29-599: Rear Admiral Christopher Hugh Trevor Clayton (born 21 May 1951), is a former Royal Navy officer who served as a Lynx helicopter pilot during the Falklands War . He went on to become a senior naval officer, commanding ships during the Hong Kong handover ceremony and 2003 invasion of Iraq and later serving high-level positions in NATO . Clayton was educated at St John's School, Leatherhead . After school he joined
58-607: A "central coordinating body" for the collation, assessment, and dissemination of intelligence within NATO Headquarters. He retired on 29 December 2007. Over the course of his naval career, he attended the Advanced Command and Staff Course and the Higher Command and Staff Course . Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies . In most European navies,
87-608: A post at NATO's headquarters in Brussels . His role was as an assistant director, in charge of the Intelligence Division of NATO's International Military Staff. The Intelligence Division provides day-to-day strategic intelligence support to the Secretary General ; it has no intelligence gathering capacity of its own and therefore relies on input from alliance members. On this basis it could be described as
116-424: A sense of pride in a job really well done. [Ocean] played a major role in the operations out there. But also we have to remember that we're the lucky ones coming back. Not everyone has. There are many we have to think about, including one of our ship's company who was killed in action, Marine Chris Maddison. Our thoughts will be about him and with his family." Clayton became a rear admiral on 30 August 2004 and took
145-468: A single red ball to cover all Royal Navy commodores. Modern commodores wear the sleeve lace previously worn by commodores second class. Commodore has only been a substantive rank in the Royal Navy since 1997. Before then it continued to be an appointment conferred on senior captains holding certain positions. For example, the senior commander of destroyers within a fleet in the Royal Navy could carry
174-402: Is a flag officer , the naval equivalent of a general officer . A rear-admiral is senior to a commodore and brigadier-general , and junior to a vice-admiral and lieutenant-general . The rank insignia for a rear-admiral is two silver maple leaves beneath a silver crossed sword and baton, all surmounted by St Edward's Crown , worn on gold shoulder boards on the white short-sleeved shirt or
203-601: Is a rank of the Royal Navy above captain and below rear admiral . It has a NATO ranking code of OF-6 . The rank is equivalent to brigadier in the British Army and Royal Marines and to air commodore in the Royal Air Force . Commodore has only been a substantive rank in the Royal Navy since 1997. Until then the term denoted a functional position rather than a formal rank, being the title bestowed on
232-702: The Falkland Islands was invaded by neighbouring Argentina. The United Kingdom, nearly 8,000 miles (13,000 km) away, assembled and dispatched a naval task force of 28,000 troops to recapture the islands. The conflict ended that June with the surrender of the Argentine forces ; the battles fought on land, at sea, and in the air had cost the lives of some 900 British and Argentine servicemen. Clayton served on HMS Cardiff , piloting their H AS .3 Lynx helicopter, serial no. 335 or "IVOR", as part of 815 Naval Air Squadron . Cardiff arrived at
261-454: The 1997 Hong Kong handover ceremony . Hong Kong had been a British colony since 1841, but Britain's lease was due to finish and control was to be handed to the People's Republic of China . Chatham' s role was to act as guardship for the royal yacht HMY Britannia , Clayton said of the experience; "There is no sense of withdrawal, this is very much one professional armed forces handing over
290-460: The Royal Navy as an aviator and was appointed an acting sub-lieutenant on 29 February 1972. After flying training, he was then commissioned as a sub-lieutenant on 29 November 1973. After being promoted to lieutenant on 16 October 1974, Clayton was selected for a Full Career Commission in 1980, transferring to the General List. On 2 April 1982, the disputed British overseas territory of
319-526: The UK's recently elected labour government reassessed the country's defence needs and published their findings in a policy document titled the Strategic Defence Review . One of its key initiatives was a call for the amalgamation of both Royal Navy and RAF Harriers into one force. This would create a closer harmonization of common operating procedures and maintenance practice. Clayton commanded
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#1732781059523348-844: The United Kingdom . In the United States, there have been two ranks with the title of rear admiral since 1985: rear admiral (lower half) (RDML), a one-star rank; and rear admiral (RADM), a two-star rank. Prior to that, a combination of ranks was used. Both the rear admiral (lower half) and rear admiral ranks exist in four of the uniformed services of the United States : the United States Navy , United States Coast Guard , United States Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Corps , and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps (NOAA Corps). Commodore (Royal Navy) Commodore ( Cdre )
377-494: The area south of the Falkland Sound . Two Argentine Daggers of Gaucho flight spotted Clayton's Lynx and jettisoned their external fuel tanks in preparation to engage. They began strafing the helicopter with their cannons, but Clayton evaded the attacks and managed to escape. The Daggers returned home empty-handed, their original mission had been to attack British positions on Mount Longdon with retarded bombs . After
406-460: The coloured squadrons, the commodore of the white's broad pennant with the Cross of St George remained as the command flag for commodores first class, who wore the same sleeve lace as rear admirals . The white broad pennant with a red ball was introduced as the command flag for commodores second class. The appointment of commodore first class has been in abeyance since 1958, leaving the pennant with
