Allegiance United Kingdom Battles and wars World War II Years of service 1923–1962 Service/branch Royal Navy | Battles/wars World War II Rank Vice admiral Name Alastair Ewing | |
Born 10 April 1909
Roxburghshire, Scotland ( 1909-04-10 ) Commands held HMS Cattistock
HMS Offa
HMS Diomede
HMS Cheviot Relations Diana Archer (Wife from 1940)
Anne Chichester (Wife from 1984) Died May 19, 1997, Winchester, United Kingdom Awards Order of the British Empire, Order of the Bath | ||
Vice Admiral Sir (Robert) Alastair Ewing KBE CB DSC (10 April 1909 – 19 May 1997) was a Royal Navy officer who became Naval Secretary.
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Naval career
Educated at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, Ewing joined the Royal Navy in 1923. He served in World War II was given command of the destroyer HMS Cattistock in 1940. As Captain of the destroyer HMS Offa, he took part in the Commando raid on Vågsøy in northern Norway in December 1941 during the Norwegian Campaign and then saw the disintegration of Convoy PQ 17 on its way to Russia as 23 of its 36 ships were lost in July 1942 during convoy work. In 1943 he was given command of the cruiser HMS Diomede. He was twice mentioned in dispatches.
After the War he was given command of the destroyer HMS Cheviot. He was appointed to the NATO Standing Group Staff in 1950 and took command of the battleship HMS Vanguard in 1953 before becoming Director at the Navy Staff College at Greenwich in 1954. He went on to be Naval Secretary in 1956, Flag Officer Flotillas (Mediterranean) in 1958 and Flag Officer commanding the Reserves and Inspector of Recruiting in 1960 before retiring in 1962.
In retirement he became a yacht broker in Florida.
Family
In 1940 he married Diana Archer; they had a son. Following the death of his first wife, he married Anne Chichester in 1984.