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 ...

Sir David Allen, (14 June 1933 – 13 January 1995) was a senior

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

Defence Services Secretary The Defence Services Secretary is a senior member of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. Responsibilities The Defence Services Secretary is the senior member of the Royal Household responsible for liaison between the Sov ...

from 1988 to 1991.

Naval career

Educated at

Hutchesons' Grammar School Hutchesons' Grammar School is a private, co-educational day school for pupils aged 3–18 in Glasgow, Scotland. It was founded as Hutchesons' Boys' Grammar School by George Hutcheson and Thomas Hutcheson in 1641, making it the 19th oldest scho ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

and the

Royal Naval College, Dartmouth Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, ...

, Allen joined the

in 1949.Debrett's People of Today 1994 He became secretary to the

Naval Secretary The Naval Secretary is the Royal Navy officer who advises the First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff on naval officer appointing (and General Officers). Their counterpart in the British Army is the Military Secretary. The Royal Air Force equi ...

in 1973, Fleet Supply Officer in 1975 and secretary to the

Controller of the Navy Controller may refer to: Occupations * Controller or financial controller, or in government accounting comptroller, a senior accounting position * Controller, someone who performs agent handling in espionage * Air traffic controller, a person w ...

in 1978. He joined the staff of the Flag Officer, Naval Air Command in 1981 and became secretary to the

First Sea Lord First Sea Lord, officially known as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff (1SL/CNS), is the title of a statutory position in the British Armed Forces, held by an Admiral (Royal Navy), admiral or a General (United Kingdom), general of the ...

in 1982 before becoming commanding officer of HMS ''Cochrane'' in 1985. He was Chief Naval Supply and Secretariat Officer as well as

from 1988 to 1991 when he retired.

Personal life and death

In 1962 he married Margaret Gwendolin Todd; they had two sons. Allen died on 13 January 1995, at the age of 61.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, David 1933 births 1995 deaths Royal Navy rear admirals Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Royal Navy logistics officers 20th-century Royal Navy personnel