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 ...

Hugh Maxwell Balfour (29 April 1933 – 29 June 1999) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

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.

Early life

Hugh Balfour was born in

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 ...

into a Royal Navy family on 29 April 1933, and received his early formal education at

Ardvreck School Ardvreck School is an independent boarding and day preparatory school for boys and girls aged 3–13, located in Crieff in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It was established in 1873. Notable former pupils * Rear-Admiral Hugh Balfour (1933-1999), s ...

Crieff Crieff (; , meaning "tree") is a Scottish market town in Perth and Kinross on the A85 road between Perth, Scotland, Perth and Crianlarich, and the A822 road, A822 between Greenloaning and Aberfeldy, Scotland, Aberfeldy. The A822 road, A822 joins ...

, and at Kelly College,

Tavistock Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town and civil parish in the West Devon district, in the county of Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy, from which its name derives. At the 2011 census, the three electoral wards (N ...

Early naval career

He joined the

in 1951, and qualified as a signal officer in 1959. He served on from 1960 to 1962 before gaining his first command in 1963 as a lieutenant on the

Ton-class minesweeper The Ton class were coastal minesweepers built in the 1950s for the Royal Navy, but also used by other navies such as the South African Navy and the Royal Australian Navy. They were intended to meet the threat of seabed naval mine, mines laid i ...

, . From 1965 to 1967 he served as staff officer operations and senior communications officer to the senior naval officer

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

(Snowi). He then went on to command , and took part in the Beira Patrol off the coast of

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

. His next appointment was as commander (communications) at , at the Royal Navy's Tactical School. From 1972 to 1974 he was the

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

of HMY ''Britannia''. In 1974 he was appointed as a

Lieutenant 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 ...

. In 1976 he was appointed captain of , and in 1977 he led ' Operation Journeyman', a small task force of ships that was dispatched to the

South Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

with the objective of deterring aggression to British territories there from the

Argentine Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic () are the combined armed forces of Argentina. It is controlled by the Commander-in-Chief (the President) and a civilian Minister of Defense. In addition to the Army, Navy and Air Force An air ...

, including

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...

. On his return to the United Kingdom he was appointed Deputy-Director of Command, Control and Communications. He then served as the Royal Navy's Chief Signals Officer from 1979 to 1981.

Falklands War

Balfour was the Captain of when the Argentine Armed Forces militarily invaded the Falkland Islands on 2 April 1982. ''Exeter'' was on duty at that moment in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

, acting as a guardship for British troops protecting

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

from aggression from the Government of

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

. Whilst waiting for orders he prepared the ship for battle with a series of war exercises. Following the loss of in action at the Falklands, Balfour received orders to sail for them on 5 May 1982. On route ''Exeter'' had a secret meeting with the tanker ''British Esk'' to refuel, and Balfour received a tactical briefing from

Sam Salt Rear Admiral James Frederick Thomas George "Sam" Salt, (19 April 1940 – 3 December 2009) was a senior Royal Navy officer of the late twentieth century. He was the captain of during the Falklands War, the first British warship to be sunk by en ...

, the captain of sunk HMS ''Sheffield'' (who was returning with his surviving crew to England) on the naval battle situation raging in the Falklands, where the Royal Navy was under repeat air assaults from fighter jets of the

Argentine Navy The Argentine Navy (ARA; ). This forms the basis for the navy's ship prefix "ARA". is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the Argentine Army, Army and the Argentine ...

and

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

. ''Exeter'' reached the Falklands and joined the task force on 22 May 1982, during the British amphibious assault landings to retake the Islands at

San Carlos water San Carlos Water is a bay/fjord on the west coast of East Falkland, facing onto the Falkland Sound. Name Despite its Spanish language, Spanish-sounding name, there is a wide discrepancy with the Spanish usage, for in Spanish "Estrecho de San C ...

. ''Exeter's'' primary role was to protect the task force, and provide early warning of incoming hostile aircraft and missiles using her Type 1022 Radar. During the fighting over the next three weeks she shot down two attacking Argentine

A-4C Skyhawk The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is a single-seat subsonic carrier-capable light attack aircraft designed and produced by the American aerospace manufacturer Douglas Aircraft Company, and later, McDonnell Douglas. It was originally designated A4D und ...

s on 30 May 1982, and a hostile

Learjet 35A The Learjet Model 35 and Model 36 are a series of United States, American multi-role business jets and military transport aircraft manufactured by Learjet between 1973 and 1993. When used by the United States Air Force, they carry the designatio ...

on 7 June 1982 using her

Sea Dart missile Sea Dart, or GWS.30 was a Royal Navy surface-to-air missile system designed in the 1960s and entering service in 1973. It was fitted to the Type 42 destroyers, the single Type 82 destroyer and the s. Originally developed by Hawker Siddeley, t ...

system. The conflict ended with the British capture of

Port Stanley Stanley (also known as Port Stanley) is the capital city of the Falkland Islands. It is located on the island of East Falkland, on a north-facing slope in one of the wettest parts of the islands. At the 2016 census, the city had a population o ...

on 14 June 1982.

Later career

From 1983 to 1985 Balfour was director of the Maritime Tactical School and promoted to Rear-Admiral. Between 1985 and 1990 he was Commander of the

Royal Navy of Oman The Royal Navy of Oman (), abbreviated RNO, is the maritime component of the Royal Armed Forces of the Sultanate of Oman. Given its long coastline and strategic location along the Indian Ocean, as well as being close to the Strait of Hormuz, ...

, and awarded the Military Order of Oman on his retirement. In 1990 he was also appointed a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregi ...

Post-military career

On his retirement from the Royal Navy he became a communications consultant.

Death

Balfour died from the effects of a cancer on 29 June 1999 in his 67th year.Obituary for Hugh Balfour, 'The Herald (Scotland)', 7 August 1999. https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12275438.rear-admiral-hugh-balfour/

Personal life

He married Sheila Ann Weldon in 1958, the marriage producing two daughters and a son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balfour, Hugh Royal Navy rear admirals Lieutenants of the Royal Victorian Order Companions of the Order of the Bath 1933 births 1999 deaths People educated at Kelly College People educated at Ardvreck School Maltese military personnel Royal Navy personnel of the Falklands War Recipients of the Military Order of Oman