Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

Sir George Michael Zambellas, (born 4 April 1958) is a British retired

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

officer. He served as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff from April 2013 before handing over duties to Admiral Sir Philip Jones in April 2016. In his early career Zambellas served as a helicopter pilot with 814 Naval Air Squadron, 829 Naval Air Squadron and then 815 Naval Air Squadron. As Captain of he was deployed as part of Operation Palliser off

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

, for which he received the Distinguished Service Cross in 2001. He went on to be Fleet Commander and Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff in early 2012. In June 2024, he was appointed to the ancient honorary office of Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports.

Early life and education

Born at

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, the son of a Greek father, Michael George Zambellas and Rosemary Frederique ''née'' Lindsay, Zambellas was educated at Shabani Primary School and Peterhouse School in Southern Rhodesia (now

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

), then at Stowe School. He read Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering at the

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

, graduating in 1980 with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

(BSc) degree.

Career

Zambellas was commissioned as an acting sub-lieutenant in the

on 17 September 1980. He was promoted to lieutenant on 16 May 1982 and served with 814 Naval Air Squadron, 829 Naval Air Squadron and 815 Naval Air Squadron in his early career. Zambellas was trained for the Naval Staff at

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

in 1990, and after spending a short time as a corporate planner for the Royal Navy's manpower and training division within the Ministry of Defence, he took command of the mine-sweeper in 1991. His next appointment was ashore, as an aviation operations officer in the Fleet Headquarters at Northwood, before being promoted to

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

on 30 June 1994. In 1995 he was given command of the frigate and was deployed on counter-narcotics operations in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

. Zambellas served as a corporate planner during the 1997–98 Strategic Defence Review before returning to operational command in 1999 as captain of the frigate and being deployed as part of Operation Palliser off

for which he received the Distinguished Service Cross in 2001. In 2001 he took the Higher Command and Staff Course at Shrivenham before becoming Deputy Flag Officer Sea Training, responsible for training Royal Navy and foreign warships and auxiliaries. Admiral Sir George Zambellas - Chatham House 2012

Admiral Sir George Zambellas - Chatham House 2012

Promoted to commodore in 2002, Zambellas was appointed to be principal staff officer to the Chief of the Defence staff and served Admiral Sir Michael Boyce and General Sir Michael Walker during the invasion of Iraq and the early days of its fallout. He was given command of the Royal Navy's Amphibious Task Group in January 2005. Promoted as

rear admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

on 29 August 2006 and appointed Chief of Staff ( Transformation), Zambellas was in this role entrusted with "designing and delivering the Fleet's new approach to the generation of maritime capability and support to operations." In 2007, he became Commander of United Kingdom Maritime Force, then in October 2008, Chief of Staff (Operations) at UK

Permanent Joint Headquarters The Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) is the British tri-service headquarters from where all overseas military operations are planned and controlled. It is situated at Northwood Headquarters in Northwood, London. The Permanent Joint Headqua ...

at Northwood. Promoted

vice admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

on 18 January 2011, Zambellas was appointed Deputy Commander-in-Chief Fleet, Chief of Staff to Navy Command Headquarters, and Chief Naval Warfare Officer. He became Commander-in-Chief Fleet in January 2012 and was promoted

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

on 6 January 2012. He was also double-hatted as Commander, Allied Maritime Command in January 2012. In April 2012 his role was re-designated Fleet Commander and Deputy Chief of the Naval Service. Zambellas was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 2012 Birthday Honours and became

First Sea Lord First Sea Lord, officially known as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff (1SL/CNS), is the title of a statutory position in the British Armed Forces, held by an Admiral (Royal Navy), admiral or a General (United Kingdom), general of the ...

and Chief of the Naval Staff on 9 April 2013. As of 2015, Zambellas was paid a salary of between £180,000 and £184,999 by the department, making him one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time. On 15 April 2014, in an

op-ed An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page," is a type of written prose commonly found in newspapers, magazines, and online publications. They usually represent a writer's strong and focused opinion on an issue of relevance to a targeted a ...

article for ''the

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

'' Zambellas laid out the case for a "No" vote at the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, stating that it would weaken British maritime defence. Despite this, on 12 November 2014 he was publicly chastised by the UK Defence Secretary for suggesting to a

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

that the contract for Type 26 frigates may not be awarded to Scottish shipyards. On 4 July 2014, Zambellas was among those attending the launch ceremony of the 70,600-tonne Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS ''Queen Elizabeth'', the largest warship ever built in the United Kingdom, and formally named by Queen Elizabeth II. Appointed President of the Shipwrecked Mariners Society in 2017, Zambellas serves as Renter Warden of the Worshipful Company of Shipwrights (for 2024/25).

Honours and awards

Zambellas was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) in the 2016 New Year Honours being invested at

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

with Air Chief Marshal Sir Andrew Pulford on 13 April 2016. An Elder Brother of Trinity House since 2016, Zambellas was admitted to the

Freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

of the Shipwrights' Company in 2014 (becoming Renter Warden for 2024/25), and is an Honorary Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society (FRAeS) in 2009, and appointed a Deputy Lieutenant (DL) for

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

in September 2013, Zambellas serves as an Extra Equerry to King Charles III since 17 March 2023. He succeeded Lord Boyce, on 20 June 2024, as Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and Constable of

Dover Castle Dover Castle is a medieval castle in Dover, Kent, England and is Grade I listed. It was founded in the 11th century and has been described as the "Key to England" due to its defensive significance throughout history. Some writers say it is the ...

Personal life

In 1982 Zambellas married Amanda Jane LeCudennec; they have three sons.

References

, - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Zambellas, George 1958 births Living people Welsh people of Greek descent People from Zvishavane Military personnel from Swansea Alumni of Peterhouse Boys' School People educated at Stowe School Alumni of the University of Southampton Royal Navy admirals 20th-century Royal Navy personnel 21st-century Royal Navy personnel Helicopter pilots First Sea Lords and Chiefs of the Naval Staff Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) Deputy lieutenants of Dorset British military personnel of the Sierra Leone Civil War Royal Navy personnel of the Iraq War Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society Equerries Members of Trinity House Lords Warden of the Cinque Ports