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 ...

John Richard Hill (25 March 1929 – 25 March 2017) was a rear-admiral 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 ...

, a former chief executive of the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

, author, and editor of many books on naval affairs.

Early life and education

Richard Hill was born in

Merton, Surrey Merton is an ancient parish historically in Surrey, but which has since 1965 been part of Greater London (under its current name Merton Priory). It is bounded by Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon to the north, Mitcham to the east, Morden, Cheam and C ...

, the son of Stanley Hill and May Henshaw Hill: he entered the

Royal Naval College, Dartmouth Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, ...

, in 1942 and became a sub-lieutenant in 1946.

Naval career

Richard Hill went to sea in 1946 and served mainly in destroyers and frigates, specializing in navigation up to the age of thirty-three. He served as a sub-lieutenant on the

China Station The Commander-in-Chief, China, was the admiral in command of what was usually known as the China Station, at once both a British Royal Navy naval formation and its admiral in command. It was created in 1865 and deactivated in 1941. From 1831 to 1 ...

from 1946 to 1947, before attending his sub-lieutenant's courses from 1947 to 1949. Promoted to lieutenant, he served in in 1950, in 1950 to 1952, from 1952 to 1954 and then served ashore as a Navigation Specialist at in 1954, before returning to sea in in 1954 to 1956, in 1956 to 1958, and in 1958 to 1959. As a lieutenant-commander, he served at

Pembroke Dockyard Pembroke Dockyard, originally called Pater Yard, is a former Royal Navy Dockyard in Pembroke Dock, Pembrokeshire, Wales. History It was founded in 1814, although not formally authorized until the George IV of the United Kingdom, Prince Regent s ...

in 1959 to 1960 and in HMS ''Duchess'' in 1960 to 1962. Following his promotion to commander, he served mainly in appointments in the Ministry of Defence between 1963 and 1969, attending the

Imperial Defence College The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest level ...

from 1965 to 1967. In 1969 to 1971, he served at HMS ''Dryad''. In 1972, he was appointed Defence Fellow of

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, where he wrote a thesis on 'The Rule of Law at Sea.' On promotion to captain, he returned to the Ministry of Defence from 1973 to 1975, then he was posted abroad to

The Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, where he served as Defence and Naval Attaché at

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

from 1975 to 1977. Promoted to commodore in 1977, he returned to the Ministry of Defence until promoted to rear-admiral in 1981; he served as Flag Officer, Admiralty Interview Board from 1981 to 1983.Debrett's People of Today 1994 He retired from the Royal Navy as a

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 ...

in 1983.

Later career

Following his retirement as a serving officer, Hill became under-treasurer, the chief executive, of the

, one of the

Inns of Court The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court: Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple, and Middle Temple. All barristers must belong to one of them. They have s ...

, and held that post for ten years until his retirement in 1994, when he was made Hon. Bencher, 1994. He served as Secretary of the Council of Inns of Court, 1987–1993. He served as editor of the

Naval Review A Naval Review is an event where select vessels and assets of the United States Navy are paraded to be reviewed by the President of the United States or the Secretary of the Navy. Due to the geographic distance separating the modern U.S. Na ...

, 1983–2002 and as its reviews editor from 2002. He was a member of Council, Greenwich Forum, from 1983, and served on the Board of War Studies,

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, 1986–1994; member of Council, Foundation for International Security, from 1987; member of Council, 1993-1997, and Vice President, 1997-2001, of the

Navy Records Society The Navy Records Society was established in 1893 as a scholarly text publication society to publish historical documents relating to the history of the Royal Navy. Professor Sir John Knox Laughton and Admiral Sir Cyprian Bridge were the key lea ...

; member of Council, 1993–1994, and Chairman, 1994–1999, of the

Society for Nautical Research The Society for Nautical Research is a British society that conducts research and sponsors projects related to maritime history worldwide. Founded in 1910, the Society initially encouraged research into seafaring, ship-building, the language and ...

