Caspar John

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Not to be confused with John Casper.
Sir

Caspar John
Second World War
Awards
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Other work

First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff in the early 1960s. In that capacity he was primarily concerned with plans for the building of the new CVA-01
aircraft carriers.

Early life

Born the second of the five sons of the artist

Jane's Fighting Ships, and it was this, together with a wish to seek a more orderly existence, that inspired him to join the Royal Navy.[1] His father strenuously objected, but his stepmother helped persuade him to support his son.[5] In 1916 he entered the Royal Naval College, Osborne on the Isle of Wight, at the age of thirteen.[6] He transferred to the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in 1917 and passed out eighty-third of a hundred in 1920.[7] John is remembered at Dartmouth by the naming of the college's theatre and lecture hall, the Caspar John Hall.[8]

Early years in the Royal Navy

Promoted to

Netheravon in 1925 (he gained first class certificates in gunnery and torpedo), he applied to train as a pilot in the Fleet Air Arm, then under the dual administration of the navy and Royal Air Force.[9] Promoted to lieutenant on 30 August 1925, he gained his 'wings' in 1926 and from then on committed himself to the Fleet Air Arm,[9] being attached to the Royal Air Force for a period of four years as a flying officer.[11] In April 1926 he was posted to RAF Leuchars in Scotland.[9]

An Avro Avian, the aircraft type in which John took part in three King's Cup Races

In December 1926, John joined the aircraft carrier

King's Cup Races.[9] He was posted to the aircraft carrier HMS Furious in the Atlantic Fleet in April 1930, the battleship HMS Malaya in the Atlantic Fleet in January 1931 and then the cruiser HMS Exeter in the Home Fleet in December 1931.[9]

Promoted to

Second Italo-Abyssinian War, he spent much of 1936 based in the western desert outside Alexandria.[7] Promoted to commander on 31 December 1936,[13] he was appointed to the Admiralty's naval air division, where he was involved in discussions about the transfer of the Fleet Air Arm to the sole control of the Navy.[9] He was posted to the cruiser HMS York on the America and West Indies Station as Second-in-Command in June 1939.[14]

Second World War

John served in the

Washington, D.C., from March 1943.[14] There he arranged the training of British pilots in Canada and the US and met the Russian aircraft designer Igor Sikorsky, with whom he discussed the introduction of helicopters for the Royal Navy after the War.[7] He was given command of the aircraft carrier HMS Pretoria Castle in August 1944 and of the brand-new light carrier HMS Ocean in June 1945.[14]

The aircraft carrier HMS Pretoria Castle which John commanded towards the end of the Second World War

Post-war career

After attending the

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1956 Birthday Honours,[20] promoted to full admiral on 10 January 1957, and became Vice Chief of the Naval Staff in May 1957.[14]

John became

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the 1960 Birthday Honours.[22] As First Sea Lord he was primarily concerned with plans for the building of the CVA-01 aircraft carriers (which were eventually cancelled in 1966).[21] During his tenure as First Sea Lord, he provided an introduction to all episodes of the ATV series ‘War at Sea’. [23] He was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 23 May 1962[24] and retired in August 1963.[21]

Later career

In retirement, John took several civilian positions including chairman of the

Star and Garter Home for disabled servicemen, chairman of the Back Pain Association and chairman of the tri-service Milocarian Club.[7] He was briefly picked by the Industrial Society to be the public figurehead for the "I'm Backing Britain" campaign in 1968.[26] He suffered from vascular disease and had both legs amputated in 1978.[21] He lived with his wife in Mousehole in Cornwall and died of pneumonia at Hayle in Cornwall on 11 July 1984.[21]

Family

In 1944 he married Mary Vanderpump: they had two daughters and one son.[14]

Through his father, Gwen John was John's aunt, his half-sisters were Amaryllis Fleming, Gwyneth Johnstone and Vivien John, and Tristan de Vere Cole, John's only living half-brother, is a retired television director. Johnstone and Vivien were also artists in their own right.[27][28][29][30][31]

References

  1. ^ a b Heathcote, p. 136
  2. ^ Nicholson, p. 68
  3. ^ Broadbent, Lizzie (21 January 2021). "Ada Nettleship (1856-1932)". Women Who Meant Business. Archived from the original on 2 March 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  4. ^ Nicholson, p. 94
  5. ^ Nicholson, p. 78-9
  6. ^ "Sir Caspar John Dies; Headed Britain's Navy". New York Times. 12 July 1984. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  7. ^
    doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/31287. Retrieved 16 July 2012. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  8. ^ "Dartmouth sets course for world sailing success". This is South Devon. 22 June 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Heathcote, p. 137
  10. ^ "No. 33004". The London Gazette. 23 December 1924. p. 9333.
  11. ^ "No. 33076". The London Gazette. 18 August 1925. p. 5499.
  12. ^ "No. 33975". The London Gazette. 5 September 1933. p. 5801.
  13. ^ "No. 34356". The London Gazette. 1 January 1937. p. 10.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Heathcote, p. 138
  15. ^ "No. 35100". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 March 1941. p. 1441.
  16. ^ "No. 38985". The London Gazette. 4 August 1950. p. 4007.
  17. ^ "No. 39136". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 January 1951. p. 549.
  18. ^ "No. 39555". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 May 1952. p. 3009.
  19. ^ "No. 40147". The London Gazette. 13 April 1954. p. 2210.
  20. ^ "No. 40787". The London Gazette (Supplement). 25 May 1956. p. 3100.
  21. ^ a b c d e Heathcote, p.139
  22. ^ "No. 42051". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 June 1960. p. 3974.
  23. ^ ""War at Sea", Mediterranean. ATV documentary from 1960. - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  24. ^ "No. 42704". The London Gazette. 15 June 1962. p. 4777.
  25. ^ "Sir Caspar John". Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  26. ^ Jonas Smith, "Labour drops 'back Britain' posters", The Times, 25 January 1968, p. 1.
  27. ^ "Gwen John". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  28. ^ "Obituary: Vivien John". The Independent. 27 May 1994.
  29. ^ Fergus Fleming (5 August 1999). "Obituary: Amaryllis Fleming". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012.
  30. ^ "Gwyneth Johnstone obituary". The Guardian. 6 January 2011.
  31. ^ Devine, Darren (9 March 2012). "Last illegitimate son of Augustus John on life with 'King of Bohemia'". Wales Online.

Sources

Further reading

External links
Military offices
Preceded by Vice Chief of the Naval Staff
1957–1960 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
First Sea Lord

1960–1963 		Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by First and Principal Naval Aide-de-Camp
1960–1962 		Succeeded by
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