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 vic ...

Sir David Stuart Dobson (born 4 December 1938) is a former

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 became

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 ...

Naval career

Dobson was educated at 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, ...

and, after joining the

, became Commanding Officer of 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 ...

HMS ''Amazon'' in 1975.Debrett's People of Today 1994 Promotion to

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 ...

followed on 30 June 1979. A naval aviator, he became naval and air

attaché In diplomacy, an attaché () is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified ac ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

in 1979 and Senior Naval Officer on the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...

in 1982. He went on to be

of the

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

HMS ''Southampton'' in 1983 and then

Captain of the Fleet Fleet captain (US) is a historic military title that was bestowed upon a naval officer who served as chief of staff to a flag officer. In the UK, a captain of the fleet could be appointed to assist an admiral when the admiral had ten or more shi ...

and, following his promotion to rear admiral, became

in 1988. His last appointment was as Chief of Staff for the Allied Naval Force Southern Europe in the rank of vice admiral in 1991. He retired in 1991 and was President of the

Union Jack Club The Union Jack Club is a private members club in central London, England, for enlisted / non-commissioned ( other ranks) serving and veteran members of the His Majesty's Armed Forces and their families. Located adjacent to London Waterloo rai ...

.Whitaker's Almanack 1992

Family

In 1962 he married Joanna Mary Counter; they have two sons and one daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobson, David 1938 births Living people Royal Navy vice admirals Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire