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 regarde ...

Erik Torsten Lindh (10 August 1941 – 7 August 2020) was a

Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy ( sv, Svenska marinen) is the naval branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet () – as well as marine units, the Amphibious Corps (). In Swedish, vessels o ...

officer. He was

Inspector General of the Navy Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the ne ...

from 1998 to 2001.

Early life

Lindh was born on 10 August 1941 in

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

, Sweden, the son of managing director Arne Lindh and his wife Margareta (née Richs). He passed '' studentexamen'' in Gothenburg in 1961. Before his military service at Bohuslän Regiment (I 17) in Uddevalla, Lindh studied mathematics at the university with the aim of becoming a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

. He disliked the university and sent an application to the

and was accepted.

Career

Lindh was commissioned as an officer after graduating from the Royal Swedish Naval Academy in 1965 and then served as first officer of the torpedo boat . Lindh was later captain of the torpedo boats and and commanding officer of the 3rd Patrol Boat Division (''3. patrullbåtsdivisionen''). He attended the

Swedish Armed Forces Staff College The oyalSwedish Armed Forces Staff College ( sv, Militärhögskolan, MHS) was from 1961 to 1996 the Swedish Armed Forces highest institution for officers training, for staff and senior executive education and was located in Stockholm. In 1997 it ...

in 1975 and served in the Planning and Budget Secretariat 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 states ...

from 1983 and attended the Swedish National Defence College in 1985. Lindh was commanding officer of the 3rd Naval Warfare Flotilla from 1988 to 1989. From 1989 to 1992, Lindh was head of the Program Staff (''Programledning'') in the Naval Staff at the

Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters The Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters ( sv, Högkvarteret, HKV) is the highest level of command in the Swedish Armed Forces. Established in 1994, its primary task is to command operations, but is also involved in areas such as military strategy, ...

. He was promoted to senior captain in 1993. He served as head of the Swedish Armed Forces Internal Audit until the 1 July 1994 when he was promoted to rear admiral and appointed Director Joint Staff (''Chef för ledningsstaben'') in the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters. Lindh served as the

and commander of the Naval Center/Naval Tactical Command from 1998 to 2001.

Post-retirement

Lindh retired from active service in 2001 at the age of 60 and was then chairman of the Air Defense Investigation (''Luftförsvarsutredningen'') for one year. He then took up a position as a teacher of mathematics at Samskolan in Saltsjöbaden. He was named Teacher of the Year by the students. Lindh was a board member of the Defence Materiel Administration and the

Swedish Fortifications Agency The Swedish Fortifications Agency ( sv, Fortifikationsverket, FortV) is a Swedish government agency under the Ministry of Finance , tasked with managing government-owned defense-related buildings and land. The agency functions as the landlord fo ...

. He was also a member of the

Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences The Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Örlogsmannasällskapet, KÖMS), founded in 1771 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden. The Society is an independent organization and a forum for navy and defence i ...

and the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences. During the years 1997–2003, Lindh was chairman of the Naval Officers' Association in Stockholm (''Sjöofficerssällskapet i Stockholm''). He also actively participated in the Friends of the Vasa Museum association and the Vasa Redeviva foundation. He was also chairman of the Ymer 80 Foundation and was involved in Swedeship Marine, which builds fast and powerful aluminum boats for professional use.

Personal life

In 1966 he married banker Kristina Bane (born 1943), the daughter of civil engineer Per Bane and Eivor (née Almér). They had two children: Magnus and Annika. He lived in Västerhaninge and had a summer house on Orust.

Death

Lindh died on 7 August 2020 in Kungsviken, Orust Municipality, Sweden. The funeral was held on 28 August 2020 in on Orust. He was interred in Morlanda Old Cemetery on 2 October 2020.

Dates of rank

*1965 –

Acting sub-lieutenant Sub-lieutenant is usually a junior officer rank, used in armies, navies and air forces. In most armies, sub-lieutenant is the lowest officer rank. However, in Brazil, it is the highest non-commissioned rank, and in Spain, it is the second high ...

*19?? –

Sub-lieutenant Sub-lieutenant is usually a junior officer rank, used in armies, navies and air forces. In most armies, sub-lieutenant is the lowest officer rank. However, in Brazil, it is the highest non-commissioned rank, and in Spain, it is the second high ...

*19?? – Lieutenant *1976 – Lieutenant commander *1981 –

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

*1988 –

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

*1993 –

Senior captain Senior captain is a rank which is used in some countries' armed forces, navies, merchant marines, civil aviation and in the airline industry. Army In some armies of the world, the senior captain is a rank between a regular captain and a majo ...

*1994 –

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 regarde ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindh, Torsten 1941 births 2020 deaths Swedish Navy rear admirals Military personnel from Gothenburg Members of the Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences