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 ...

Niall Stuart Roderick Kilgour, (born 4 March 1950) is a former

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 Operations and Rear Admiral, Submarines.

Naval career

Educated at

Hazelwood School Hazelwood School is a private preparatory school located in Limpsfield, Surrey. The school was established in 1890 as a boarding school for boys aged 8–13 by Ruth and Edward Baily. Baily bought the land from the Titsey Place estate a ...

and later

Pangbourne College Pangbourne College is a co-educational independent day and boarding school located in the civil parish of Pangbourne, in the English county of Berkshire. It is set in 230 acres, on a hill south-west of the village, in an Area of Outstanding Nat ...

, Kilgour joined the

in 1968 and had a distinguished career as a submariner. On leaving submarines, he went on to be Commanding Officer 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 ...

s and – the latter of which came with the post of Captain of the

6th Frigate Squadron The 6th Frigate Squadron was an administrative unit of the Royal Navy from 1950 to 2002. History During its existence, the squadron included , Type 15, , , , and Type 23 frigates. Ships from the squadron participated in the Coronation Fleet ...

. In 1998 he was appointed as Commander Amphibious Task Group, and became Commander Operations. He served as part of the

British military intervention in the Sierra Leone Civil War The United Kingdom began a military intervention in Sierra Leone on 7 May 2000 under the codename Operation Palliser. Although small numbers of British personnel had been deployed previously, Palliser was the first large-scale intervention by ...

in 2000, for which he was awarded a

Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service The King's Commendation for Valuable Service is a British military award for meritorious service in an operational theatre. It was established in 1994, when the award of the Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct and the Queen's Commendation for ...

. Promoted to rear-admiral in September 2001, Kilgour returned to CINCFLEET at the

Northwood Headquarters Northwood Headquarters is a military headquarters facility of the British Armed Forces in Eastbury, Hertfordshire, England, adjacent to the London suburb of Northwood. It is home to the following military command and control functions: #Headqua ...

in northwest London, for the third time as Commander Operations, Flag Officer Submarines (subsequently Rear Admiral Submarines (RASM) in February 2002, the 'tribal chief' of Royal Navy submarines) and as the NATO Submarine Commander responsible for all submarine activity in the Eastern Atlantic and northern waters. Kilgour retired in June 2004.

Retirement

In retirement Kilgour became Chief Executive of

The Hurlingham Club The Hurlingham Club is an exclusive private social and athletic club located in the Fulham area of London, England. Founded in 1869, it has a Georgian-style clubhouse set in of grounds. It is a member of the Association of London Clubs. Hist ...

, He is President of the Submariners' Association, and Chairman of Trustees, Royal Navy Club.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kilgour, Niall 1950 births People educated at Hazelwood School People educated at Pangbourne College Companions of the Order of the Bath Living people Recipients of the Commendation for Valuable Service Royal Navy rear admirals