Flag Officer Spithead Explained

Post:	Flag Officer Spithead
Department:	Navy Department
Reports To:	Commander-in-Chief, Naval Home Command
Precursor:	Flag Officer Portsmouth Area
Formation:	July 1971
First:	Rear-Admiral Peter G. La Niece
Last:	Rear-Admiral Stanley L. McArdle
Abolished:	August 1975
Succession:	Flag Officer, Portsmouth

The Flag Officer Spithead was a senior Royal Navy appointment first established in July 1971. The office holder was responsible for the command of Spithead and wider Portsmouth area command, that formed a part of Naval Home Command. The appointment continued until August 1975 when it was abolished.^[1]

History

The office of the Flag Officer Spithead was a senior Royal Navy appointment first created in July 1971. The office holder was responsible for the command of Spithead and wider Portsmouth area command, that formed a part of Naval Home Command. The appointment continued until August 1975 when it was abolished.^[2]

Office Holders

• Rear-Admiral Peter G. La Niece, July 1971 – May 1973^{[3] [4]}
• Rear-Admiral Stanley McArdle, May 1973 – August 1975.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Mackie . Colin . Royal Navy Senior Appointments from 1865 . gulabin.com . C. Mackie. . 1 November 2019 . Scotland . 7–8 . April 2019.
2. Web site: Mackie . Colin . Royal Navy Senior Appointments from 1865 . gulabin.com . C. Mackie. . 1 November 2019 . Scotland . 7–8 . April 2019.
3. Book: Hampshire . Arthur Cecil . The Royal Navy since 1945 : its transition to the nuclear age . 1975 . William Kimber & Co Ltd . London . 9780718300340 . 248.
4. Book: Richardson . J. W. . Disaster Planning: Proceedings of a Symposium Held at the Royal Naval Hospital, Haslar, Gosport, Hants, on 10 and 11 October, 1974 . 2014 . Elsevier . Amsterdam . 9781483183435 . 9 . en.