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 ...

Sir Adrian James Johns, (born 1 September 1951) is a former senior officer in the

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 ...

, serving as

Second Sea Lord The Second Sea Lord and Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff (formerly Second Sea Lord) is deputy to the First Sea Lord and the second highest-ranking officer currently to serve in the Royal Navy and is responsible for personnel and naval shore estab ...

between 2005 and 2008. He was the

Governor of Gibraltar The governor of Gibraltar is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territories, British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. The role of ...

between 2009 and 2013.

Early life and education

Johns was born on 1 September 1951. He was educated at Newquay Grammar School in Cornwall and then

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

, where he studied physics.

Naval career

Johns joined the

in 1973. On 1 September 1975, he was promoted to lieutenant, with

seniority Seniority is the state of being older or placed in a higher position of status relative to another individual, group, or organization. For example, one employee may be senior to another either by role or rank (such as a CEO vice a manager), or by ...

from 1 January 1975. After his initial postings, Johns trained as a helicopter pilot and then served as a

Westland Sea King The Westland WS-61 Sea King is a British licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-61 helicopter of the same name, built by Westland Helicopters. The aircraft differs considerably from the American version, with Rolls-Royce Gnome eng ...

pilot with 824 Naval Air Squadron aboard HMS ''Ark Royal''. He became a flying instructor in 1979. In 1981, he was given his first command on board in Hong Kong and was promoted to lieutenant commander on 16 October 1982. After holding other naval posts, he was 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 1988 and then commanded the

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

s HMS ''Juno'' and HMS ''Ariadne'' between 1988 and 1990. Johns attained the rank of

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 31 December 1994. Between various appointments at the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

, he held the command of the frigate HMS ''Campbeltown'' from 1995 to 1996. Johns was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the 2001

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

. Later that year, he took command of the

amphibious assault ship An amphibious assault ship is a type of warship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory during an armed conflict. The design evolved from aircraft carriers converted for use as helicopter carriers (which, as a result, ar ...

HMS ''Ocean''. It was deployed to

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

in spring 2003. Following this tour, Johns received a Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service, gazetted on 31 October 2003. He relinquished command of the ''Ocean'' on his promotion to

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 ...

in May 2003. Johns became Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff in May 2003. In October 2005, he was promoted to vice admiral and appointed

and Commander in Chief of Naval Home Command. The 2008 New Year Honours saw him appointed

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

(KCB). He was succeeded as Second Sea Lord by Vice-Admiral Alan Massey in July 2008. On 9 June 2009, the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 ...

announced that Johns would succeed Sir Robert Fulton as

later that year. Johns arrived at Gibraltar on board HMS ''Lancaster'' and was sworn into the office of

on Monday 26 October 2009."Vice-admiral Sir Adrian Johns KCB, CBE—New governor arrives Monday"
, '' Gibraltar Chronicle'', 23 October 2009. He is a patron of the armed forces career management charity Soldier On! On 2 February 2011, Johns was appointed a Knight of the Order of St. John, an honour in the personal gift of Her Majesty The Queen."The London Gazette, Order of St John notices"
''The

London Gazette London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Tha ...

'', 9 February 2011.

References

External links

* fro

2007-05-07. , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Johns, Adrian 1951 births Living people Alumni of Imperial College London Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Deputy lieutenants of Greater London Fleet Air Arm aviators Governors of Gibraltar Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights of Justice of the Order of St John Lords of the Admiralty People from Redruth Recipients of the Commendation for Valuable Service Royal Navy vice admirals Royal Navy personnel of the Iraq War