Admiral Sir Peter Charles Abbott (12 February 1942 – 28 September 2015) 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 and Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff of the United Kingdom.

Early life

Abbott was born on 12 February 1942. He was educated at St. Edward's School, Oxford before going on to

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...

Military career

Abbott was commissioned into the

in 1964.Admiral Sir Peter Abbott
Debretts He commanded the minesweeper, , from 1972 to 1975 and then joined the staff of the Senior Naval Officer in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

. He became 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 ...

in 1976, second-in-command of the aircraft carrier in 1980 and the Chief of Defence Staff's briefer 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 ...

in 1982. He then became commanding officer of the frigate as well as captain of the 1st Frigate Squadron in 1983. He became Director of Navy Plans in 1985 and, having been promoted to

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 ...

, he was appointed

Flag Officer, Second Flotilla The Flag Officer, Second Flotilla was a senior British Royal Navy appointment from 1971 to 1992. History After the creation of the single Commander-in-Chief Fleet post in 1971, its subordinate commands were reorganised. Three major sub-commands w ...

in 1989. He was made

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 1991 and, having been promoted to vice admiral, was appointed Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic in 1993. He became

Commander-in-Chief Fleet The Commander-in-Chief Fleet (CINCFLEET) was the admiral responsible for the operations of the ships, submarines and aircraft of the British Royal Navy from 1971 until April 2012. The post was subordinate to the First Sea Lord, the professional he ...

and, having been promoted to

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, ...

in 1995, he became Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff in 1997.

Later life

In retirement, Abbott was made

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the Trustees of the

Royal Naval Museum The National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth, formerly known as the Royal Naval Museum, is a museum of the history of the Royal Navy located in the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard section of HMNB Portsmouth, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. The ...

. He was also President of MSSC, governing charity of the

Marine Society The Marine Society is a British charity, the world's first established for seafarers. In 1756, at the beginning of the Seven Years' War against France, Austria, and Saxony (and subsequently the Mughal Empire, Spain, Russia and Sweden) Britain ur ...

and the

Sea Cadets Sea cadets are members of a sea cadet corps, a formal uniformed youth organisation for young people with an interest in waterborne activities and or the national navy. The organisation may be sponsored in whole or in part by the navy or a naval s ...

. He died of cancer on 28 September 2015.

Honours and decorations

References

, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Abbott, Peter 1942 births 2015 deaths Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Royal Navy admirals Royal Navy personnel of the Falklands War Officers of the Legion of Merit Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Deaths from cancer in England