Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

Michael Wyndham "Mike" Hudson (10 March 1933 – 27 February 2005) was a senior officer in the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

(RAN), particularly notable for playing an important role in the introduction of the

Collins class submarine The ''Collins''-class submarines are Australian-built diesel-electric submarines operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The ''Collins'' class takes its name from Australian Vice Admiral John Augustine Collins; each of the six submarines ...

s and Anzac Class frigates, and establishing two-ocean basing for ships of the RAN during his tenure as Chief of Naval Staff from 1985 to 1991.

Early life

Michael Hudson was born on 10 March 1933 in

Taree, New South Wales Taree () is a city on the Mid North Coast, New South Wales, Australia. It and nearby Cundletown were settled in 1831 by William Wynter. Since then it has grown to a population of 26,381, and commands a significant agricultural district. Situ ...

. His family moved to the

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

suburb of

Mosman Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governm ...

when he was of a young age, where he developed an early interest in the navy, frequently watching the naval shipping from Balmoral. His first year of secondary schooling was spent at

North Sydney Boys High School North Sydney Boys High School (abbreviated as NSBHS) is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded, Single-sex school, single-sex, Selective school (New South Wales), academically selective secondary day school for boys, loc ...

Service history

Hudson joined the

Royal Australian Naval College HMAS Creswell is a training facility of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) that includes the Royal Australian Naval College (RANC) as well as the School of Survivability and Ship's Safety, Beecroft Weapons Range, and an administrative support depa ...

as a 13 year old cadet midshipman in January 1947. His class was to prove a high achieving one. Out of the 24 cadets, three were to retire from the RAN as

commodores Commodores, often billed as The Commodores, are an American funk and Soul music, soul group. The group's most successful period was in the late 1970s and early 1980s when Lionel Richie was the co-lead singer. The members of the group met as m ...

, one ( Sir David Martin) 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 ...

and later

Governor of New South Wales The governor of New South Wales is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia, Governor-General of Australia at the national level, the governor ...

, another ( Ian Knox) as a

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 ...

and Vice Chief of the Defence Force, while Hudson became an admiral and Chief of Naval Staff. Graduating in 1950 with the King's Medal as

dux ''Dux'' (, : ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, ''dux'' coul ...

of his class, Hudson decided to specialise in navigation. As a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest Military rank#Subordinate/student officer, rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Royal Cana ...

, he was posted to , which included a six-month deployment for service in the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. Hudson proceeded to command HMA Ships ''Brisbane'', ''Stalwart'', ''Melbourne'', and ''Vendetta'', which included a posting as Fleet Operations Officer during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, having previously served a tour in the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation from 1964 to 1966. Hudson then received a series of staff appointments in the Navy Office, firstly as Director of Naval Plans, later becoming Director of Naval Plans and Policy. He then assumed the position of Flag Officer Commanding Her Majesty's Australian Fleet. On 11 June 1984 he was appointed an

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

for his service in this position.It's an Honour
– Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), 11 June 1984, Citation: ''In recognition of service to the Royal Australian Navy, particularly as the Flag Officer Commanding Her Majesty's Australian Fleet'' Hudson was promoted to

and was appointed Chief of Naval Staff on 21 April 1985. During his tenure, he signed contracts for the replacement of Collins class submarines, ANZAC class frigates and the Paluma class survey vessels. Also during this period, naval infrastructure was overhauled, Two-Ocean Basing commenced, and service conditions were improved. He was appointed a

Companion of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

on 13 June 1987.It's an Honour
– Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), 13 June 1987, Citation: ''In recognition of service to the Royal Australian Navy as Chief of Naval Staff'' To honour his distinguished forty-four years of service to the Navy,

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Bob Hawke Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and trade unionist who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991. He held office as the Australian Labor Party, leader of the La ...

promoted Hudson to the rank of

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

on the day of his retirement, 8 March 1991.Australian Naval History on 8 March 1991
Naval Historical Society of Australia

Later life

In retirement, Hudson took an active interest in the welfare of naval veterans and serving personnel. He served as National President of the Naval Association of Australia and Chairman of the Australian Veterans' Children Assistance Trust. Admiral Mike Hudson died at

Royal North Shore Hospital The Royal North Shore Hospital (RNSH) is a major public teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located in the suburb of St Leonards. It serves as a teaching hospital for Sydney Medical School at the University of Sydney, University of Technol ...

, Sydney, on 27 February 2005.

References

External links

The Naval Association of Australia
– Admiral Mike Hudson AC RAN {{DEFAULTSORT:Hudson (Admiral), Michael 1933 births 2005 deaths Military personnel from New South Wales Australian military personnel of the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation Australian military personnel of the Korean War Australian military personnel of the Vietnam War Companions of the Order of Australia Graduates of the Royal Australian Naval College Royal Australian Navy admirals People educated at North Sydney Boys High School People from Taree