Surgeon Vice Admiral Sir John Stuart Pepys Rawlins, (12 May 1922 – 27 July 2011) was a

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 and pioneer in the field of

diving medicine Diving medicine, also called undersea and hyperbaric medicine (UHB), is the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of conditions caused by humans entering the undersea environment. It includes the effects on the body of pressure on gases, the diag ...

Royal Navy

Rawlins was the son of Colonel Stuart Rawlins. He was educated at

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: *Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England ** Wellington College International Shanghai ** Wellington College International Tianjin * Wellington College, Wellington, Ne ...

, read medicine at

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the unive ...

and trained at Barts, graduating in 1945. Soon after, Rawlins began his career as a surgeon lieutenant Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve officer and was assigned to the '' Colossus class'' aircraft carrier in 1947. After transitioning from the reserves to active duty in 1951, Rawlins was assigned to the

RAF Institute of Aviation Medicine The Royal Air Force Institute of Aviation Medicine was a Royal Air Force aviation medicine research unit active between 1945 and 1994. Early days The RAF Institute of Aviation Medicine (IAM) was opened on 30 April 1945 by the Princess Royal. ...

(IAM). He was appointed a

Member 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 o ...

in 1955 for his work with protective helmets, and was promoted to the rank of surgeon commander while he continued his research at the IAM until 1961. That year he was advanced to Officer 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 o ...

for his work on the automatic underwater escape system. Rawlins was also a member of the US Navy SEALAB project. Rawlins served as the RN Director of Health and Research from 1975 to 1977 and later as the RN Medical Director General from 1977 to 1980 when he retired as surgeon vice admiral.

Other honours

In 1971, Rawlins also served as the first "past president" on the founding executive committee for the European Underwater and Baromedical Society. The

Gilbert Blane Sir Gilbert Blane of Blanefield, 1st Baronet FRSE FRS MRCP (29 August 174926 June 1834) was a Scottish physician who instituted health reform in the Royal Navy. He saw action against both the French and Spanish fleets, and later served as a C ...

Medal of the

Royal College of Surgeons The Royal College of Surgeons is an ancient college (a form of corporation) established in England to regulate the activity of surgeons. Derivative organisations survive in many present and former members of the Commonwealth. These organisations a ...

was awarded in 1974 for his work on

cold Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...

in diving. Rawlins was a

British Sub-Aqua Club The British Sub-Aqua Club or BSAC has been recognised since 1954 by UK Sport as the national governing body of recreational diving in the United Kingdom. The club was founded in 1953 and at its peak in the mid-1990s had over 50,000 members d ...

Honorary Life Member as well as President of the Historical Diving Society and the Association of RN First Class Divers. He received the Lowell Thomas Award from

The Explorers Club The Explorers Club is an American-based international multidisciplinary professional society with the goal of promoting scientific exploration and field study. The club was founded in New York City in 1904, and has served as a meeting point fo ...

in 2000.

References

External links

Obituary in ''The Times''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rawlins, John 1922 births 2011 deaths Military personnel from Wiltshire British medical researchers British underwater divers Royal Navy vice admirals Royal Navy Medical Service officers Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire Alumni of University College, Oxford 20th-century Royal Navy personnel