Peter Herbert (Royal Navy officer)
Encyclopedia
Admiral
Sir Peter Geoffrey Marshall Herbert KCB
CBE
(born 28 February 1929) was Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff.
, Herbert was commissioned into the Royal Navy
in 1949. He served in submarine
s for much of his early career and then became Commander
of the nuclear-powered submarine, HMS Valiant
, in 1963.
He was made Commanding Officer
of the cruiser, HMS Blake
, in 1974 and then Deputy Chief of the Polaris
Executive in 1976. He went on to be Flag Officer Carriers and Amphibious Ships in 1978 and Director-General of Naval Manpower & Training in 1980.
He was appointed Flag Officer Submarines & Commander Submarine Area Eastern Atlantic in 1981 and in that role took part in the Falklands War
. He became Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff in 1983.
In retirement he became a Non-Executive Director of Radamec Group plc.
Admiral (United Kingdom)
Admiral is a senior rank of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, which equates to the NATO rank code OF-9, outranked only by the rank Admiral of the Fleet...
Sir Peter Geoffrey Marshall Herbert KCB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
CBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 28 February 1929) was Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff.
Naval career
Educated at Dunchurch Hall and the Britannia Royal Naval CollegeBritannia Royal Naval College
Britannia Royal Naval College is the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy, located on a hill overlooking Dartmouth, Devon, England. While Royal Naval officer training has taken place in the town since 1863, the buildings which are seen today were only finished in 1905, and...
, Herbert was commissioned into the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
in 1949. He served in submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
s for much of his early career and then became Commander
Commander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
of the nuclear-powered submarine, HMS Valiant
HMS Valiant (S102)
The sixth, and most recent HMS Valiant was the second of Britain's nuclear-powered submarines, and the first of the two-unit Valiant class...
, in 1963.
He was made Commanding Officer
Commanding officer
The commanding officer is the officer in command of a military unit. Typically, the commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitude to run the unit as he sees fit, within the bounds of military law...
of the cruiser, HMS Blake
HMS Blake (C99)
HMS Blake was a guided missile cruiser of the Tiger class of the Royal Navy, the last of the Royal Navy cruisers. She was named after Admiral Robert Blake, a 17th century admiral who was the "Father of the Royal Navy". She was ordered in 1942 as one of the Minotaur class of light cruisers...
, in 1974 and then Deputy Chief of the Polaris
UGM-27 Polaris
The Polaris missile was a two-stage solid-fuel nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile built during the Cold War by Lockheed Corporation of California for the United States Navy....
Executive in 1976. He went on to be Flag Officer Carriers and Amphibious Ships in 1978 and Director-General of Naval Manpower & Training in 1980.
He was appointed Flag Officer Submarines & Commander Submarine Area Eastern Atlantic in 1981 and in that role took part in the Falklands War
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
. He became Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff in 1983.
In retirement he became a Non-Executive Director of Radamec Group plc.