Vice Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

John Percival Scatchard, (5 September 1910 – 22 June 2001) was a senior 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 ...

. He served for a time as Flag Officer Second-in-Command of the Far East Fleet.

Naval career

Educated at Aysgarth School in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

and the Royal Naval College Dartmouth, Scatchard joined the

in 1923. He fought 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 First Lieutenant in the

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

until it was bombed and sunk on 23 May 1941. He went on to command the destroyer and then, from late in 1943, the destroyer . He served with distinction and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross & two Bars. After the war, Scatchard became Executive Officer of RNAS Easthaven and was then appointed First Lieutenant of 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 ...

in September 1946. He went on to serve in the Plans Division of the Admiralty, as Captain (D) Portsmouth and as then as Chief Officer (Administration) to the

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 ...

. After attending the Imperial Defence College, he was appointed Captain 5th Destroyer Squadron in 1957. He became Director of Naval Equipment at the Admiralty in 1958 and Commandant of the

Joint Service Defence College The Joint Service Defence College (JSDC) was a training academy for British military personnel from 1983 to 1997. It has since been amalgamated into the Joint Services Command and Staff College. History The college was established as the Combine ...

in 1960. He went on to be Flag Officer Second-in-Command of the Far East Fleet in 1962, was promoted to

vice admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

on 14 August 1963, and retired in 1964.

Family

In 1943 Scatchard married Margaret Niven: they had one daughter.

References

1910 births 2001 deaths Companions of the Order of the Bath People educated at Aysgarth School Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Navy admirals Royal Navy personnel of World War II {{UK-navy-bio-stub