Michael Pollock (Admiral)

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Michael Patrick Pollock (1965)

Sir Michael Patrick Pollock , GCB , LVO , DSC (born October 19, 1916 in Altrincham , Cheshire , England ; † September 27, 2006 in Martock, Somerset , England) was a British Navy Admiral in the Royal Navy , who served between 1971 and 1974 First sea lord and chief of the naval staff was.

Life

Training as a naval officer and World War II

Michael Patrick Pollock, son of Charles Albert Pollock and his wife Gladys Mason, trained as a naval officer at the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth from 1930 to 1933 and, after training on the heavy cruiser HMS Frobisher , first became an ensign on September 1, 1934 promoted to sea ( midshipman ) . It was then used on the battleship HMS Nelson from September 1, 1934 to February 1936 , then on the destroyer HMS Express and between December 31, 1936 and February 1937 on a training course at the Royal Naval College Greenwich , the so-called HMS President land base . During a further course from April 5 to July 1937 in Portsmouth , he was promoted to lieutenant at sea (Second Lieutenant) on May 1, 1937 . Then he was used between October 30, 1937 and April 1939 on the heavy cruiser HMS York and took part with this on a trip to the USA and the West Indies . During this time he was promoted to Lieutenant Lieutenant on September 1, 1938 and then served on the battleship HMS Warspite from June 30 to September 1939 .

At the beginning of the Second World War , Pollock became first lieutenant on the destroyer HMS Vanessa on September 2, 1939 and then completed training at the Naval Artillery School (HMS Excellent) on January 20, 1941 . After graduation he was on March 16, 1943 gun officer on the HMS Arethusa , a light cruiser of the Arethusa class of the same name . After taking part in another course at the Naval Artillery School (HMS Excellent) on July 1, 1943 , he became a gun officer on the heavy cruiser HMS Norfolk on November 15, 1943 and as such was also a gun officer of the 1st Cruiser Squadron ) . For his services during this time he was mentioned three times in the war report ( Mentioned in dispatches ) , and was responsible for a torpedo attack in the eastern Mediterranean on November 18, 1942 (June 29, 1943), for the sinking of the German battleship Scharnhorst (March 7, 1944) as well as for mine-laying operations and attacks on an enemy convoy off Norway in January 1945 (April 17, 1945). On June 8, 1944, he was also awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC).

Post-war period, naval officer and staff officer

Sea captain Michael Pollock took over his first own ship command from 1958 to 1959 as commander of the destroyer HMS Vigo .
Pollock was also the commander of the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal between 1963 and 1964 .

After the war, Michael Patrick Pollock was on June 1, 1946. Lieutenant Commander (Lieutenant Commander) promoted and was after attending a further training course from 11 April to 9 August 1949 at the Naval Artillery School (HMS Excellent) in Portsmouth aboard the light cruiser HMS Glasgow moved. On June 30, 1950 he was promoted to frigate captain (Commander) and for his services at the funeral of King George VI. he was honored on March 18, 1952 as Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order (LVO).

He began on September 23, 1952 a war course for deputy commanders at the Royal Naval College Greenwich and was on June 11, 1954 first officer ( Executive Officer ) of the light cruiser HMS Newcastle . In this use, it was on June 30, 1955 Captain (Captain) promoted and was then on January 2, 1956 of assistive Director of Planning Unit in the naval staff before it until 1959 as commander of the destroyer from 1958 HMS Vigo his first ship took command . At the same time he was between 1958 and 1959 commander of the Portsmouth Destroyer Squadron (Portsmouth Squadron) . Subsequently, on January 8, 1960, he became head of the Department for Overseas Affairs in the weapons department of the Admiralty and then on January 21, 1963, commander of the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal .

Promotion to Admiral and First Sea Lord

In March 1964 Michael Pollock succeeded Rear Admiral Peter Hill-Norton as Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff and held this position until April 1966. In this use took place on 7 July 1964 was promoted to Rear Admiral (Rear Admiral) and on 11 June 1966 he was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB). In May 1966 he took over the post as flag officer and deputy commander of the home fleet (Flag Officer Second in Command, Home Fleet) , which he held until July 1967. He was then on December 26, 1967. Vice Admiral (Vice Admiral) transported and released at the same time Rear Admiral Ian McGeoch as commander of the submarine associations (Flag Officer, Submarines) , and remained in this use until November 1969, after which Vice Admiral John Charles Young Roxburgh succeeded him. In addition, he was in personal union between December 1967 and November 1969 commander of NATO 's submarine units in the Eastern Atlantic COMSUBEASTATLANT (Nato Commander Submarines, Eastern Atlantic) . For his services he was beaten during this time on June 14, 1969 to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) and from then on carried the suffix "Sir".

In January 1970 Vice Admiral Pollock succeeded Admiral Horace Law as Controller of the Navy and was responsible for procurement and material in the Royal Navy until his replacement by Admiral Anthony Griffin in January 1971. As such, he was also promoted to Admiral on April 21, 1970 and on January 1, 1971 to the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB).

Last Admiral Michael Pollock in 1971 successor to Admiral Peter Hill-Norton than in March First Sea Lord (First Sea Lord) . He served in that role until his retirement from active military service in March 1974 at the same time Chief of Naval Staff (Chief of the Naval Staff) . He was also first and Chief Marine aide (First and Principal Naval Aide-de-Camp ) by Queen Elizabeth II. In March 1974, Admiral came Edward Ashmore continued the research in these offices. He retired from the military service, he was also on the March 1, 1974 Commodore (Admiral of the Fleet) appointed.

In his retirement, Michael Patrick Pollock committed from 1976 to 1985 as King of Arms (King of Arms) of the Marine Insurance of the Order of the Bath, and from 1976 to 1981 as chairman of the Foundation (Naval Insurance Trust) . He was also a trustee of 1976-1981 by Basil Liddell Hart named military archive Liddell Hart Center for Military Archives (LHCMA). In 1986 he became a member of the Powys Council , the largest of the 22 Principal Areas in Wales .

He was married twice. His first marriage in 1940 to Margaret Steacy, who died in 1951, had two sons and a daughter. In 1954 he married Marjory Helen Reece, nee Bisset, who had another daughter in the marriage.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ ROYAL NAVY SENIOR APPOINTMENTS SINCE 1865, p. 238
  2. ↑ CAPTAINS COMMANDING ROYAL NAVY WARSHIPS, p. 103
  3. ↑ ROYAL NAVY SENIOR APPOINTMENTS SINCE 1865, p. 246
  4. ↑ ROYAL NAVY SENIOR APPOINTMENTS SINCE 1865, p. 215
  5. ↑ ROYAL NAVY SENIOR APPOINTMENTS SINCE 1865, p. 88
  6. ↑ KNIGHTS AND DAMES
  7. ↑ ROYAL NAVY SENIOR APPOINTMENTS SINCE 1865, p. 10
  8. ↑ KNIGHTS AND DAMES
  9. ↑ ROYAL NAVY SENIOR APPOINTMENTS SINCE 1865, p. 6
predecessor Office successor
Sir Peter Hill-Norton First Sea Lord
1971–1974 		Sir Edward Ashmore
personal data
SURNAME Pollock, Michael
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pollock, Michael Patrick (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British naval admiral
DATE OF BIRTH October 19, 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH Altrincham , Cheshire , England
DATE OF DEATH September 27, 2006
Place of death Martock, Somerset , England