Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

Sir John Graham Hamilton, (12 July 1910 – 27 October 1994) 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, Mediterranean Fleet from 1964 to 1967.

Naval career

Hamilton joined the

in 1924, and specialised in gunnery in 1936. Hamilton 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 ...

on the staff of Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham in the

Mediterranean Fleet The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between t ...

and was then Gunnery Officer on 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 ...

in South East Asia. He also carried out the planning of the Naval Fire Support for the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

. After the war, Hamilton commanded before becoming deputy director of Radio Equipment in 1950. He went on to be commander of the 5th Destroyer Squadron in 1952 and Director of Naval Ordnance at the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

in 1954. He was given command 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 ...

in 1956 and became

Naval Secretary The Naval Secretary is the Royal Navy officer who advises the First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff on naval officer appointing (and General Officers). Their counterpart in the British Army is the Military Secretary. The Royal Air Force equiv ...

in 1958. Then he became Flag Officer (Flotillas) for the Home Fleet in 1960 and

Flag Officer, Air (Home) A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes' ...

in 1962. His last appointment was as Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet and

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 ...

Commander

Allied Forces Mediterranean Allied Forces Mediterranean was a NATO command covering all military operations in the Mediterranean Sea from 1952 to 1967. The command was based at Malta. History The British post of Commander in Chief Mediterranean Fleet was given a dual-hatted ...

in 1964. He retired in 1967.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, John Graham 1910 births 1994 deaths Royal Navy admirals Royal Navy officers of World War II Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of the Bath British military personnel of the Suez Crisis