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 Walter Thomas Couchman, (19 March 1905 – 2 May 1981) was a

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 served as Vice Chief of the Naval Staff from February to November 1960, when he retired from service.

Early life

The son of Malcolm Edward Couchman, a civil servant in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

, and Emily Elizabeth Ranking, Walter Couchman was born in

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

in 1905. Educated at the

Royal Naval College, Osborne The Royal Naval College, Osborne, was a training college for Royal Navy officer cadets on the Osborne House estate, Isle of Wight, established in 1903 and closed in 1921. Boys were admitted at about the age of thirteen to follow a course lasting ...

, and

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, Dartmouth, Couchman joined the

and specialized in naval aviation.Obituary:Admiral Sir Walter Couchman
/ref>

Naval career

Couchman attended staff college at 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 equi ...

in 1928 and qualified as a naval pilot in 1935. He served in the

Second World War 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 ...

as Commander in the Air Materials Division and then as 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 1941 he was appointed Staff Officer (Plans) for the

Mediterranean Fleet The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between ...

. Later in the War he became Naval Assistant (Underwater Weapons) and then Chief Staff Officer to the Flag Officer Air (Home). After the War he became Captain 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 ...

and then, from 1947, Director of Naval Air Organisation and Training at the Admiralty.Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
/ref> He went on to be Flag Officer, Flying Training in 1951, in which role he led the Fleet Air Arm

flypast ''FlyPast'' is an aircraft magazine, published monthly, edited by Tom Allett, Steve Beebee and Jamie Ewan. History and profile The magazine started as a bi-monthly edition in May/June 1981 and its first editor was the late Mike Twite. It is ow ...

of 327 aircraft at the Coronation review of the fleet, flying a de Havilland Sea Vampire. He was then appointed Flag Officer, Heavy Squadron in 1953, Flag Officer, Aircraft Carriers in 1954 and Deputy Controller of Supplies (Air) at the

Ministry of Supply The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed on 1 August 1939 by the Ministry of Supply Act 1939 ( 2 & 3 Geo. 6. c. 38) to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Ministe ...

in 1955. He became Flag Officer, Air (Home) in 1957 and Vice Chief of the Naval Staff in 1960. He retired in November 1960.

Family

He married Phyllida Connellan; they had a son and two daughters. Following the dissolution of his first marriage, he married Hughe Thelma Hunter Blair née Reid in 1965. After the death of Hughe in 1972, he married Daphne Harvey, the widow of a naval captain.

References

External links

* - photograph of Couchman on promotion to admiral in 1959, seated in the cockpit of a Hawker Sea Hawk. {{DEFAULTSORT:Couchman, Walter 1905 births 1981 deaths Military personnel from Chennai Royal Navy admirals Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Officers of the Order of the British Empire Royal Navy officers of World War II Lords of the Admiralty People educated at the Royal Naval College, Osborne Military personnel of British India British people in colonial India