Vice Admiral James Wilfred Jefford CB, CBE (22 March 1901 – 1 January 1980) was the first Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Pakistan Navy, serving from its inception in 1947 until 1953. Most of his early career was in the

Royal Indian Navy The Royal Indian Navy (RIN) was the naval force of British India and the Dominion of India. Along with the Presidency armies, later the Indian Army, and from 1932 the Royal Indian Air Force, it was one of the Armed Forces of British India. F ...

. Jefford served in 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 Fr ...

as a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Af ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and was commissioned into the

Royal Indian Marine 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 ...

as a sub-lieutenant on 23 March 1922. He was successively promoted to lieutenant, RIM (23 March 1925) to lieutenant-commander, RIN, to acting commander, RIN, in 1940 and to substantive commander, RIN (10 January 1941)., On 10 September 1946, Jefford was promoted to captain, RIN, and to commodore, RIN the following year. On the inception of the

Dominion of Pakistan Between 14 August 1947 and 23 March 1956, Pakistan was an independent federal dominion in the Commonwealth of Nations, created by the passing of the Indian Independence Act 1947 by the British parliament, which also created the Dominion of ...

in 1947, Commodore Jefford transferred to the special list of the

and was appointed

Flag Officer A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which the officer exercises command. The term is used differently in different countries: *In many countries ...

commanding the new Royal Pakistan Navy with the acting rank of rear-admiral (15 August 1947). He retired from the Royal Indian Navy on 1 September 1948 with the rank of captain, but retained his acting rank of rear-admiral and his place on the special list of the Royal Navy while commanding the Royal Pakistan Navy. His title was upgraded to Commander-in-Chief in 1950, and he was promoted to substantive rear-admiral that year. He was promoted to a CBE in the 1951 New Year Honours list (from an OBE conferred in 1947). Vice-Admiral in the Royal Pakistan Navy, in 1953, the same year that his command was terminated.'JEFFORD, Vice-Adm. (retd) James Wilfred', in ''Who Was Who'', (A. & C. Black, 1920–2008) He was Chairman of the Penang Harbour Board from 1955 to 1957 and also of the Penang Port Commission from 1956 to 1957, when he retired. During 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 opposi ...

he commanded HMIS Indus and HMIS Godavari.

Notes

External links

Official website of Pakistan Navy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jefford, James Wilfred Chiefs of Naval Staff (Pakistan) 1901 births 1980 deaths Pakistan Navy admirals Royal Navy admirals Royal Indian Navy admirals