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 Michael Howard Livesay, (5 April 1936 – 6 October 2003) was a senior

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 Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel from 1991 to 1992.

Naval career

Educated at Acklam Hall Grammar School and Royal Naval College Dartmouth, Livesay was commissioned into the

in 1957.Obituary: Admiral Sir Michael Livesay
Daily Telegraph, 9 October 2003 He was made

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

of the

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

HMS ''Hubberston'' in 1966 and of the

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

in 1970.Obituary: Admiral Sir Michael Livesay
The Times, 15 October 2003 He went on to be Captain, Fishery Protection and Mine Counter Measures, based in Scotland in 1975, and the first Commander of the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

in 1979. Livesay was Director of Naval Warfare at the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

during the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...

, during which he developed the "Rules of Engagement" and then, in 1984, went on to be Flag Officer Sea Training. He was appointed

Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff The Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (A.C.N.S.) is a senior appointment in the Royal Navy usually a two-star rank and has a NATO ranking code of OF-7. History The Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff was originally directly responsible to the Fir ...

in 1986 and

Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland The Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland (FOSNI) was a senior post in the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. It was based at HMNB Clyde, HM Naval Base Clyde, and the holder of the post was the Royal Navy’s senior officer in Scotland. The ...

in 1989. His final posting was as Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel as well as President of the

Royal Naval College, Greenwich The Royal Naval College, Greenwich, was a Royal Navy training establishment between 1873 and 1998, providing courses for naval officers. It was the home of the Royal Navy's staff college, which provided advanced training for officers. The equiv ...

in 1991; he retired in 1993. In retirement Livesay became Chairman of the

Northern Lighthouse Board The Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) is the general lighthouse authority for Scotland and the Isle of Man. It is a non-departmental public body responsible for marine navigation aids around coastal areas. History The NLB was formed by Act of P ...

and a Non-Executive Director of

Scottish Nuclear Scottish Nuclear was formed as a precursor to the privatisation of the electricity supply industry in Scotland on 1 April 1990. A purpose-built headquarters was built in 1992 in the new town of East Kilbride. It consisted of the nuclear assets ...

. He lived at

Auchterarder Auchterarder (; gd, Uachdar Àrdair, meaning Upper Highland) is a small town located north of the Ochil Hills in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, and home to the Gleneagles Hotel. The High Street of Auchterarder gave the town its popular name of "Th ...

Perthshire Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...

Family

In 1959 Livesay married to Sarah "Sally" House: they had two daughters.

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Livesay, Michael 1936 births 2003 deaths Royal Navy admirals Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Admiral presidents of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich