Admiral Sir Guy Grantham, (9 January 1900 – 8 September 1992) 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 ...

officer who served as

Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth The Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, was a senior commander of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years. The commanders-in-chief were based at premises in High Street, Portsmouth from the 1790s until the end of Sir Thomas Williams's tenure, his succes ...

from 1957 to 1959.

Naval career

Educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...

,Obituary: Sir Guy Gratham
The Independent, 17 September 1992 Grantham joined the

in 1918.Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
/ref> Grantham 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 opposi ...

, initially as commander of the cruiser and was involved in the evacuation from Greece, for which he was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, ty ...

. After a period as a liaison officer in the Western Desert, he became Commander of the cruiser , which was sunk by a

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...

in March 1942. He then became commander of the cruiser , in which he was involved in the defeat of the Italian Fleet at the second Battle of Birte. His last wartime command was of the aircraft carrier , which was involved in the landings in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. He went on to be Director of Plans at the Admiralty. After the war, Grantham became Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet in 1946. He was appointed Flag Officer Submarines in 1948, Flag Officer, Second in Command of the Mediterranean Fleet in 1950 and Vice Chief of the Naval Staff in 1951. He became 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 in 1954 and then

and Allied Commander-in-Chief, Channel and southern North Sea in 1957. He retired in 1959. Grantham was also

First and Principal Naval Aide-de-camp Below is a list of First and Principal Naval Aides-de-Camp, an office established by William IV of the United Kingdom in 1830: First and Principal Naval Aides-de-Camp *1830-1846: Lord Amelius Beauclerk *1846-1866: Sir William Parker, Bt. *18 ...

the Queen In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to: * Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death The Queen may also refer to: * Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...

from 1958 to 1959. In retirement Grantham became Governor and Commander-in-Chief Malta from 1959 to 1962.

Family

In 1934 Grantham married Beryl Mackintosh-Walker; they went on to have two daughters.

References

, - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Grantham, Guy 1900 births 1992 deaths People educated at Rugby School Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Royal Navy admirals Royal Navy officers of World War II Lords of the Admiralty Governors and Governors-General of Malta Military personnel from Lincolnshire