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 ...

Sir David James Martin, (15 April 1933 – 10 August 1990) was a senior officer of the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

and later

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

. He also established the Sir David Martin Foundation to assist young Australians in crisis.

Early life and Naval career

Born in Sydney on 15 April 1933, Martin came from a long line of naval officers. He was descended from Lieutenant George Johnston, one of the Royal Marines of the First Fleet, and the convict

Esther Abrahams Esther Abrahams (born c. 1767 or 1771 – died 26 August 1846) was a Londoner sent to Australia as a convict on the First Fleet. She was de facto wife of George Johnston, who was for six months acting Governor of New South Wales after leading ...

. Their son, Robert, was the first Australian born person to enlist in the

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 ...

, which he joined in 1805. In 1942, when David was nine years old, his father was lost in action following the sinking of of which he was Deputy Commander. Martin attended Scots College in Bellevue Hill from 1939–1946 before joining the RAN as a cadet midshipman and entering the

Royal Australian Naval College The Royal Australian Naval College (RANC), commonly known as HMAS Creswell, is the naval academy of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). It consists of the RAN School of Survivability and Ship's Safety, Kalkara Flight, the Beecroft Weapons Range an ...

in 1947. He also attended the

Royal Naval College, Greenwich The Royal Naval College, Greenwich, was a Royal Navy training establishment between 1873 and 1998, providing courses for naval officers. It was the home of the Royal Navy's staff college, which provided advanced training for officers. The equiv ...

, before serving aboard HMAS ''Sydney'' during the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top: ...

, then aboard the aircraft carriers and . He was an officer on , participating in the

Cyprus Emergency The Cyprus Emergency ( gr, Απελευθερωτικός Αγώνας της Κύπρου 1955–59), also known as the Greek Cypriot War of Independence or Cypriot War of Independence, was a conflict fought in British Cyprus between November ...

, and the Iceland emergency (also known as the "

Cod Wars The Cod Wars ( is, Þorskastríðin; also known as , ; german: Kabeljaukriege) were a series of 20th-century confrontations between the United Kingdom (with aid from West Germany) and Iceland about fishing rights in the North Atlantic. Each ...

"), in 1959–1960. He was promoted to Commander of the Third Australian Destroyer Squadron in 1974 and commanded several RAN ships, including HMA Ships ''Queenborough'', ''Torrens'', ''Supply'' and ''Melbourne''. Martin was promoted to flag rank in 1982 and served as Chief of Naval Personnel and as Commander of Naval Support Command until he retired in February 1988. On 26 January 1985, the Queen appointed Martin an

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

(AO) "for service as the Chief of Naval Personnel and flag officer Naval Support Command".

Marriage

Martin married Suzanne Millear in 1957 and had three children, one of whom was a Captain in the Royal Australian Navy.

Later life

Martin was knighted as a

Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in hono ...

(KCMG) in 1988, shortly before being appointed the

. Martin set about establishing a relationship between his office as governor and the people of New South Wales. He soon became known as 'the people's Governor'. Just three days before his death, Martin resigned as governor due to an advancing medical condition. He made arrangements for the Sir David Martin Foundation to be established, which runs programs that help young homeless and disadvantaged Australians. Sir David died on 10 August 1990 of

pleural The pleural cavity, pleural space, or interpleural space is the potential space between the pleurae of the pleural sac that surrounds each lung. A small amount of serous pleural fluid is maintained in the pleural cavity to enable lubrication ...

mesothelioma, a rare form of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

caused by asbestos, to which he was exposed during his naval career. He engendered much respect and sympathy when seen struggling for breath during the final days of his service as governor. At his funeral the

Premier of New South Wales The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_ ...

Nick Greiner noted: His service in the Royal Australian Navy is commemorated in the

Naval Chapel, Garden Island NSW The Garden Island Naval Chapel is a heritage-listed non-denominational Christian chapel located in the heritage-listed Garden Island Naval Precinct that comprises a naval base and dockyard in the inner eastern Sydney suburb of Garden Island i ...

. After his death,

Woollahra Council Woollahra Municipal Council (or Woollahra Council) is a local government area in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Woollahra is bounded by Sydney Harbour in the north, Waverley Council in the east, ...

named the former site of ''HMAS Rushcutter'' in

Rushcutters Bay Rushcutters Bay is a harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 3 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney. The suburb of Rushcutter ...

as the "Sir David Martin Reserve" in his honour.

Titles and honours

Titles

* 15 April 19331947: David Martin, Esq * 19471953: ''Midshipman'' David Martin RAN * 19531955: ''Sub-Lieutenant'' David Martin RAN * 19551963: ''Lieutenant'' David Martin RAN * 19631967: ''Lieutenant Commander'' David Martin RAN * 19671972: ''Commander'' David Martin RAN * 19721979: ''Captain'' David Martin RAN * 19791982: ''Commodore'' David Martin RAN * 19821984: ''Rear-Admiral'' David Martin RAN, Chief of Naval Personnel * 19841985: ''Rear-Admiral'' David Martin RAN, Flag Officer, Naval Support Command * 19851988: ''Rear-Admiral'' David Martin AO RAN, Flag Officer, Naval Support Command * 19881988: ''Rear-Admiral'' David Martin AO * 19881989: ''Rear-Admiral'' Sir David Martin KCMG AO * 19891990: ''His Excellency Rear-Admiral'' Sir David Martin KCMG AO, Governor of New South Wales * 199010 August 1990: ''Rear-Admiral'' Sir David Martin KCMG AO

Honours

References

External links

Sir David Martin Foundation – Helping young people in crisis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, David 1933 births 1990 deaths Military personnel from New South Wales Australian people of Scottish descent Australian military personnel of the Korean War Deaths from lung cancer Deaths from mesothelioma Governors of New South Wales Graduates of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich Graduates of the Royal Australian Naval College Australian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Officers of the Order of Australia People educated at Scots College (Sydney) Royal Australian Navy admirals Knights of Justice of the Order of St John Deaths from cancer in New South Wales