435-419: The equivalent rank is called counter admiral . Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral . It is usually equivalent to the rank of major general in armies. In the U.S. Navy and some other navies, there are two rear admiral ranks . The term originated in the days of naval sailing squadrons and can trace its origins to the Royal Navy . Each naval squadron
464-449: The first known as a Commodore Distinction and the other a Commodore Ordinary ; these would later evolve into commodores first and second class. In 1734 the title of commodore was formally approved by an order in council . They were formally separated into first class (those with subordinate line captains) and second class (those commanding ships themselves) in 1826. The previous broad red and blue pennants were abolished in 1864 along with
493-528: The helicopter carrier HMS Ocean during the 2003 invasion of Iraq . Ocean was the UK's lead amphibious landing ship, providing sea-based logistics to the Royal Marine's 3 Commando Brigade and acting as a launch pad for their attack on the Al-Faw Peninsula . Her helicopters also played a role in securing the city of Basra . When interviewed about the experience Clayton said; "There's
522-597: The initial Argentine surrender , Clayton flew the OC of 40 Commando , Lt Col Malcolm Hunt, to Port Howard to accept the surrender of the Argentine garrison stationed there. In recognition of his service during the war, Clayton was awarded a Mention in Dispatches . Clayton was promoted to commander on 31 December 1988, then to a captain on 31 December 1995. Clayton commanded the Type 22 frigate HMS Chatham during
551-410: The islands late in the conflict on 26 May. Cardiff' s primary role was to form part of the anti-aircraft warfare picket , using her anti-air Sea Dart missiles to protect British ships and attempting to ambush Argentine re-supply aircraft. She was also required to fire at enemy positions with her 4.5-inch gun . On 13 June, around midday, Clayton was performing the routine forenoon clearance search of
580-446: The protection and sovereignty of Hong Kong to another, the People's Liberation Army . So I look on it as a classic military evolution and one which we hope to do with some style, orderly, and professionally." He became the first officer to hold the post of " Commodore Naval Aviation" (COMNA), he was based at Northwood Headquarters during this time. The post was created in 2000 to command the newly formed Joint Force Harrier . In 1998,
609-640: The rear admiral rank is superior to commodore and captain. However, the rank is junior to the three-star rank vice-admiral and four-star rank admiral, who is generally a Chief of Naval Staff of the Navy. The highest ordinary rank currently filled in the Royal New Zealand Navy is rear admiral and this is the rank held by the Chief of Navy unless that person is also Chief of Defence Force . The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) has two ranks with
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#1732781059523638-474: The senior officer of a fleet of at least two naval vessels comprising an independent (usually ad hoc and short-term) command. (In this case, for instance, a lieutenant in substantive rank could be a commodore for the term of the command.) The rank of commodore was introduced during the 17th century in November 1674 (though not legally established until 1806). In 1684 the navy introduced two classes of commodore,
667-457: The title of "Commodore (D)", while the fleet's senior commander of submarines could carry the title of "Commodore (S)", although in both cases as an appointment rather than a rank. During World War I the title of "Commodore (T)" was the officer who commanded torpedo boat flotillas. From 1570 to 1864 the Royal Navy was divided into coloured squadrons which determined an officer's career path . A modern commodore's rank insignia consists of
696-524: The title of rear admiral: rear-admiral (one-star), a one-star rank; and rear-admiral (two-star), a two-star rank. Rear admiral is a two-star rank in the Sri Lanka Navy . In Sweden , rear admiral is a two-star admiral rank of the Swedish Navy . The Royal Navy maintains a rank of rear admiral. Note that the rank of rear admiral is quite different from the honorary office Rear-Admiral of
725-479: The tropical white tunic. The service dress features a wide strip of gold braid around the cuff and, since June 2010, above it a narrower strip of gold braid embellished with the executive curl. On the visor of the service cap are two rows of gold oak leaves. A rear admiral in the Pakistani Navy is a senior and two-star rank naval officer, appointed in higher naval commands. Like most Commonwealth navies,
754-802: The word "Australia". Rear Admiral Robyn Walker AM , RAN became the first female admiral in the Royal Australian Navy when she was appointed Surgeon-General of the Australian Defence Force on 16 December 2011. In the Royal Canadian Navy , the rank of rear-admiral (RAdm) ( contre-amiral or CAm in French ) is the Navy rank equivalent to major-general of the Army and Air Force . A rear-admiral
783-603: The word "Australia". Like the Royal Navy version, the sword is a traditional naval cutlass . The stars have eight points, unlike the four pointed Order of the Bath stars used by the army (which are often referred to as "pips"). Prior to 1995, the RAN shoulder board was identical to the Royal Navy shoulder board. The Royal Navy shoulder board changed again in 2001 and the Australian and UK shoulder boards are now identical except for
812-399: Was assigned an admiral as its head, who commanded from the centre vessel and directed the squadron's activities. The admiral would in turn be assisted by a vice admiral, who commanded the lead ships that bore the brunt of a battle. In the rear of the squadron, a third admiral commanded the remaining ships and, as this section was considered to be in the least danger, the admiral in command of it
841-496: Was typically the most junior. This has continued into the modern age, with rear admiral the most junior admiralty of many navies. The Royal Australian Navy maintains a rank of rear admiral; refer to Australian Defence Force ranks and insignia . The abbreviation is RADM. Since the mid-1990s, the insignia of a Royal Australian Navy rear admiral is the Crown of St. Edward above a crossed sword and baton, above two silver stars, above
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