Vice Admiral Sir John Willson Musgrave Eaton, (3 November 1902 – 21 July 1981) 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 served as Commander-in-Chief America and West Indies Station from 1955 to 1956.

Naval career

Eaton joined the

in 1916 and served in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

.Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
/ref> After the war he served in

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 and then in

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 ...

s. Eaton served in 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 ...

and commanded the destroyers HMS ''Venetia'', HMS ''Mohawk'', HMS ''Somali'' and HMS ''Eskimo''. After the war he became Captain of the

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

and then Captain of the training school HMS ''St Vincent''. He was appointed Director at the Royal Navy Staff College, Greenwich in 1949, Flag Officer commanding HM Australian Fleet in 1951 and Flag Officer commanding the

Reserve Fleet A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed; they are partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; a ...

in 1954. His last appointment was as Commander-in-Chief, America and West Indies Station and Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic in 1955; he took part in

Operation Strikeback Exercise Strikeback was a major naval exercise of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that took place over a ten-day period in September 1957. As part of a series of exercises to simulate an all-out Soviet attack on NATO, Exercise S ...

(a major

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

training exercise) in 1957 and retired in 1958. His life is commemorated by an inscription at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in

Kelvedon Kelvedon is a village and civil parish in the Braintree District of Essex in England, between Chelmsford and Colchester. It had a population of 4,717 in 2001, reducing to 3,587 at the 2011 Census. It is now home to several businesses including ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

.Monumental inscriptions
Essex Record Office

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Eaton, John 1902 births 1981 deaths Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Companions of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire People from Bulawayo Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Navy vice admirals Royal Navy personnel of World War I Royal Navy officers of World War II People from Kelvedon