Rear-Admiral James Flower, CB (5 July 1923 – 19 December 2002) was a senior marine engineer with 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 F ...

and was later involved in restoration of the propulsion machinery of

Isambard Kingdom Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "one ...

's steamship the .

Early life and career

Jim Flower was educated at Blundell's School in Tiverton before joining the

in 1941. He served during the war in the cruiser and the battleship and from 1948 in the cruiser . Liverpool was followed by a five-year stint on the staff of the Engineer-in-Chief of the Fleet. This led to a first "charge job" in 1955 as the engineer officer of the frigate , the first ship of the Type 12 anti-submarine frigates ( ''Whitby''-class frigates). Flower was promoted to commander in 1957 and joined the recently formed nuclear propulsion development team under the Rear-Admiral Nuclear Propulsion, where he worked on the development of , Britain's first nuclear submarine. From 1961 Flower spent two years at sea as the engineer officer of a frigate squadron, followed by tours at Cammell Laird's shipbuilders and at the Admiralty. After promotion to captain, he was the Western Fleet's senior engineering staff officer and, from 1970, commanded the nuclear reactor testing and training establishment at

Dounreay Dounreay (; gd, Dùnrath) is a small settlement and the site of two large nuclear establishments on the north coast of Caithness in the Highland area of Scotland. It is on the A836 road west of Thurso. The nuclear establishments were create ...

before spending four years based at the Ministry of Defence in Bath as Deputy Director (Design) for marine engineering with the Director-General (Ships). Perhaps more than any other single person, he was responsible for the success of the "marinised" gas turbine programme, initially based on the Type 14 ( Blackwood class) frigate which was rebuilt as a gas turbine-driven ship and used as a test-bed to overcome the host of design difficulties that confront aero engines when translated to a hostile shipborne environment. This programme placed the Royal Navy well ahead of other nations and has been compared in importance to the introduction of the steam turbine. Within a few years, all major Royal Navy new construction, including aircraft carriers, were gas turbine-driven. Flower was promoted to rear-admiral in 1975 and appointed Flag Officer and Port Admiral at Portsmouth. He returned to Bath for his final two postings as Director of Engineering (Ships) and Director of Post Design. There he was very much to the fore in promoting the interests of Rolls-Royce in

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, where British experience with overall "marinised" installations, particularly the fuel-efficient Olympus-Tyne combination, produced an edge over the competition. This led to Japan's Maritime Self- Defense Force becoming a better customer than the Royal Navy. Flower was appointed

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on his retirement in 1980.

SS ''Great Britain''

Flower is particularly remembered for his work in support of the engineering restoration of the .

Sources

*Obituary of Rear-Admiral James Flower, The Times, 7 January 2003 {{DEFAULTSORT:Flower, James 1923 births 2002 deaths People educated at Blundell's School Royal Navy officers Royal Navy officers of World War II Royal Navy rear admirals Companions of the Order of the Bath