Allegiance United Kingdom Rank Admiral Service/branch Royal Navy | Role Royal Navy officer Name Frank Hopkins | |
Commands held 830 Naval Air Squadron
HMS Myngs
HMS Ark Royal
Portsmouth Command Battles/wars World War II
Korean War Died April 14, 1990, Hawaii, United States Awards Order of the Bath, Distinguished Service Order, Distinguished Service Cross | ||
Battles and wars World War II, Korean War | ||
Admiral Sir Frank Henry Edward Hopkins KCB, DSO, DSC, (23 June 1910 – 14 April 1990), was an officer in the Royal Navy.
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Naval career
Educated at the Nautical College at Pangbourne in Berkshire, Hopkins joined the Royal Navy in 1927.
He served in World War II, initially on the staff of the naval observer school at Ford in Sussex. In 1940 he transferred to 826 Naval Air Squadron and then to RAF Coastal Command. Then in 1941 he took command of 830 Naval Air Squadron sinking large quantities of German shipping in the Mediterranean. He went on to join the British Air Commission in Washington D. C. before becoming an observer with the US Pacific Fleet.
He also served in the Korean War as Air Commander in the aircraft-carrier HMS Theseus. He was appointed Deputy Director, Naval Air Organization and Training Division in 1951 and then went on to be Commander of HMS Myngs before being made Director, Naval Air Warfare Division. He went on to be Captain of HMS Ark Royal, before becoming Commandant of the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in 1958. In 1960 he became Flag Officer, Flying Training and in 1962 he was made Flag Officer, Aircraft-carriers.
He was appointed Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff and Fifth Sea Lord in 1963. He was one of the admirals who threatened to resign in protest over the decision by the Labour Secretary of State for Defence, Denis Healey, to cancel the CVA-01 aircraft carrier programme. His last role was as Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth in 1966; he retired in 1967.
Family
In 1933 he married Joan Mary Standring; they went on to have one daughter. Following a divorce, he married Lois Barbara Cook in 1939; there were no children. Following the death of his second wife, he married Georgianna Priest in 1988.