Vice-Admiral Sir Frederick Donald Gosling, (2 March 1929 – 16 September 2019) was an honorary British vice admiral, Chairman of

National Car Parks National Car Parks (NCP) is a private car park operator, with car parks in towns, cities, airports, London Underground and National Rail stations. History NCP was founded in 1931 by Colonel Frederick Lucas. In October 1948 Sir Ronald Hobson ...

, and benefactor to naval charities.

Business career

Gosling joined 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 ...

in 1944 during

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 ...

and served in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

in the

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to sea ...

HMS ''Leander''.''

Who's Who A Who's Who (or Who Is Who) is a reference work consisting of biographical entries of notable people in a particular field. The oldest and best-known is the annual publication ''Who's Who (UK), Who's Who'', a reference work on contemporary promin ...

2010'',

A & C Black A & C Black is a British book publishing company, owned since 2002 by Bloomsbury Publishing. The company is noted for publishing ''Who's Who'' since 1849 and the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' between 1827 and 1903. It offers a wide variety of boo ...

, 2010, After the War, together with Ronald Hobson, he founded Central Car Parks, when the pair invested £200 in a bombsite in

Holborn Holborn ( or ), an area in central London, covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part (St Andrew Holborn (parish), St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Wards of the City of London, Ward of Farringdon Without i ...

, central

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to create a car park. In 1959 Central Car Parks took over

from Anne Lucas, the widow of Colonel Frederick Lucas. Gosling co-chaired the business until he retired in 1998.

Retirement

Gosling became a trustee of the

Fleet Air Arm Museum The Fleet Air Arm Museum is devoted to the history of British naval aviation. It has an extensive collection of military and civilian aircraft, aero engines, models of aircraft and Royal Navy ships (especially aircraft carriers), and paintings ...

Yeovilton Yeovilton is a village in Somerset, England, east of Ilchester and north of Yeovil. It had a population of 1,226 in the 2011 census, estimated at 1,418 in 2019. The village is part of ''Yeovilton and District'' civil parish, which includes ...

in 1974 and vice-president of

Seafarers UK The Seafarers' Charity (Seafarers UK, formerly King George's Fund for Sailors) is the leading grant-making charity that was established in 1917 as The King George’s Fund for Sailors, to support the families of seafarers lost at sea during World ...

in 1993. He was appointed honorary

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 ...

of the

Royal Naval Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original ...

(RNR) by the Queen in January 1993; he was subsequently promoted to commodore and then to honorary rear admiral of the Reserve. He also had a long association with the White Ensign Association, serving as chairman from 1979 to 1983, vice president from 1983 to 1987 and then as president on the council of management under the patron,

The Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

. In 1998 during the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Косовски рат, Kosovski rat) was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It ...

, Gosling arranged a rendezvous with the submarine HMS ''Splendid'' aboard his motor yacht ''

Leander G MY ''Meserret III'' is a luxury yacht built by Peene-Werft at Wolgast in 1992. The yacht was formerly known as ''Leander G''. She is owned by Ömer Koç, Mehmet Ömer Koç. Design ''Meserret III'' was designed by Claus Kusch, who had previously ...

'' to provide the men on board with fresh stores and allow them a few hours aboard the yacht in order to shower and rest. In April 2012, he became

Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom is an honorary office generally held by a senior Royal Navy admiral. The title holder is the official deputy to the Lord High Admiral, an honorary (although once operational) office which was vested in the S ...

, an honorific position sub-ordinate to the

Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom (of England beginning in the 14th century, later of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800) is the title of the ceremonial head of the Royal Navy. Most have been courtiers or members of the British royal family ...

, the

Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh, named after the capital city of Scotland, Edinburgh, is a substantive title that has been created four times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not pr ...

. Gosling was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the 1976 Resignation Honours List''The Times'', Thursday, 27 May 1976; pg. 2; Issue 59714; col B: "Sir Harold's resignation honours list in full" and appointed Knight Commander of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

(KCVO) in the

2004 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2004 were appointments by some of the Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrations ...

for services to

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award The Duke of Edinburgh's Award (commonly abbreviated DofE) is a youth awards programme founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 by the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, which has since expanded to 144 nations. The awards recognise adolescents and ...

and the

Outward Bound Trust Outward Bound (OB) is an international network of outdoor education organisations that was founded in the United Kingdom by Lawrence Holt in 1941 based on the educational principles of Kurt Hahn. Today there are organisations, called schools, ...

.New Year Honours List
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 31 December 2003 His interests included

yacht A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...

ing and he owned the motor yacht ''

'' until she was sold in February 2016. Gosling died on 16 September 2019, aged 90, after a short illness.

Royal Naval Reserve ranks

*27 January 1993 – May 2005: Captain (Honorary) *31 May 2005 – March 2009: Commodore (Honorary) *2 March 2009 – 2 April 2015: Rear Admiral (Honorary) *2 April 2015 – 16 September 2019: Vice Admiral (Honorary)The Daily Telegraph, 16 February 2015, p.28

Family and personal life

In 1959 Gosling married Elizabeth Shauna Ingram; together they had three sons before their marriage was dissolved in 1988.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gosling, Donald 1929 births 2019 deaths Royal Navy vice admirals Royal Navy personnel of World War II Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Knights Bachelor 20th-century English businesspeople Royal Naval Reserve personnel 21st-century Royal Navy personnel