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 John Graham Hamilton, (12 July 1910 – 27 October 1994) was a

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 who served as Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet from 1964 to 1967.

Naval career

Hamilton joined the

in 1924, and specialised in gunnery in 1936. Hamilton served in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

on the staff of Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham in the

Mediterranean Fleet The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between ...

and was then Gunnery Officer on the

battleship A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...

in South East Asia. He also carried out the planning of the Naval Fire Support for the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

. After the war, Hamilton commanded , and was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

on 30 Jun 1949, before becoming deputy director of Radio Equipment in 1950. He went on to be commander of the 5th Destroyer Squadron in 1952 and Director of Naval Ordnance at the Admiralty in 1954. He was given command of the

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to sea ...

in 1956 and became Naval Secretary in 1958. Then he became Flag Officer (Flotillas) for the Home Fleet in 1960 and Flag Officer, Air (Home) in 1962. His last appointment was as Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

Commander

Allied Forces Mediterranean Allied Forces Mediterranean was a NATO command covering all military operations in the Mediterranean Sea from 1952 to 1967. The command was based at Malta. History The British post of Commander in Chief Mediterranean Fleet was given a dual-hatted ...

in 1964. He retired in 1967.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, John Graham 1910 births 1994 deaths Royal Navy admirals Royal Navy officers of World War II Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of the Bath British military personnel of the Suez Crisis