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 ...

David Arthur Dunbar-Nasmith, (21 February 1921 – 15 September 1997) was 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

Born the son of Admiral

Martin Dunbar-Nasmith Admiral Sir Martin Eric Dunbar-Nasmith, (1 April 1883 – 29 June 1965) was a Royal Navy officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forc ...

, Dunbar-Nasmith joined the

as a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest Military rank#Subordinate/student officer, rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Royal Cana ...

in 1939.Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
/ref> He served in

World War A world war is an international War, conflict that involves most or all of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I ...

II in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean before being given command of HMS ''Haydon'' and then HMS ''Peacock''. After the war he commanded HMS ''Moon'' and then HMS ''Rowena'' before joining the staff of the Flag Officer, 1st Cruiser Squadron and then commanding HMS ''Enard Bay''. He joined the staff of the

Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic The Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic (SACLANT) was one of two supreme commanders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), the other being the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR). The SACLANT led Allied Command Atlantic was based ...

in 1952 and was then given command 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 ''Alert'' in 1954. After 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 ...

on 30 June 1958, he joined the Headquarters of the Supreme Allied Commander Europe in 1958 and then became Commanding Officer of the frigate HMS ''Berwick'' as well as Captain of the 5th Frigate Squadron in 1961. He was appointed Director of Defence Plans 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 ...

in 1963, Commodore, Amphibious Forces, Far East Fleet from May 1966 to July 1967. Next appointed as

in 1967 and finally Flag Officer, Scotland and Northern Ireland in 1970. He retired in August 1972. In retirement he became Chairman of the

Highlands and Islands Development Board Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Africa * Highlands, Johannesburg, South Africa * Highlands, Harare, Zimbab ...

. He was also Gentleman Usher of the Green Rod. He lived at

Rothes Rothes (; ) is a town in Moray, Scotland, on the banks of the River Spey, south of Elgin, Moray, Elgin. The town had a population of 1,252 at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census. A settlement has been here since AD 600. History and cas ...

Moray Moray ( ; or ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Its council is based in Elgin, the area' ...

Family

He married Elizabeth Bowlby in 1951; they had two daughters and two sons. He died at home in Glen of

on 15 September 1997 aged 76 and was buried at

Kinloss Abbey Kinloss Abbey is a Cistercian abbey at Kinloss in the county of Moray, Scotland. The abbey was founded in 1150 by King David I "in order to extend the benefits of civilisation to the remoter regions under his sway." The legend of its foundi ...

. Elizabeth died on 8 September 2021, aged 94, in

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunbar-Nasmith, David 1921 births 1997 deaths Royal Navy rear admirals Companions of the Order of the Bath Deputy lieutenants of Moray Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Navy officers of World War II