Rear admiral Desmond John Hoare (25 June 1910 – 26 April 1988) was a Royal Navy engineer officer, and educator.

Biography

Hoare was educated at

Wimbledon College Wimbledon College is a government-maintained, voluntary-aided, Jesuit Roman Catholic secondary school and sixth form for boys aged 11 to 19 in Wimbledon, London. The college was founded in 1892 "for improvement in living and learning for the g ...

and

King's School, Rochester The King's School, Rochester, is an English independent school in Rochester, Kent. It is a cathedral school and, being part of the foundation of Rochester Cathedral, the Dean of Rochester serves as chair of the school's governing body. The sc ...

. He joined the

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 ...

in 1929 and after engineering training served in 1936–39, on

Arctic convoys The Arctic convoys of World War II were oceangoing convoys which sailed from the United Kingdom, Iceland, and North America to northern ports in the Soviet Union – primarily Arkhangelsk (Archangel) and Murmansk in Russia. There were 78 convoys ...

1942–44 and 1949–51, and at the apprentice training establishment HMS ''Condor'' 1951–53, besides spells at the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

. His final post was Chief Staff Officer, Technical, to the

Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth The Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth, was a senior commander of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years. Plymouth Command was a name given to the units, establishments, and staff operating under the admiral's command. Between 1845 and 1896, this offic ...

, 1960–62.HOARE, Rear-Adm. Desmond John
''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, 1920–2016 (online edition, Oxford University Press, 2014) He was appointed CB in the 1962 New Year Honours. In 1962 Hoare took early retirement from the Navy to become the first headmaster of

Atlantic College Atlantic College (formally the United World College of the Atlantic; alternatively styled UWC Atlantic College, UWCAC, or UWCA) is an independent boarding school in the Vale of Glamorgan in south Wales. Founded in 1962, it was the first of ...

. With the help of students he conceived, designed, and built what is now the world’s most widely used craft for inshore rescue, the

rigid inflatable boat A rigid inflatable boat (RIB), also rigid-hull inflatable boat or rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB), is a lightweight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a rigid hull bottom joined to side-forming air tubes that are i ...

(RIB). Hoare finally patented the design in 1973 and handed over all rights to the RNLI for the nominal fee of one pound. He did not cash the cheque. He retired from his role as Headmaster at Atlantic College in 1969, taking on the position of Provost, which he held until retiring to Ireland in 1973.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoare, Desmond John 1910 births 1988 deaths People educated at King's School, Rochester Royal Navy officers of World War II Royal Navy rear admirals Companions of the Order of the Bath