Rear Admiral David Ian Ledson, (born 13 January 1951) is a retired senior officer of the

Royal New Zealand Navy The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN; mi, Te Taua Moana o Aotearoa, , Sea Warriors of New Zealand) is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. The fleet currently consists of nine ships. The Navy had its origins in the Naval Defence Act ...

and former Chief of Navy (2004–09). He is the Chairman of the Board of

Maritime New Zealand Maritime New Zealand (New Zealand Maritime Safety Authority) is a Crown entity and also a state maritime safety authority responsible for protecting the maritime transport sequence and marine environment within New Zealand and maintaining safety ...

, and was named a Companion of the

Royal Society of New Zealand Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a c ...

in 2009.

Early life and education

Ledson was educated at Inangahua College and

Christchurch Boys' High School , motto_translation = I Seek Higher Things , type = State school, Day and Boarding school , gender = Boys , song = The School We Magnify , colours = Blue and Black , established = , address = 71 Straven Ro ...

, and joined the Royal New Zealand Navy as a cadet midshipman in January 1967. He underwent training at the Royal Australian Naval College, Jervis Bay. From 1969 to 1971 he studied at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in history.

Naval career

He served in between July 1973 and October 1975, followed by almost two years in . He then attended warfare courses in the United Kingdom, specialising in navigation. After the course he returned to HMNZS ''Waikato'' as the Weapons Control Officer. In March 1980 he became the Personal Staff Officer to the Chief of Naval Staff before returning to HMNZS ''Waikato'' as the Operations Officer in April 1982. Between January and June 1984 he attended the Royal Australian Naval Staff College in Sydney. In October 1985 he joined the staff of the Chief of Naval Staff as the Director of Naval Operational Data Systems until October 1989 when he became Commanding Officer of HMNZS ''Waikato''. In November 1990 he was attached to Blohm & Voss, in Hamburg for eighteen months for duties with the ANZAC Ship project. In July 1992 he was appointed as Chief of Naval Development on the staff of the Chief of Naval Staff. Between July 1994 and June 1995 he was posted to the United States'

Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associ ...

. After the War College he was appointed Director of Resource Policy for the Chief of Defence Force. In February 1998 he was posted as Captain Fleet Support and was promoted Deputy Chief of Naval Staff, with the rank of

commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore ...

, in April 2000. He became Chief of Navy and was promoted rear admiral on 8 April 2004. In the 2000 Queen's Birthday Honours, Ledson was appointed an

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ledson, David 1951 births Companions of the Royal Society of New Zealand Living people Naval War College alumni Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit Royal New Zealand Navy admirals People from Reefton People educated at Christchurch Boys' High School University of Auckland alumni