Vice Admiral Sir Geoffrey William Roger Biggs, (23 November 1938 – 29 June 2002) was 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 who served as Deputy Commander-in-Chief Fleet from 1992 to 1995.''Vice-Admiral Sir Geoffrey Biggs.''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

(London, England), Friday, 12 July 2002; pg. 32; Issue 67501

Early life and family

Biggs was born on 23 November 1938, the son of Lieutenant Commander (later Vice Admiral Sir)

Hilary Biggs Vice Admiral Sir Hilary Worthington Biggs, (15 January 1905 – 2 January 1976) was a senior Royal Navy officer. Naval career Hilary Worthington Biggs was born on 15 January 1905, the son of Lieutenant Colonel C. W. Biggs. After attending the R ...

and Florence Biggs ( Backhouse) and grandson of Admiral of the Fleet

Sir Roger Backhouse Admiral of the Fleet Sir Roger Roland Charles Backhouse, (24 November 1878 – 15 July 1939) was a Royal Navy officer. He served in the First World War as a cruiser commander and after the war became a battle squadron commander and later Com ...

. He was educated at

Charterhouse Charterhouse may refer to: * Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order Charterhouse may also refer to: Places * The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery * Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey London ...

and 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 cit ...

. In 1967, Biggs married Marcia Leask; they had three sons. Following the dissolution of his first marriage, he married Caroline Kerr (née Daly) in 1981; they had one daughter.

Naval career

Biggs joined the

in 1958 and qualified as a submariner.Obituary: Vice-Admiral Sir Geoffrey Biggs
The Telegraph, 3 July 2002 He went on to command the

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 ...

and then 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 ...

. In the late 1970s he also commanded the submarine patrolling the

Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; no, Barentshavet, ; russian: Баренцево море, Barentsevo More) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territo ...

above Norway. He was appointed Commanding Officer of the frigate and Captain of the 2nd Frigate Squadron in 1985, Director of Naval Operations and Trade under the Naval Staff at the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

in 1986 and Director of Naval Staff Duties in 1987. His last appointments were as Flag Officer Gibraltar in 1990 and Deputy Commander-in-Chief Fleet in 1992 before retiring in 1995. Biggs 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 the

1993 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1993 were appointments by most of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countr ...

Later life

In retirement Biggs worked for

International Computers Limited International Computers Limited (ICL) was a British computer hardware, computer software and computer services company that operated from 1968 until 2002. It was formed through a merger of International Computers and Tabulators (ICT), English Ele ...

. He died on 29 June 2002, aged 63.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biggs, Geoffrey 1938 births 2002 deaths Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath People educated at Charterhouse School Royal Navy vice admirals