Vice-Admiral Sir Arthur Allison Fitzroy Talbot KBE CB DSO & Bar DL (22 October 1909 – 16 June 1998) 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 who went on to be

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 ...

Naval career

Educated at the

Royal Naval College, Dartmouth Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...

, Fitzroy Talbot joined the

in 1926.Obituary: Vice Admiral Sir Fitzroy Talbot
''The Independent'', 26 June 1998 He went to sea as a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...

in the

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

HMS ''Royal Oak''. He served in

World War II 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 as commander of the 10th Anti-Submarine Striking Force in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

and then as Commander of the 3rd Motor Gun Boat Flotilla in the

Channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...

. He commanded the

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

s HMS ''Whitshed'' and , in the latter capacity supporting the advance through

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Finally he was Chief of Staff to the Commodore, Western Isles. After the War he became Chief Staff Officer (Operations) for the

Far East Station The Far East Fleet (also called the Far East Station) was a Naval fleet, 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 t ...

Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
/ref> before taking command of the

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

HMS ''Alert'' in 1949. In 1950 he was appointed Naval

Attaché In diplomacy, an attaché is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified accord ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

and then, as Commander of 3rd Destroyer Squadron, he took part in the

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...

in 1956 after which he became Commodore, Royal Navy Barracks,

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, in 1957. His next appointment was as Flag Officer, Arabian Seas and Persian Gulf, in 1960 before being made

Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic and South America The Commander-in-Chief South Atlantic was an operational commander of the Royal Navy from 1939. The South American area was added to his responsibilities in 1960, and the post disestablished in 1967. Immediately before the outbreak of the Se ...

, in 1963. He was made

, in 1965 and retired in 1967. In retirement he became Deputy Lieutenant of

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

in 1973.

Family

In 1940 he married Joyce Gertrude Linley; they went on to have two daughters.The Peerage.com
/ref> Following the death of his first wife, he married Elizabeth Durlacher in 1983.

Honours and awards

* 25 June 1940 – Lieutenant Arthur Allison FitzRoy Talbot, Royal Navy, is appointed to be a

Companion of the Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, ty ...

for courage and resource in operations on the Norwegian Coast. * 10 June 1961 – Rear-Admiral Arthur Allison FitzRoy Talbot, DSO, is appointed to be a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

. * 1 January 1964 – Vice-Admiral Arthur Allison Fitzroy Talbot, CB, DSO, is appointed a

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Talbot, Fitzroy 1909 births 1998 deaths Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of the Bath Royal Navy vice admirals Deputy Lieutenants of Somerset Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Royal Navy personnel of World War II

Fitzroy Talbot Vice-Admiral Sir Arthur Allison Fitzroy Talbot KBE CB DSO & Bar DL (22 October 1909 – 16 June 1998) was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth. Naval career Educated at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, Fit ...