 rather than the 2:3 of other admirals flags. ... The First Sea Lord is the professional head of the British Royal Navy. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... German battle cruisers in a Norwegian port in June 1940 The Norwegian Campaign led to the first direct confrontation between the military forces of the Allies — United Kingdom and France against Nazi Germany in World War II. The primary reason for Germany seeking the occupation of Norway was Germanys... Royal Navy Insignia The flag of an Admiral of the Fleet is the Flag of the United Kingdom, and is in 1:2 rather than the 2:3 of other admirals flags. ... 1903 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The First Sea Lord is the professional head of the British Royal Navy. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... The Fleet Air Arm is the operational group of the Royal Navy responsible for the operation of the aircraft on board their ships. ... Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, KG, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, DSO, PC (25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979) was a British admiral and statesman and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. ... The First Sea Lord is the professional head of the British Royal Navy. ...

Early Life

He was born at his parents' home, 18 Fitzroy Street, London, on 22 March 1903. He was the second of the five sons of the artist Augustus John(1878–1961) and his first wife, Ida. Caspar John's mother died when he was three. At the age of nine, he went with his brothers to Dane Court preparatory school in Parkstone, Dorset. There he won the prize for the best gentleman in the school and a copy of Jane's Fighting Ships, and it was this, together with a wish to seek a more orderly existence, that inspired him to join the Royal Navy. In 1916 he entered the Royal Naval College, Osborne, on the Isle of Wight, at the age of thirteen. He transferred to the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, in 1917 and passed out eighty-third of a hundred in 1920. Artist John, on a 1928 Time cover Augustus Edwin John OM,RA, (January 4, 1878–October 31, 1961) was a Welsh painter, draftsman, and etcher. ... Janes Fighting Ships is an annual reference book (also published online, on CD and microfiche) of information on all the worlds warships arranged by nation, including information on ships names, dimensions, armaments, silhouettes and photographs, etc. ... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore the Senior Service). ... Crest on the gate of the Royal Naval College The Royal Naval College was a Royal Navy training establishment between 1873 and 1998, in the centre of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site in London, United Kingdom. ... The Isle of Wight is an English island and county, off the southern English coast, to the south of the county of Hampshire. ... Map sources for Dartmouth, Devon at grid reference SX877514 The town seen from the River Dart Dartmouth is a town in Devon in the south-west of England. ...

Early years in the Royal Navy

His Midshipman years were spent aboard the flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet, the Iron Duke, against a background of Graeco-Turkish disturbances and the problem of Russian refugees caused by the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was at this time (1922–3) that the future of naval aviation was being debated. The issue caught his imagination and he decided to become involved. He envisaged the role of the aeroplane as broadening the naval horizon, and during his qualifying exams for Lieutenant in 1925 (he gained first class certificates in gunnery and torpedo), he applied to train as a pilot in the Fleet Air Arm, then under the dual administration of the navy and Royal Air Force. He gained 'his wings' in 1926 and thenceforth devoted his naval career to building up the strength of the Fleet Air Arm, of which he was one of the founding fathers. A midshipman is a subordinate officer, or alternatively a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the navies of several English-speaking countries. ... Several countries have or have had a Mediterranean Fleet in their navy. ... Iron Duke may refer to: Two dukes, both military officers, were nicknamed the Iron Duke during their lifetimes: Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alva HMS Iron Duke is also the name of three ships in the Royal Navy, one of which is still... Russian Revolution can refer to the following events in the history of Russia: Russian Revolution of 1905, a series of strikes and violent anti-government protests against Tsar Nicholas II. Russian Revolution of 1917, which included: February Revolution, resulting in the abdication of Nicholas II of Russia October Revolution, the... Lieutenant is a military, naval, paramilitary, fire service or police officer rank. ... The Fleet Air Arm is the operational group of the Royal Navy responsible for the operation of the aircraft on board their ships. ... RAF redirects here. ...

In the aircraft carrier John Hermes he spent the years 1927 to 1929 in the China station during the conflict between the communists and Chaing Kai-shek's nationalist armies. On returning from China he bought his own aeroplane, an open cockpit Avro Avian. He eventually became involved with the design of naval aircraft and was promoted to Lieutenant Commander in 1933, becoming Commander in 1936. During Italy's war with Abyssinia, he spent 1936 based in the western desert outside Alexandria, attached to the aircraft carrier Courageous. In 1937 he was appointed to the Admiralty's naval air division, where he worked ceaselessly to free the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) from what he described as ‘the folly’ of dual control between the navy and Royal Air Force. The air force's hold on the FAA was ended with the Inskip decision in July 1937. In the Royal Navy, United States Navy and United States Coast Guard, a lieutenant commander (lieutenant-commander or Lt Cdr in the RN) is a commissioned officer superior to a lieutenant and inferior to a commander. ... Commander is a military rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. ... This article needs cleanup. ... This article is about the city in Egypt. ...

Second World War

During the Second World War, John spent eighteen months as second in command of the cruiser York, patrolling the North Sea, participating in the Norwegian campaign, and transporting arms around the coast of Africa to Egypt for the campaign in the western desert. Subsequently he had eighteen months at the Ministry of Aircraft Production (he was promoted to captain in 1941), and in 1943–4 he was in the USA as naval air representative in the British Admiralty delegation in Washington D.C., and naval air attaché at the British embassy. He helped procure American naval aircraft for the under-equipped FAA and to set up the organization and training of British pilots in Canada and the USA. His meeting with the Russian aircraft designer Igor Sikorski was in large part responsible for the introduction of the helicopter into its first practical military use by the royal navy after the war. Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... The North Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, located between the coasts of Norway and Denmark in the east, the coast of the British Isles in the west, and the German, Dutch, Belgian and French coasts in the south. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa. ... Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United...

