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 vic ...

Peter William Cairns (October 4, 1938 – February 18, 2023) was an officer of the

Canadian Armed Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

. He was Commander Maritime Command from 14 July 1992 to 28 July 1994.

Career

Cairns joined the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...

in 1956 and was appointed 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 ...

in 1959.Peter Cairns
The Nauticapedia He became Commanding Officer of 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 ...

in 1972, Commander of the First Canadian Submarine Squadron in 1974 and Commanding Officer of 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 ...

in 1976. He went on to command the destroyers in 1977 and in 1978. He became Deputy Commandant of the Canadian Forces Fleet School at Halifax in 1978. After that he was appointed Chief Project Technical Officer at Canadian Forces Maritime Command in 1979, Commandant of the Canadian Forces Maritime Warfare School later that year and Commander Fifth Canadian Destroyer Squadron in 1981. Next he became Chief of Personnel Careers (Officers and Senior Appointments) at the

National Defence Headquarters National Defence Headquarters (NDHQ) ( French: ''Quartiers généraux de la Défense nationale'' (''QGDN'')) was created through the integration of the Canadian Armed Forces Headquarters (CAF HQ) with the civilian Department of National Defence ...

in 1983, Director-General Personnel Careers (Officers) in 1985 and Deputy Chief of Staff (Operations) to the

Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic The Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic (SACLANT) was one of two supreme commanders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), the other being the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR). The SACLANT led Allied Command Atlantic was based ...

in 1987. His last appointments were as Commander

Maritime Forces Pacific In the Canadian Armed Forces, Maritime Forces Pacific (MARPAC, ) is responsible for the fleet training and operational readiness of the Royal Canadian Navy in the Pacific Ocean. It was once referred to as Canadian Pacific Station. The commander ...

in 1989 and as Commander Maritime Command in 1992 before he retired in 1994. In retirement Cairns became Director of Business Development at the Aviation Services Division of

Spar Aerospace SPAR Aerospace was a Canadian aerospace company. It produced equipment for the Canadian Space Agency to be used in cooperation with NASA's Space Shuttle program, most notably the Canadarm, a remote manipulator system. The company went through a s ...

. He died in Ottawa, Ontario on February 18, 2023, at the age of 84.

Awards and decorations

Cairns's personal awards and decorations include:

*He was a qualified Submariner and as such wore the Canadian Forces Submariner Dolphins

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cairns, Peter 1938 births 2023 deaths Canadian admirals People from Orillia Commanders of the Order of Military Merit (Canada) Royal Canadian Navy officers Commanders of the Royal Canadian Navy Canadian military personnel from Ontario