Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some 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, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

Sir John Forster "Sandy" Woodward, (1 May 1932 – 4 August 2013) was a senior

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

officer who commanded the Task Force of the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland I ...

Early life

Woodward was born on 1 May 1932 at

Penzance Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, to a bank clerk. He was educated at Stubbington House School, preparatory school in

Stubbington Stubbington is a village which is located between Southampton and Portsmouth, in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. It is within the borough of Fareham. History Both Stubbington and neighbouring Crofton were mentioned in ...

, Hampshire. He then continued his education at the

Britannia Royal Naval College Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC), commonly known as Dartmouth, is the naval academy of the United Kingdom and the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy. It is located on a hill overlooking the port of Dartmouth, Devon, E ...

Dartmouth, Devon Dartmouth () is a town and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is a tourist destination set on the western bank of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes. It lies within t ...

Naval career

On graduation from the Royal Naval College Dartmouth Woodward joined the

in 1946.Debrett's People of Today 1994 He became a

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely o ...

r in 1954, and was promoted to lieutenant that May. In 1960 he passed the Royal Navy's rigorous Submarine Command Course known as ''The Perisher'', and received his first command, the T-class submarine HMS ''Tireless''. Promoted to lieutenant-commander in May 1962, he then commanded HMS ''Grampus'' before becoming the second in command of the nuclear fleet submarine HMS ''Valiant''. In 1967, he was promoted to

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

and became the Instructor (known as ''Teacher'') of The Perisher Course. He took command of HMS ''Warspite'' in December 1969. He was promoted to the rank of

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

in 1972. In 1974, he became Captain of Submarine Training and in 1976 he took command of HMS ''Sheffield''. He became Head of Naval Plans in the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

in 1978. In July 1981, he was promoted to

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regard ...

and appointed as Flag Officer First Flotilla.

Falklands War

In 1982, he commanded the HMS ''Hermes'' aircraft carrier group, Task Group 317.8, in the

. The Commander-in-Chief Fleet Admiral Sir John Fieldhouse, served as the Task Force commander, CTF-317. The task group containing the amphibious ships which launched the invasion TG 317.0 was commanded by Commodore Michael Clapp, with Task Group 317.1 being the landing force itself. He worked out the timetable for the campaign, starting from the end and working to the start. Knowing that the Argentine forces had to be defeated before the Southern Hemisphere winter made conditions too bad, he set a latest date by which the land forces had to be ashore, that in turn set a latest date by which control of the air had to be achieved, and so on. Possibly the best known single incident was the sinking of the ARA ''General Belgrano''. He knew that ''General Belgrano'', and particularly her

Exocet The Exocet () is a French-built anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from surface vessels, submarines, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Etymology The missile's name was given by M. Guillot, then the technical director ...

armed escorts, were a threat to the task force and he ordered that she be sunk. Admiral Sir George Zambellas credited "Woodward's inspirational leadership and tactical acumen ... sa major factor in shaping the success of the British forces in the South Atlantic". Woodward was knighted for his services in the conflict. He wrote a book entitled ''One Hundred Days'', co-authored by Patrick Robinson, describing his Falklands experiences.

Later career

In 1983, Woodward was appointed Flag Officer Submarines and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

Commander Submarines Eastern Atlantic. In 1984, he was promoted to vice admiral, and in 1985 he was Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Commitments). Before retirement in 1989 he also served, from 1987, as Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command and Flag Aide-de-Camp to the Queen.

Later life

The first edition of Woodward's memoirs was published in 1992. They were well received and were updated in 2003 and 2012 with updated recollections as well as responses to the memoirs and responses made by Commodore Michael Clapp. In his later life Woodward wrote various opinion pieces for British newspapers regarding defence matters, particularly the Strategic Defence and Security Review.

Death

He died of heart failure in his 82nd year on 4 August 2013 at

Bosham Bosham is a coastal village and civil parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England, centred about west of Chichester with its clustered developed part west of this. Its land forms a broad peninsula projecting into natural Chich ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

. A memorial service was held for him at

Chichester Cathedral Chichester Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Chichester. It is located in Chichester, in West Sussex, England. It was founded as a cathedral in 1075, when the seat of the ...

on 14 November 2013, with Admiral Sir George Zambellas representing the Queen.

Personal life

Woodward married Charlotte McMurtrie in 1960, the marriage producing a son and a daughter. Lady Woodward died in 2022.WOODWARD
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Honours and decorations

Order of the British Empire (Military) Ribbon

Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal ribbon

On 11 October 1982, Woodward was appointed

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as on ...

(KCB) 'in recognition of service within the operations in the South Atlantic'. In the 1989 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(GBE).

Publications

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Footnotes

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Woodward, Sandy 1932 births 2013 deaths Royal Navy admirals Royal Navy submarine commanders Military personnel from Cornwall Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Royal Navy personnel of the Falklands War Segrave Trophy recipients People educated at Stubbington House School Graduates of Britannia Royal Naval College People from Penzance People from Bosham