Admiral Sir Nicholas John Streynsham Hunt (7 November 1930 – 25 October 2013) was a senior

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," ...

. He was

Commander-in-Chief Fleet The Commander-in-Chief Fleet (CINCFLEET) was the admiral responsible for the operations of the ships, submarines and aircraft of the British Royal Navy from 1971 until April 2012. The post was subordinate to the First Sea Lord, the professional ...

from 1985 to 1987.

Early life

Hunt was born on 7 November 1930 in

Hawarden Hawarden (; cy, Penarlâg) is a village, community and electoral ward in Flintshire, Wales. It is part of the Deeside conurbation on the Wales-England border and is home to Hawarden Castle. In the 2011 census the ward of the same name ha ...

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

, the younger son of

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

John Montgomerie Hunt of the 5th Battalion, 2nd Punjab Regiment,

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four ...

and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Walter Baldwyn Yates CBE. The Hunt family were landed gentry, of Boreatton,

Baschurch Baschurch is a large village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It lies in North Shropshire, north-west of Shrewsbury. The village has a population of 2,503 as of the 2011 census. The village has strong links to Shrewsbury to the south-e ...

, Shropshire. A cousin was Agnes Hunt, pioneer of

orthopaedic nursing Orthopaedic nursing (or orthopedic nursing) is a nursing specialty focused on the prevention and treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. Orthopaedic issues range from acute problems such as fractures or hospitalization for joint replacement to c ...

Naval career

Hunt was educated at 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 Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ...

. After graduating, he gained a commission in the

and was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

on 31 July 1952. He served as Assistant Private Secretary to

Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent (27 August 1968), born Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark ( el, Μαρίνα), was a Greek princess by birth and a British princess by marriage. She was a daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark a ...

from 1959 to 1962. Promoted to

lieutenant commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

on 17 August 1960, he was posted to the Directorate of Naval Plans at the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

in 1966. Hunt became

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer, ...

of HMS ''Ark Royal''Debrett's People of Today 1994 in 1969 and was then given command of the amphibious warfare ship HMS ''Intrepid'' in February 1974 before attending the

Royal College of Defence Studies 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 ...

later that year. He went on to be Director of Naval Plans at the

in August 1976 and captain of the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in October 1978. Appointed aide-de-camp to

the Queen In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to: * Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death The Queen may also refer to: * Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...

on 7 July 1980 (which post he held until 7 January 1981), he became

Flag Officer, Second Flotilla The Flag Officer, Second Flotilla was a senior British Royal Navy appointment from 1971 to 1992. History After the creation of the single Commander-in-Chief Fleet post in 1971, its subordinate commands were reorganised. Three major sub-commands ...

in October 1980. He was promoted to

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star " admiral" rank. It is often rega ...

on 7 January 1981 and became

Director-General, Naval Manpower and Training The Naval Recruitment Training Agency (NRTA) originally called the Naval Training Department was first established in 1944 as a department within the Admiralty it underwent numerous name changes until 1 April 1995 as a new agency of the Navy Dep ...

in November 1981. Hunt was promoted to vice admiral on 6 December 1983, on appointment as Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland, and to admiral on 25 June 1985, on appointment as

and Allied Commander-in-Chief Channel and Eastern Atlantic. He retired from the Navy on 26 July 1987.

Later life

Hunt was Deputy Managing Director at

Eurotunnel Getlink, formerly Groupe Eurotunnel, is a European public company based in Paris that manages and operates the infrastructure of the Channel Tunnel between England and France, operates the Eurotunnel Shuttle train service, and earns revenue on ...

from 1987 to 1989 and Director-General of the

Chamber of Shipping The UK Chamber of Shipping is the trade association and voice of the UK shipping industry, representing around 200 member companies. They work with Government, parliament, international organisations and others to champion and protect the industry ...

from 1991 to 1997. He also held part-time appointments including Chairman of the South West Surrey District Health Authority from 1990 to 1995, Chairman of Nuffield Hospitals from 1996 to 2001, Commissioner of the

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mi ...

from 1988 to 1992 and Chairman of

Chatham Historic Dockyard The Historic Dockyard Chatham is a maritime museum on part of the site of the former royal/naval dockyard at Chatham in Kent, South East England. Chatham Dockyard covered 400 acres (1.6 km²) and was one of the Royal Navy's main facili ...

from 1998 to 2005. He also became Chairman of Ferrero UK Ltd in 2005. Hunt was known to be a strong supporter of the

nuclear deterrent Nuclear strategy involves the development of doctrines and strategies for the production and use of nuclear weapons. As a sub-branch of military strategy, nuclear strategy attempts to match nuclear weapons as means to political ends. In addit ...

and was Chairman of the Royal Navy Club of 1765 & 1785 (United 1889). He became Deputy Lieutenant to the Lord Lieutenant of Surrey on 23 January 1996. Hunt was appointed

Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom The Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom is a now honorary office generally held by a senior (possibly retired) Royal Navy admiral, though the current incumbent is a retired Royal Marine General. Despite the title, the Rear-Admiral of the Unite ...

in 1994, holding that post until 1997 when he became Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom and

Lieutenant of the Admiralty The Lieutenant of the Admiralty is a now honorary office generally held by a senior retired Royal Navy admiral. He is the official deputy to the Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom. He is appointed by the Sovereign on the nomination of the Fir ...

, positions that he held until 2001. He died at his home on 25 October 2013 at the age of 82.

Personal life

In 1966 he married Meriel Eve Givan, daughter of Major Henry C. Givan of the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

, formerly of

Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military governme ...

. Together they had two sons (the elder of whom is the former Foreign Secretary and the present Chancellor of the Exchequer

Jeremy Hunt Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt (born 1 November 1966) is a British politician who has served as Chancellor of the Exchequer since 14 October 2022. He previously served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport ...

) and one daughter. Lady Hunt died in 2022.

Awards and decorations

On 20 July 1961, Hunt was made a Member of the Fourth Class of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, ...

. Members of this class were renamed Lieutenants in 1984 and henceforth used the post-nominals LVO. Hunt was appointed a

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as one ...

in the

1985 New Year Honours The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

. He was advanced to

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as ...

in the

1987 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1987 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countries ...

. Hunt was made a

Freeman of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

in 1988.

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, Nicholas 1930 births 2013 deaths Graduates of Britannia Royal Naval College Military personnel from Flintshire Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies Royal Navy admirals Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Lieutenants of the Royal Victorian Order Deputy Lieutenants of Surrey People from Hawarden Jeremy Hunt