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 ...

Ian Alexander Hunter (23 October 1939 – 8 December 2022) was an officer of the

Royal New Zealand Navy The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN; ) is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. The fleet currently consists of eight ships. The Navy had its origins in the Naval Defence Act 1913, and the subsequent acquisition of the cruiser , whi ...

, who served as Chief of Naval Staff from March 1991 to April 1994.

Biography

Born in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

on 23 October 1939, Hunter was educated at

Christchurch Boys' High School Christchurch Boys' High School, often referred to as CBHS, is a single sex state secondary school in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is situated on a site between the suburbs of Riccarton, New Zealand, Riccarton and Fendalton, to the west of ce ...

. He joined the navy as a midshipman in 1957, and trained at the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. He served in various

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 ...

submarines and New Zealand naval ships, and in exchange postings with the Royal Navy on shore and at sea. He qualified as a submarine watch officer, an anti-submarine warfare specialist, and a naval diver. During the summer of 1962–1963 he was in the Antarctic and then served in HMNZS ''Rotoiti'' as navigating and communications officer. In 1965, Hunter married Hilary Rankin Sturrock, and the couple went on to have two sons. From 1965 to 1966, Hunter was a member of the instructional staff at the joint Royal Navy /

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

Anti-Submarine School, and was the Royal Navy's diving officer and bomb and mine disposal officer for Northern Ireland. He later served as the executive officer on HMNZS ''Blackpool'' as the leased ship was returned to the Royal Navy, and was the first operations officer on HMNZS ''Canterbury'' following her commissioning in 1971. In 1976, Hunter was promoted to the rank of commander. In 1979, he gained command of HMNZS ''Waikato'', and then was the first commander of HMNZS ''Southland'' from 1982. Promoted to the rank of commodore in 1987, Hunter was appointed assistant chief of defence staff (development plans). The following year, he became commodore Auckland (marine commander, New Zealand), and in 1989 he was appointed an additional aide-de-camp to

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

. Hunter was promoted to rear admiral and appointed Chief of Naval Staff with effect from 29 March 1991. He served in that role until retiring on 8 April 1994. Following his retirement from the navy, Hunter was a trustee of the Wellington Civic Trust, serving as chair from 1996 to 1999, and then deputy chair until 2004. Between 1994 and 2001, he was a trustee of the Wellington Museums Trust. Hunter was patron of the Wellington branch of the

Royal New Zealand Returned and Services' Association The Royal New Zealand Returned and Services' Association, best known simply as the RSA, is one of the largest voluntary welfare organisations in New Zealand and one of the oldest ex-service organisations in the world. Wounded soldiers returnin ...

. Hunter died in

Waikanae Waikanae (, ) is a town on the Kāpiti Coast, north of the Wellington, New Zealand. The name is a Māori language, Māori word meaning "waters" (''wai'') "of the flathead grey mullet, grey mullet". The area surrounding the town is notable fo ...

on 8 December 2022, aged 83.

Honours and awards

In 1990, Hunter received the

New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal was a commemorative medal awarded in New Zealand in 1990 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and was awarded to 3,632 people. Background The New Zealand 1990 Com ...

. In the

1993 Queen's Birthday Honours The 1993 Queen's Birthday honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of the Queen's b ...

, he was 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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Ian 1939 births 2022 deaths Military personnel from Dunedin People educated at Christchurch Boys' High School Graduates of Britannia Royal Naval College Royal New Zealand Navy admirals New Zealand Companions of the Order of the Bath