He spent the last year of the war in home waters in command of two aircraft-carriers, Pretoria Castle, and, until 1946, Ocean, a brand-new light carrier. As captain of Ocean, his main concerns were to boost the morale of his men (with the war ended, many longed to return home), and to maintain strict discipline in all flying activities. In 1944 he married Mary, daughter of Stuart Vanderpump, of New Zealand. They had two daughters and one son. The fifth HMS Ocean was a Royal Navy Colossus-class light fleet aircraft carrier of 13,190 tons built in Glasgow. ...

1947 to 1963 and First Sea Lord

In 1947 John attended the Imperial Defence College, London, for a course in world affairs and in 1948 he was given the command of the large and complex naval air station, Lossiemouth. He then returned to the Admiralty, first as deputy chief of naval air equipment and then as director of air organization and training. He was promoted to rear-admiral in 1951 and took command of the heavy squadron. He spent two years (1952–4) at the Ministry of Supply updating naval aircraft preceded the important administrative post of flag officer (air) home at Lee-on-Solent. He was promoted Vice Admiral in 1954 and was made a full Admiral in 1957, the year he became vice-chief of naval staff to Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma. The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) is an internationally-renowned institution and component of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom. ... Lee-on-the-Solent is a small seaside town in Hampshire about five miles west of Portsmouth, on the coast of the Solent. ... Vice Admiral is a naval rank of three star level, equivalent to Lieutenant General in seniority. ... Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. ... Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, KG, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, DSO, PC (25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979) was a British admiral and statesman and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. ...

He became First Sea Lord, the professional head of the Royal Navy in 1960, a position he held until 1963. He was primarily concerned with the cold war and with plans for the building of a new generation of large aircraft-carriers. In 1962 he was promoted Admiral of the Fleet but later declined a peerage offered to him by Sir Alec Douglas-Home. The First Sea Lord is the professional head of the British Royal Navy. ... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore the Senior Service). ... Royal Navy Insignia The flag of an Admiral of the Fleet is the Flag of the United Kingdom, and is in 1:2 rather than the 2:3 of other admirals flags. ... Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel KT1 (July 2, 1903 - October 9, 1995), known from 1951 to 1963 as the 14th Earl of Home, was a British politician, and served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for a year from October 1963 to October 1964. ...

Final Years

After 1963 he retired from the Royal Navy and took several civilian positions including member of the Government Security Commission (1964–73), chairman of the Housing Corporation (1964–6), member of the Plowden committee and of the Templer committee (1965), chairman of the Star and Garter Home for disabled servicemen, chairman of the Back Pain Association, and chairman of the tri-service Milocarian Club (athletics).

In 1978 John had both his legs amputated because of vascular trouble. His wife was a great support during this difficult time, and together they made their home in the Cornish village of Mousehole, where John became a much loved and familiar figure on the quayside and in The Ship inn. He died on 11 July 1984 at Hayle, Cornwall. Mousehole Harbour See Mousehole (drilling) for the drilling term Mousehole (pronounced /Mauzl; in Cornish Porthynys) is a fishing village near Newlyn in Cornwall, United Kingdom, reputed to have one of the most beautiful harbours in the country. ... Hayle (Cornish: Heyl) is a town and civil parish in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, UK. The parish was created in 1888 from part of the now defunct Phillack parish, with which it was later combined in 1935, and incorporated part of St Erth in 1937. ... Cornwall (Cornish: Kernow) is a county in South West England, United Kingdom, on the peninsula that lies to the west of the River Tamar. ...

External Links

Portrait at the NPG

v • d • e

First Sea Lords of the Royal Navy

Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe • Sir Peter Parker • Prince William, Duke of Clarence • Sir George Cockburn • Sir Thomas Hardy • The Hon. George Heneage Dundas • Charles Adam • Sir Charles Adam • Sir William Parker • Sir Charles Adam • James Whitley Deans Dundas • The Hon. Maurice Fitzhardinge Berkeley 1852 Hyde Parker • The Hon. Maurice Fitzhardinge Berkeley • William Fanshawe Martin • The Hon. Sir Richard Saunders Dundas • The Hon. Sir Frederick Grey • Sir Sydney Dacres • Sir Alexander Milne • Sir Hastings Yelverton • George Wellesley • Sir Astley Cooper Key • Sir Arthur Acland Hood • Lord John Hay • Sir R. Vesey Hamilton • Sir Anthony Hoskins • Sir Frederick Richards • Lord Walter Kerr • Sir Jackie Fisher • Sir Arthur Knyvet Wilson • Sir Francis Bridgeman • Prince Louis of Battenberg • Sir Henry Jackson • Sir John Jellicoe • Sir Rosslyn Wemyss • The Earl Beatty • Sir Charles Madden, Bt • Sir Frederick Field • The Lord Chatfield • Sir Roger Backhouse • Sir Dudley Pound • The Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope • Sir John Cunningham • The Lord Fraser of North Cape • Sir Rhoderick McGrigor • The Earl Mountbatten of Burma • Sir Charles Lambe • Sir Caspar John • Sir David Luce • Sir Varyl Begg • Sir Michael Le Fanu • Sir Peter Hill-Norton • Sir Michael Pollock • Sir Edward Ashmore • Sir Terence Lewin • Sir Henry Leach • Sir John Fieldhouse • Sir William Staveley • Sir Julian Oswald • Sir Benjamin Bathurst • Sir Jock Slater • Sir Michael Boyce • Sir Nigel Essenhigh • Sir Alan West • Sir Jonathon Band • The First Sea Lord is the professional head of the British Royal Navy. ... 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