Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

John Harold Adams, (19 December 1918 – 3 November 2008) 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 was best known for his command of , a 22,000 ton ''Centaur''-class light aircraft carrier, during the

Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation The Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation or Borneo confrontation (also known by its Indonesian / Malay name, ''Konfrontasi'') was an armed conflict from 1963 to 1966 that stemmed from Indonesia's opposition to the creation of the Federation of ...

Early life

Adams was born in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

on . He attended

Glenalmond College Glenalmond College is a co-educational independent boarding school in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, for children aged between 12 and 18 years. It is situated on the River Almond near the village of Methven, about west of the city of Perth. ...

Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross ( sco, Pairth an Kinross; gd, Peairt agus Ceann Rois) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland and a Lieutenancy Area. It borders onto the Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, Fife, Highland and S ...

, Scotland and joined the Royal Navy as a special entry cadet in 1936. After eight months of training he joined the .Staff
"Rear-Admiral John Adams: Highly efficient captain in the Indonesian conflict who was eventually sacked for defending the role of aircraft carriers"
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', 9 November 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2008.

Naval career

After the outbreak of the

Second World War 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 ...

, Adams was assigned to the destroyer . On 11 September 1939, ''Walker'' ran down and went through her sister ship, , and was jammed in her. As the weather and conditions were good, both ships were able to be saved. During the crisis, Adams carried ''Vanquisher''s safe with its confidential material inside to the deck of ''Walker'', but found that after the situation had calmed down the next morning that he was unable to lift it. He served on the in 1941 and saw action in the

Western Approaches The Western Approaches is an approximately rectangular area of the Atlantic Ocean lying immediately to the west of Ireland and parts of Great Britain. Its north and south boundaries are defined by the corresponding extremities of Britain. The c ...

of the coast of Great Britain, as part of the St. Nazaire Raid and the landings of Allied troops in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

and

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. He underwent training and qualified as a torpedo and electrics specialist in 1943, and was able to use this knowledge to prepare escorts for convoys crossing the North Atlantic. On 15 December 1942 he was

Mentioned in Despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

for his actions aboard ''Cleveland'' in an engagement with

E-Boats E-boat was the Western Allies' designation for the fast attack craft (German: ''Schnellboot'', or ''S-Boot'', meaning "fast boat") of the Kriegsmarine during World War II; ''E-boat'' could refer to a patrol craft from an armed motorboat to a lar ...

. After the war, he commanded the destroyer and served in the Admiralty's torpedo and anti-submarine warfare division, among other staff appointments. He was promoted to

lieutenant commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

on 1 June 1948, and

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

on 31 December 1950. He was then given command of the Royal Yacht ''Britannia'', which included taking

Princess Margaret Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth ...

to the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

to Portugal and a world tour for

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from El ...

, serving from 1954 to 1957. As a result, he was appointed a Member of the Fourth Class of the Royal Victorian Order in the 1957

Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are present ...

. He was promoted

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on 31 December 1956. Adams commanded from May 1964 to January 1966. The ship was deployed in the Indian Ocean and the Far East. She arrived east of Suez with

848 Naval Air Squadron 848 Naval Air Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm. It operated the Westland Sea King HC.4 helicopter and previously provided advanced flying training to pilots for the other squadrons in the Commando Helicopter Force. The s ...

and a strong force of

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

. During the

, ''Albion'' sent two flights of Wessex helicopters to support marine and army border patrols from bases in

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

and

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the M ...

. He was promoted rear admiral on 7 January 1966. In 1966, serving as Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Policy), Adams was assigned to the Ministry of Defence and became chairman of the Future Fleet Working Party, reporting to Admiral of the Fleet Sir Varyl Begg. Building on his experience with the ''Albion'', Adams' working party recommended a "through-deck cruiser" that would carry vertical take-off jet fighters and deploy helicopters, insisting that this approach was the logical conclusion of his research. Begg, who believed that missiles would replace planes, exploded with anger and rejected Adams's report publicly. Begg told him that he would never be employed again. Adams retired on 12 February 1968, and was appointed 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 ...

(CB) in that year's Queen's Birthday Honours, but was invited to the launch of the aircraft carrier in 1977, which was a vindication of his approach.

Company director and later life

After leaving the Royal Navy, Adams served as Director of the Paper and Paper Products Industry Training Board from 1968 to 1971. From 1972 to 1973, he was Director of the Employers' Federation of Papermakers and Boardmakers and then served from 1974 to 1983 as Director General of the British Paper and Board Industry Federation. Adams was the author of ''The Adventure of Charlie the Cone'', stories about a traffic cone that he made up for his children during long car trips. He married the former Mary Parker in 1943. The two had one son and the marriage ended in 1961. He married Ione Eadie later in 1961 and had two sons and two daughters together.The Papers of Rear-Admiral John Adams

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. Retrieved 10 November 2008. Adams died on .

References

External links

Royal Navy (RN) Officers 1939–1945The Papers of Rear-Admiral John Adams
at

Churchill Archives Centre The Churchill Archives Centre (CAC) at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge is one of the largest repositories in the United Kingdom for the preservation and study of modern personal papers. It is best known for housing the papers of ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, John Harold 1918 births 2008 deaths Military personnel from Newcastle upon Tyne Royal Navy rear admirals British military personnel of the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation Royal Navy officers of World War II People educated at Glenalmond College Companions of the Order of the Bath Lieutenants of the Royal Victorian Order