Sir Denis William Boyd (6 March 1891 – 21 January 1965) was a

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 Fifth Sea Lord from 1943 to 1945, and as Commander-in-Chief, Far East Fleet from 1946 to 1949.

Naval career

Early career

Boyd 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 1906 and was commissioned in 1910. After serving as Torpedo Officer in during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

,Royal Navy (RN) Officers 1939–1945
/ref> he set off on a journey around the world aboard in 1922. He returned in 1923 and was then attached to the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

from 1926. He was appointed Fleet Torpedo Officer in the

Mediterranean Fleet The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between ...

in 1928 and, while serving with the Naval Equipment Department, he was promoted 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 ...

in 1931. He was briefly Commanding Officer of the destroyer in 1932, before joining the Tactical Division of the naval Staff in 1933 and becoming its Director in 1934. Boyd became Commanding Officer of and Captain (D) of the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla at

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

in 1936; a post that included responsibility for patrols off Spain during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

.Sir Denis William Boyd
Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives He was then made commanding officer of the Torpedo School in 1938, serving there until the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

World War II

During the Second World War, Boyd captained the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

from 1940, seeing action at the

Battle of Taranto The Battle of Taranto took place on the night of 11/12 November 1940 during the Second World War between British naval forces (Admiral Andrew Cunningham) and Italian naval forces (Admiral Inigo Campioni). The Royal Navy launched the first all ...

. Promoted 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 August 1941, he became admiral commanding aircraft carriers in the

. He moved to the Eastern Fleet in 1942 as admiral commanding aircraft carriers with as his flagship. He was appointed Fifth Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Air Equipment in 1943, and was promoted to

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 ...

in August 1944. He then became Admiral (Air) at

RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus) Royal Naval Air Station Lee-on-Solent, (RNAS Lee-on-Solent; or HMS ''Daedalus'' 1939–1959 & 1965–1996 and HMS ''Ariel'' 1959–1965), is a former Royal Naval Air Station located near Lee-on-the-Solent in Hampshire, approximately west of P ...

in January 1945.

Post-war service

Boyd became Commander-in-Chief of the Far East Fleet in 1946. He was promoted to

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

in 1948 and retired in 1949.

Later life

In retirement, Boyd became Principal of Ashridge College. He died, aged 73, on 21 January 1965.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Boyd, Denis 1891 births 1965 deaths Royal Navy admirals of World War II Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) Lords of the Admiralty Admiralty personnel of World War II Military personnel from Manchester Royal Navy officers of World War I