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 ...

Godfrey Alexander French (1 July 1900 – 10 April 1988) 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 the last British Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff of the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

Career

Following his cadetship from 1913 to 1916, French was appointed

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 ...

on serving in the

Grand Fleet The Grand Fleet was the main battlefleet of the Royal Navy during the First World War. It was established in August 1914 and disbanded in April 1919. Its main base was Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. History Formed in August 1914 from th ...

. Promoted to sub-lieutenant, he served as First Lieutenant of HMS ''Nith''. Later, in 1920, he was an undergraduate at

Selwyn College, Cambridge Selwyn College, Cambridge is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1882 by the Selwyn Memorial Committee in memory of George Selwyn (bishop of Lichfield), Georg ...

. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Military Division (CBE) in the

1954 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1954 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made to celebrate ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:French, Godfrey Deputy chiefs of Naval Staff (India) 1900 births 1988 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Royal Navy personnel of World War I Royal Navy personnel of World War II Royal Navy captains Indian Navy officers British people in colonial India