Vice Admiral

Vice Admiral (Royal Navy)

Vice admiral is a flag officer rank of the British Royal Navy. It equates to the NATO rank code OF-8 and is immediately superior to rear admiral and is subordinate to the full admiral rank.The Royal Navy has had vice admirals since at least the 16th century...

 Sir Robert William Frank Gerken 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 11 June 1932) is a former 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...

 officer who became Flag Officer, Plymouth

Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth

The Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth was a senior commander of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years. Plymouth Command was a name given to the units, establishments, and staff operating under the admiral's command. In the nineteenth century the holder of the office was known as Commander-in-Chief,...

.

Naval career

Educated at Chigwell School

Chigwell School

Chigwell School is an English co-educational independent school/public school in Chigwell, in the Epping Forest district of Essex. It was founded in 1629 by Samuel Harsnett, a former Archbishop of York . There are around 730 pupils aged between 7 and 18 years...

, the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth

Britannia 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...

 and the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, Gerken joined the Royal Navy in 1948. He was appointed Captain of the Fleet

Captain of the fleet

In the Royal Navy of the 18th and 19th centuries a Captain of the Fleet could be appointed to assist an admiral when the admiral had ten or more ships to command....

 in 1978, Flag Officer 2nd Flotilla in 1981 and Director-General Naval Manpower & Training in 1983. His last appointment was as Flag Officer, Plymouth

Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth

The Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth was a senior commander of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years. Plymouth Command was a name given to the units, establishments, and staff operating under the admiral's command. In the nineteenth century the holder of the office was known as Commander-in-Chief,...

 and Admiral Superintendent at Devonport

HMNB Devonport

Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England...

 in 1985 before he retired in 1987.

In retirement he became Chairman of Plymouth Development Corporation

Plymouth Development Corporation

The Plymouth Development Corporation was an urban development corporation established in Plymouth, Devon, England by the UK Government on 1 April 1993 to "secure the physical, environmental, economic and social regeneration" of surplus parts of the Ministry of Defence's estate and some adjoining...

.

Family

In 1966 he married Christine Stephenson; they had two daughters. Following the death of his first wife he married Ann Fermor (née Blythe) in 1983.