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 Henry Gordon Layard, (born 3 January 1936) is a retired 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 The Second Sea Lord and Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (formerly Second Sea Lord) is deputy to the First Sea Lord and the second highest-ranking officer to currently serve in the Royal Navy and is responsible for personnel and naval shore establish ...

from 1992 to 1995.

Naval career

Educated at

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 ...

and the

Britannia Royal Naval College Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC), commonly known as Dartmouth, is the naval academy of the United Kingdom and the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy. It is located on a hill overlooking the port of Dartmouth, Devon, En ...

, Layard was commissioned into the

in 1954.Debretts People of Today 1994 He trained as a fighter pilot and in 1970 he took command of

899 Naval Air Squadron 899 Naval Air Squadron (899 NAS) was a squadron of the Fleet Air Arm of the United Kingdom. It was most recently based at RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron) as the British Aerospace Sea Harrier FA2 training squadron until it was decommissioned in March ...

flying

Sea Vixen The de Havilland DH.110 Sea Vixen is a British twin-engine, twin boom-tailed, two-seat, carrier-based fleet air-defence fighter flown by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm during the 1950s through to the early 1970s. The Sea Vixen was designed by ...

s. He became Commander (Air) in in 1977 and Chief Staff Officer to the Flag Officer, Naval Air Command in 1979. 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 ...

he was Senior Naval Officer in the MV

Atlantic Conveyor ''Atlantic Conveyor'' was a British merchant navy ship, registered in Liverpool, that was requisitioned during the Falklands War. She was hit on 25 May 1982 by two Argentine air-launched AM39 Exocet missiles, killing 12 sailors. ''Atlantic ...

, which was sunk by two

exocet The Exocet () is a French-built anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from surface vessels, submarines, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Etymology The missile's name was given by M. Guillot, then the technical director ...

missiles. Layard became Commander of RNAS ''Culdrose'' in 1982, Captain of the destroyer in 1984 and Director Naval Warfare (Air) 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 ...

in 1985. He went on to be

Flag Officer Naval Air Command N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

in 1988, Director General, Naval Manpower and Training in 1990 and Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel in 1992 (and, concurrently, 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 ...

from 1993). From 1994 he was asked to combine this role with that of Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command.

Later life

In retirement Layard became a Trustee of the

Fleet Air Arm Museum The Fleet Air Arm Museum is devoted to the history of British naval aviation. It has an extensive collection of military and civilian aircraft, aero engines, models of aircraft and Royal Navy ships (especially aircraft carriers), and paintin ...

, and a Governor of Pangbourne College. Layard owns a 32-foot

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

, ''Banjo''.

Family

In 1966 Layard married Elspeth Horsley Fisher. They have two sons.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Layard, Michael 1936 births Admiral presidents of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich Living people People educated at Pangbourne College Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Royal Navy admirals