Vice Admiral Christopher Angus Ritchie (born 16 January 1949) is a retired 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 ...

, who served as Chief of Navy from 2002 to 2005.

Early life

Ritchie was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

on 16 January 1949 to Angus Lachlan Ritchie and Colleen Burnice Ritchie.

Naval career

Ritchie graduated from the RAN College at

Jervis Bay Jervis Bay () is a oceanic bay and village on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, said to possess the whitest sand in the world. A area of land around the southern headland of the bay is a territory of the Commonwealth of Australia ...

in 1968. He received further training at sea and in the United Kingdom before undertaking a succession of seagoing appointments and a staff appointment at the NATO School of Maritime Operations at HMS DRYAD. His commands have included , , and . During his period in command of HMAS Brisbane, the ship deployed to the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...

where she participated for the duration of the

Persian Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

. In 1991, as a result of this service, he was appointed a

Member 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 Gove ...

. In 1992 he attended the

Royal College of Defence Studies The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest level ...

in the United Kingdom. On completion of this course he was promoted to

commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore, a ...

and had appointments in Naval Policy and Warfare, and Military Strategy and Concepts. In 1997 he was promoted to

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 ...

and appointed as Maritime Commander Australia. He then served as

Deputy Chief of Navy The Deputy Chief of Navy (DCN) is the second most senior appointment in the Royal Australian Navy, responsible to the Chief of Navy (CN). The rank associated with the position is rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer ...

and Head of Capability Systems. As a consequence of his service in these appointments, and in addition to receiving the Centenary medal, he was promoted to

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 Gove ...

in January 2001. He was promoted to vice admiral and appointed Commander Australian Theatre on 3 August 2001. He was the first Commander to have previously served as a Component Commander to the Headquarters. He assumed command of the Royal Australian Navy from Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral

David Shackleton Sir David James Shackleton (21 November 1863 – 1 August 1938) was a cotton worker and trade unionist who became the third Labour Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom, following the formation of the Labour Representation Committee. He ...

on 3 July 2002 and retired in July 2005.

After military service

In 2018, Vice Admiral Chris Ritchie was reported as a spokesman for Shipbuilder Lurssen Australia who would be building new

offshore patrol vessel A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval ship, naval vessel generally designed for Coastal defence and fortification, coastal defence, Border control, border security, or law ...

References

External links

*Copyright photo o
VADM Chris Ritchie
Chief of Navy, ANZAC Day 2005. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ritchie, Chris 1949 births Military personnel from Melbourne Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies Australian military personnel of the Gulf War Australian military personnel of the Vietnam War Chiefs of Navy (Australia) Deputy Chiefs of Navy (Australia) Foreign recipients of the Legion of Merit Living people Officers of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Centenary Medal Royal Australian Navy admirals Recipients of the Meritorious Unit Citation