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 ...

Sir Royston Hollis Wright, (29 September 1908 – 18 July 1977) was a senior

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 ...

officer who went on to be Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel.

Naval career

Educated at

Haileybury College Haileybury is a co-educational public school (fee-charging boarding and day school for 11- to 18-year-olds) located in Hertford Heath, Hertfordshire. It is a member of the Rugby Group and enrols pupils at the 11+, 13+ and 16+ stages of edu ...

and the Royal Naval College Dartmouth, Wright joined the

in 1927. In 1939 he was made

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

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 ...

HMS ''Beagle''. In 1941 he went on to command the destroyer HMS ''Derwent'' which was badly damaged by a

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

in Tripoli Harbour. In 1943 he took command of the destroyer HMS ''Hurworth'' which was later sunk later that year during the Aegean Campaign of

World War II 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 ...

. In 1948 he took command of the destroyer HMS ''Wakeful''.Royston Wright at Unit Histories
/ref> He went on to be Director of the Manning Department at the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...

in 1950 before becoming Commanding Officer of the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

HMS ''Triumph'' in 1953. He became Commodore of the Royal Naval Barracks at Devonport in 1955, Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff in 1956, Flag Officer Flotillas for the Home Fleet in 1958 and Flag Officer, Scotland and Northern Ireland in 1959. He became Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel in 1961: in this capacity he considered a plan to fly sailors' wives out to the

Far East Fleet The Far East Fleet (also called the Far East Station) was a fleet of the Royal Navy from 1952 to 1971. During the Second World War, the Eastern Fleet included many ships and personnel from other navies, including the navies of the Netherlands, ...

to reduce the strain of separation. He retired in 1965. In 1969 he was Chairman of the Royal Navy Club of 1765 & 1785 (United 1889).

Family

In 1945 he married Betty Lilian Ackery; they had no children. Lady Wright died on 1 January 1988.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Ryston 1908 births 1977 deaths People educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Royal Navy admirals Lords of the Admiralty