Vice-Admiral Sir Ian Lachlan Mackay McGeoch, KCB, DSO, DSC (26 March 1914 – 12 August 2007) was a commissioned officer in 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 ...

of the

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. He commanded the

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

HMS ''Splendid'' during 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 ...

, and was later Flag Officer Submarines (FOSM) and Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland (FOSNI).

Early life

McGeoch was born in

Helensburgh Helensburgh ( ; ) is a town on the north side of the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, situated at the mouth of the Gareloch. Historically in Dunbartonshire, it became part of Argyll and Bute following local government reorganisation in 1996. Histo ...

, on the north shore of the

Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde, is the estuary of the River Clyde, on the west coast of Scotland. The Firth has some of the deepest coastal waters of the British Isles. The Firth is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre, Kintyre Peninsula. The ...

. A burly figure, he was educated at Pangbourne Nautical College, and joined the Royal Navy in 1931 as a special entry cadet. From 1933, he served as a midshipman on the

battleship A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...

HMS ''Royal Oak'',Obituary: Vice-Admiral Sir Ian McGeoch
The Times, 20 August 2007 then on the destroyer HMS ''Boadicea'', and then the heavy cruiser HMS ''Devonshire''. He volunteered to serve on submarines, and attended the course at HMS ''Dolphin'' in 1936. Promoted to lieutenant, he joined HMS ''Clyde'', based 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 ...

, as navigator and third hand.

Second World War

McGeoch was serving with HMS ''Clyde'' when the

broke out, returning to England in January 1940. He then served as 1st lieutenant (second-in-command) of the old H-class submarine , engaged in landing secret agents on

Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...

. He was appointed as second-in-command of the new submarine in July 1940, but was selected for the Commanding Officers' Qualifying Course before he saw active service. The course, still run, is known as the "perisher" due to its high failure rate, and that failure means an end to a career on submarines. He passed and was returned to the 10th Submarine Flotilla on Malta as a "spare" commanding officer, to cover for illness or injury. McGeoch took command of on one patrol, but was not confident in his own abilities, so, unusually, elected to return to England to take the "perisher" a second time. He passed again, and took command of the new S-class submarine ''P228'', just launched at Chatham Dockyard on 13 January 1942. He and his brand new ship (named January 1943) were posted to

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to take part in Operation Torch, and then back to Malta. HMS Splendid

From November 1942 to May 1943 (the Operation Torch landings to the defeat of Axis forces in North Africa), ''Splendid'' sank more tonnage on its six patrols than any other submarine. Lieutenant McGeoch was awarded the DSO after his fourth patrol, and the DSC after his fifth. Under McGeoch's command, ''Splendid'' sank the Italian auxiliary submarine chaser ''San Paolo'', the Italian merchants ''Luigi Favorita'', ''Devoli'', and ''XXI Aprile'', the small Italian merchant ''Commercio'', the Italian auxiliary minesweeper No. 107 / ''Cleopatra'', and the Italian tanker ''Giorgio''. ''Splendid'' also sank the Italian , escorting the German transport ship ''Ankara'' with her sister ship ''Camicia Nera'' - ''Splendid'' also attacked ''Ankara'', but missed her. ''Splendid'' also sank the Italian merchant ''Emma'', despite her being heavily escorted by the Italian torpedo boats , and . The German merchant ''Sienna'' (the former French ''Astrée'') was missed in the same attack. ''Splendid'' also torpedoed and damaged the Italian destroyer ''Velite''. ''Splendid'' left Malta for the last time on 17 April 1943. Her sixth patrol would take her to the waters off

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

and

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. Off Capri on 21 April 1943, she ran into the German destroyer ''Hermes'' (formerly the British-built ). ''Splendid''s periscope was spotted in the calm conditions in the Tyrrhenian Sea. Three accurately-dropped patterns of depth charges forced ''Splendid'' to the surface, where McGeoch ordered the crew to abandon ship and scuttled the vessel. Five officers, including McGeoch, and 25 ratings were picked up; 18 men were lost with the ship. McGeoch suffered a wound to his right eye, and never recovered its sight. McGeoch and the other survivors from her crew became prisoners of war in Italy. Despite blindness in one eye, McGeoch nevertheless made several escape attempts. After the surrender of Fascist Italy in September 1943, he was able to walk out of the camp gate and travelled to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, where a metal fragment was removed from his sightless right eye. He travelled across occupied south France in December 1943 to Spain. He was interned in Figueres, but British diplomats arranged for his release to

, and he returned to England on the old battleship . His escape won him a mention in dispatches. Returning to duty, McGeoch attended the Naval Staff Course in 1944. Promoted to lieutenant commander, he became Staff Officer (Operations) for the 4th Cruiser Squadron in the British Pacific Fleet in the run up to the

surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was Hirohito surrender broadcast, announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally Japanese Instrument of Surrender, signed on 2 September 1945, End of World War II in Asia, ending ...

on 2 September 1945.

Post-war career

After helping to repatriate British prisoners of war, he returned to the United Kingdom in 1946 to take command of the . Promoted to

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 ...

in 1947, he worked in operations in the Admiralty, commanded the 4th Submarine Squadron in

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from 1949. Promoted to captain on 30 June 1955, he served as naval liaison officer to RAF Coastal Command in 1955 and 1956, and commanded the 3rd Submarine Squadron in 1957 and 1958. He became Director of Undersurface Warfare in the Admiralty for two years, then studied at the Imperial Defence College in 1961. He commanded the cruiser from 1962 to 1964. Promoted to rear-admiral in 1964, he became Admiral President of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. He then served as Flag Officer Submarines (FOSM) from May 1965 to December 1967. During his time in this post, - the Royal Navy's second nuclear attack submarine (and the first all-British) - was launched, as was the first Polaris ballistic missile submarine, . Promoted to vice-admiral in 1967, he became Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland (FOSNI). He was appointed CB in 1966 and advanced to KCB in 1969. He retired in 1970.

Later life

He studied social sciences at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

from 1970, and received an MPhil in 1975 after the direction of historian Professor John Erickson, writing a thesis on the origins, procurement and effect of the Polaris programme. He edited the '' Naval Review'' from 1972 to 1980. He worked with other senior officers, including General Sir John Hackett, on '' The Third World War: The Untold Story'' (1978 and 1982). He published a memoir of his wartime service, ''An Affair of Chances: a Submariner's Odyssey, 1939-44'' in 1991, and his biography of Earl Mountbatten of Burma, entitled ''Earl Mountbatten, The Princely Sailor'', was published in 1996. He was a member of the Royal Company of Archers (the Queen's Bodyguard in Scotland) from 1969 to 2003. He was also a member of Royal Institute of Navigation, the Nautical Institute, the Honourable Company of Master Mariners, and the Royal Yacht Squadron. He was a trustee of the Imperial War Museum. He married Eleanor Somers Farrie in 1937, the daughter of the

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

vicar of Sliema. They had two daughters and two sons. He died on 12 August 2007 and was survived by his wife and children.

References

External links

Obituary, ''The Times'', 20 August 2007Obituary, ''The Daily Telegraph'', 17 August 2007Obituary, ''The Independent'', 25 August 2007Imperial War Museum Interview
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:McGeoch, Ian 1914 births 2007 deaths People from Helensburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Royal Navy vice admirals Royal Navy submarine commanders Royal Navy officers of World War II Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Admiral presidents of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich Members of the Royal Company of Archers British World War II prisoners of war World War II prisoners of war held by Italy