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 ...

Sir Guy Grantham, (9 January 1900 – 8 September 1992) was a senior

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

Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth The Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, was a senior commander of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years. The commanders-in-chief were based at premises in High Street, Portsmouth from the 1790s until the end of Thomas Williams (Royal Navy officer), Si ...

from 1957 to 1959.

Naval career

Educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

,Obituary: Sir Guy Gratham
The Independent, 17 September 1992 Grantham joined the

in 1918.Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
/ref> Grantham served in the

Second World War 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 ...

, initially as commander of 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 ...

and was involved in the evacuation from Greece, for which he was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

. After a period as a liaison officer in the Western Desert, he became Commander of the cruiser , which was sunk by a

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

in March 1942. He then became commander of the cruiser , in which he was involved in the defeat of the Italian Fleet at the second Battle of Birte. His last wartime command was of 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 ...

, which was involved in the landings in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. He went on to be director of plans at the Admiralty. After the war, Grantham became

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

to the commander-in-chief,

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 1946. He was appointed flag officer submarines in 1948, flag officer, second in command of the Mediterranean Fleet in 1950 and Vice Chief of the Naval Staff in 1951. He became commander-in-chief,

and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

commander

Allied Forces Mediterranean Allied Forces Mediterranean was a NATO command covering all military operations in the Mediterranean Sea from 1952 to 1967. The command was based at Malta. History The British post of Commander in Chief Mediterranean Fleet was given a dual-hatted ...

in 1954 and then

and Allied commander-in-chief, Channel and southern North Sea in 1957. He retired in 1959. Grantham was also First and Principal Naval Aide-de-camp to the Queen from 1958 to 1959. In retirement Grantham became Governor and Commander-in-Chief Malta from 1959 to 1962.

Family

In 1934 Grantham married Beryl Mackintosh-Walker; they went on to have two daughters.

References

, - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Grantham, Guy 1900 births 1992 deaths People educated at Rugby School Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Royal Navy admirals Royal Navy officers of World War II Lords of the Admiralty Governors and governors-general of Malta Military personnel from Lincolnshire