. Trustee, 1994–1999, and Vice President, 2002, of the

Royal Naval Museum The National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth, formerly known as the Royal Naval Museum, is a museum of the history of the Royal Navy located in the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard section of HMNB Portsmouth, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. T ...

, Portsmouth. In 2000, the British Maritime Foundation awarded Admiral Hill the

Mountbatten Maritime Prize The Mountbatten Maritime Award is awarded annually by the Maritime Foundation (formerly the British Maritime Charitable Foundation) to the author of a distinguished publication that has made a significant contribution to the maritime history of t ...

Personal life and death

Hill married Patricia Sales in 1956; they had three children. He died from

bronchopneumonia Bronchopneumonia is a subtype of pneumonia. It is the acute inflammation of the Bronchus, bronchi, accompanied by inflamed patches in the nearby lobules of the lungs. citing: Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2014 ...

and

aortic stenosis Aortic stenosis (AS or AoS) is the narrowing of the exit of the left ventricle of the heart (where the aorta begins), such that problems result. It may occur at the aortic valve as well as above and below this level. It typically gets worse o ...

at his home in

Bishops Waltham Bishop's Waltham (or Bishops Waltham) is a medieval market town situated at the source of the River Hamble in Hampshire, England. It has a foot in the South Downs National Park and is located at the midpoint of a long-established route between ...

, Hampshire, on 25 March 2017, his 88th birthday.

Published works

Rear-Admiral Hill published articles in a number of professional journals, including ''

Survival Survival or survivorship, the act of surviving, is the propensity of something to continue existing, particularly when this is done despite conditions that might kill or destroy it. The concept can be applied to humans and other living things ...

'', '' Navy International'', '' Brassey's Annual'', '' NATO's 15 Nations'', ''

'', ''

Naval Forces A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operati ...

''. He has contributed to the ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

'', for which he wrote biographies of Sir

Harold Burrough Admiral Sir Harold Martin Burrough, (4 July 1889 – 22 October 1977) was a senior Royal Navy officer and Assistant Chief of Naval Staff to the Royal Navy during World War II. Early career Born the tenth son of Rev. Charles Burrough and his w ...

, Sir John Hayes, Admiral of the Fleet Lord Lewin, Vonla McBride, Sir Roderick Douglas Macdonald, Sir

Ian McIntosh Ian McIntosh (24 September 1938 – 5 April 2023) was a Zimbabwean–South African rugby union coach. He served as head coach for the Springboks during 1993 and 1994. McIntosh grew up near Bulawayo in Matabeleland, Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbab ...

, and Sir Bernard Rawlings.
''French strategy and its political bases''
(1966)
''The Royal Navy, today and tomorrow''
(1983)
''Anti-submarine warfare''
(1984)
''Air defence at sea''
(1984)
''British sea power in the 1980s''
(1985)
''Maritime strategy for medium powers''
(1986)
''Arms control at sea''
(1989)
''The Oxford illustrated history of the Royal Navy''
general editor, J. R. Hill; consultant editor,

Bryan Ranft Bryan Ranft (14 July 1917 – 14 April 2001) was a historian of the Royal Navy, who served as Professor of History and International Affairs at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, 1967–1977. Early life and education Ranft was educated at Manches ...

(1995) * ''The prizes of war : the naval prize system in the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

, 1793-1815'' (1998) * ''Maritime operations in peace : drug interdiction, disaster relief, suppression of piracy'', Stephen Jermy, John Lippiett, Richard Hill. (1998). * ''War at sea in the ironclad age'' (2000) * ''Lewin of Greenwich: the authorised biography of Admiral of the Fleet Lord Lewin'' (2000) * ''Maritime Britain'' (2005) * ''A Light on the Shore'' (2009)

References

Rear-Admiral John Richard Hill
on the

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, J. Richard 1929 births 2017 deaths 20th-century English historians 21st-century English historians Deaths from bronchopneumonia Deaths from pneumonia in England Royal Navy rear admirals English naval historians Academics of King's College London Members of the Middle Temple People associated with the University of London British naval historians Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies