Vice Admiral Sir John Anthony Rose Troup, (18 July 1921 – 8 July 2008) was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

officer. A

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

r, he served as the last Commander-in-Chief

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

(1971).

Early life

Born in

Bath, Somerset Bath () is a city in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area in the county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 101,557. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, ...

, on 18 July 1921, Troup was the son of Hugh Rose Troup (1885–1968), an officer in the Royal Navy who played an important role in the evacuation from Dunkirk in 1940.The Evacuation from Dunkirk
W.J.R. Gardner, Routledge, 2014,

Naval career

Troup studied at

Pangbourne College Pangbourne College is a co-educational independent day and boarding school located in the civil parish of Pangbourne, in the English county of Berkshire. It is set in 230 acres, on a hill south-west of the village, in an Area of Outstanding Nat ...

, associated with the nautical training college HMS ''Worcester'', until 1934.'TROUP, Vice-Adm. Sir (John) Anthony (Rose)’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014 ; online edn, April 201
accessed 11 April 2016
/ref> He joined the

in 1934,Sir John Anthony Rose Troup
Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives and studied at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth until 1936. Troup served in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, initially on the cruisers in 1938–39 and then in 1939–40. He served on the submarine from September 1941 to early 1943, commanded by John "Tubby" Linton in the 10th Submarine Flotilla. After briefly commanding in June to August 1943, he was

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) 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 given wide latitu ...

of the submarine from September 1943 until the end of the war, based at

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; ta, திருகோணமலை, translit=Tirukōṇamalai; si, ත්‍රිකුණාමළය, translit= Trikuṇāmaḷaya), also known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee Dis ...

.Vice-Admiral Sir Anthony Troup: wartime submariner
The Times, 9 July 2008 In January 1945, HMS ''Strongbow'' was badly battered by Japanese

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...

s, but Troup nursed his severely damaged vessel across the Indian Ocean back to its base, where she assessed as unfit for further service.Obituary
The Telegraph, 11 July 2008 Troup was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

in September 1942, and then received the

Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries. *Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) The Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) is a military decoration awarded to ...

(DSC) in May 1943, both awarded for his submarine patrols in the Mediterranean, and was awarded a

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

to the DSC in August 1945 for his patrols in the Far East. Troup served on the cruiser in 1945–46, and commanded the submarines , and . He was appointed second-in-command of the aircraft carrier in 1956, commanding officer of the 3rd Submarine Squadron in 1961 and then captain of the ship from 1966 to 1968. Troup went on to be Flag Officer Sea Training in 1969 and was the last Commander-in-Chief, Far East Fleet in 1971. He was made Flag Officer Submarines in 1972 and Flag Officer, Scotland and Northern Ireland in 1974. He was appointed a

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

in 1975, and retired in 1977.

Family and later life

In 1943, Troup married Joy Gordon-Smith: by his first marriage he had two sons and a daughter.Vice-Admiral Sir Anthony Troup
The Scotsman, 16 July 2008 In 1953 he married Cordelia Hope: they also had two sons (including

Edward Troup Sir John Edward Astley Troup (born 26 January 1955) is a British tax lawyer, and was a civil servant at HM Treasury and then HM Revenue & Customs. He spent two periods as a tax partner at the law firm Simmons & Simmons, from 1985 to 1995 and fr ...

, born 1955) and a daughter. Troup joined the

Royal Yacht Squadron The Royal Yacht Squadron (RYS) is a British yacht club. Its clubhouse is Cowes Castle on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. Member yachts are given the suffix RYS to their names, and are permitted (with the appropriate warrant) to w ...

in 1964. In retirement, he became vice-chairman and group managing director of the shipbuilder

Vosper Thornycroft VT Group is a privately held United States defense and services company, with its origins in a former British shipbuilding group, previously known as Vosper Thornycroft. The British part of VT Group was integrated into Babcock International in t ...

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Troup, Anthony 1921 births 2008 deaths Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United States) Royal Navy vice admirals Royal Navy officers of World War II Royal Navy submarine commanders Military personnel from Somerset