The Commander Operations (COMOPS) is a senior

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 based at

Northwood Headquarters Northwood Headquarters is a military headquarters facility of the British Armed Forces in Eastbury, Hertfordshire, England, adjacent to the London suburb of Northwood. It is home to the following military command and control functions: #Headqua ...

who exercises operational command of all national maritime operations on behalf of the

Fleet Commander The Fleet Commander is a senior Royal Navy post, responsible for the operation, resourcing and training of the ships, submarines and aircraft, and personnel, of the Naval Service (United Kingdom), Naval Service. The Vice-Admiral incumbent is requ ...

. The post was established in 1993. Commander Operations previously held the additional posts of Commander Task Force (CTF) 311 (UK attack submarines) and CTF 345 (UK nuclear missile submarines). In 2015, Rear Admiral John Weale was appointed Rear Admiral Submarines/Assistant Chief of Naval Staff Submarines, while Rear Admiral Robert Tarrant was made Commander Operations (Royal Navy), separating the two posts.

Post-holders

Post-holders have included: *1993-1996 Rear-Admiral

Roger Lane-Nott Rear Admiral Roger Charles Lane-Nott, (born 3 June 1945) is a former Royal Navy officer, who served as Commander Operations and Flag Officer of Submarines. Early life Lane-Nott received his early formal education at Pangbourne College and the ...

*1996-1998 Rear-Admiral

James Perowne Admiral Sir James Francis Perowne, (born 29 July 1947) is a former Royal Navy officer who served as Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic from 1998 to 2002. Naval career Educated at Sherborne School, and the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, ...

*1998-2002 Rear-Admiral Robert Stevens *2002-2004 Rear-Admiral

Niall Kilgour Rear Admiral Niall Stuart Roderick Kilgour, (born 4 March 1950) is a former Royal Navy officer who served as Commander Operations and Rear Admiral, Submarines. Naval career Educated at Hazelwood School and later Pangbourne College, Kilgour join ...

*2004-2006 Rear-Admiral

Paul Lambert Paul Lambert (born 7 August 1969) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player, who was most recently the manager of Ipswich Town. Lambert played as a midfielder and won the Scottish Cup in 1987 with St Mirren as a 17-year-ol ...

*2006-2009 Rear-Admiral David Cooke *2009-2011 Rear-Admiral Mark Anderson *2011-2013 Rear-Admiral

Ian Corder Vice Admiral Sir Ian Fergus Corder, (born 6 August 1960) is a retired senior Royal Navy officer who served as UK Military Representative to NATO, and was the Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey from 2016 to 2021. Naval career Educated at Rugby Sc ...

*2013-2015 Rear-Admiral

Matt Parr Rear Admiral Matthew John Parr, (born 20 August 1962) is a retired Royal Navy officer who has served as Commander Operations and Rear Admiral, Submarines and is currently an Inspector of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services. Early life and ...

*2015-2017 Rear-Admiral Robert Tarrant *2017-2019 Rear-Admiral

Paul Halton Rear Admiral Paul Vincent Halton, is a retired senior Royal Navy officer who served as Commander Operations from October 2017 to November 2019. Naval career Halton joined the Royal Navy in September 1987, and went on to serve as commanding off ...

*2019-2022 Rear-Admiral

Simon Asquith Rear Admiral Simon Phillip Asquith, (born 7 March 1972) is a senior Royal Navy officer who has served as Director of Submarines since April 2022. Early life Asquith was educated at the University of Plymouth (BA Maritime Studies) and King's Co ...

*2022-present Rear-Admiral

Edward Ahlgren Rear Admiral Edward Graham Ahlgren, (born 5 August 1971) is a senior Royal Navy officer who has served as Commander Operations since April 2022. He was educated at Rossall School and King's College London (MA Defence Studies, 2011). Naval c ...

Subordinate formations 2016-2017

:Included: *

3 Commando Brigade 3 Commando Brigade (3 Cdo Bde), previously called the 3rd Special Service Brigade, is a commando formation of the British Armed Forces. It is composed of the Royal Marine Commandos, alongside commando qualified sailors, soldiers and airmen f ...

* Surface Flotilla, Commodore Craig Wood, Commander, Surface Flotilla, in post April 2020 * Submarine Flotilla

References

{{Navy Department (Ministry of Defence), state=collapsed O