Admiral Sir Raymond Derek Lygo, (15 March 1924 – 7 March 2012) 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 ...

officer who served as

Vice Chief of the Naval Staff Vice Chief of the Naval Staff (VCNS) may refer to: *Vice Chief of the Naval Staff (India) *Vice Chief of the Naval Staff (Pakistan) * Vice Chief of the Naval Staff (United Kingdom) The Vice Chief of the Naval Staff (V.C.N.S.) was a senior appoint ...

from 1975 to 1978.

Naval career

Educated at

Ilford County High School Ilford County High School (often abbreviated to ICHS) is a selective secondary grammar school for boys located in the town of Barkingside of the London Borough of Redbridge. The school was formerly called ''Park High Grade School'' and as a res ...

and Clark's College,

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, c ...

, Lygo joined the

at HMS St. Vincent (Fleet Air Arm basic training establishment in Gosport, Hampshire) in 1942 during 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 ...

.Debrett's People of Today 1994 He was appointed the commanding officer of the frigate in 1961, the frigate in 1967 and the aircraft carrier in 1969.Unit Histories
/ref> While in command of the latter in 1971, the ''Ark Royal'' collided with a Soviet cruiser that was shadowing her during an exercise in the Mediterranean. Damage to both vessels was slight, though two Soviet crewmen went missing. Lygo was cleared of any responsibility in the subsequent inquiry. He was next appointed

Director-General, Naval Manpower and Training The Naval Recruitment Training Agency (NRTA) originally called the Naval Training Department was first established in 1944 as a department within the British Admiralty, Admiralty it underwent numerous name changes until 1 April 1995 as a new agen ...

from February 1974 to June 1975. He went on to be

in 1975 and retired in 1978.

Later life

After retirement, Lygo joined

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marcon ...

, becoming

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

in 1986. Lygo went on to be Chairman of the Rutland Trust in 1991, Chairman of TNT (Express) UK Ltd in 1992 and Chairman of the Liontrust First UK Investment Trust in 1997. He was Patron of the

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...

Association.

Family

In 1950 Lygo married Pepper Van Osten; they had two sons and one daughter.

References

External links

Imperial War Museum Interview
1924 births 2012 deaths People educated at Ilford County High School Royal Navy admirals Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath British businesspeople in the armaments industry British chief executives Place of birth missing Place of death missing Fleet Air Arm personnel of World War II {{UK-navy-bio-stub