Gordon Tait (Royal Navy officer)

Sir Gordon Tait
Born	30 October 1921(1921-10-30)
Died	29 May 2005(2005-05-29) (aged 83)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1939 - 1979
Rank	Admiral
Commands held	HMS Teredo HMS Solent HMS Ambush HMS Aurochs HMS Tally-Ho HMS Sanguine HMS Caprice HMS Ajax HMS Maidstone Flag Officer, Plymouth
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Cross

Admiral Sir (Allen) Gordon Tait, KCB, DSC (30 October 1921 – 29 May 2005) was a senior Royal Navy officer who went on to be Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel.

Naval career

Tait joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in 1939.^[1]

He served in World War II with the Arctic convoys from 1939.^[2] In 1941 while serving as a junior officer on HMS Nigeria he seized the Enigma cipher settings from the German weather ship Lauenburg.^[1] He served in submarines in the Mediterranean and Far East from 1942 to the end of the War^[2] earning the Distinguished Service Cross for his skill and courage as a gunnery officer.^[1]

He was made Commanding Officer of the submarine HMS Teredo in 1947 and the submarine HMS Solent in 1948^[2] before becoming Aide-de-camp to Lieutenant General Bernard Freyberg, Governor General of New Zealand in 1949.^[2] He then commanded successively the submarines HMS Ambush, HMS Aurochs, HMS Tally-Ho and HMS Sanguine.^[2] He went on to be Assistant Naval Adviser at the UK High Commission in Canada in 1957^[2] and commanded the destroyer HMS Caprice from 1960.^[2]

In 1965, he was given command of the frigate HMS Ajax and the Second Destroyer Squadron in the Far East and in 1967 he took over the submarine depot ship HMS Maidstone and the Third Submarine Squadron.^[2] He was appointed Chief of Staff at Submarine Command in 1969 and made Commander of the Royal Naval College Dartmouth in 1970.^[2] In 1972 he became Naval Secretary at the Ministry of Defence and in 1975 he was made Flag Officer, Plymouth and Admiral Superintendent at Devonport.^[2] He last appointment was as Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel in 1977.^[2] He retired in 1979.^[2]

Family

In 1952, he married Philippa Todd; they went on to have two sons and two daughters.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Obituary: Admiral Sir Gordon Tait The Guardian, 20 June 2005
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l} Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives

Military offices
Preceded by Iwan Raikes	Naval Secretary 1972–1974	Succeeded by John Forbes
Preceded by Sir Arthur Power	Flag Officer, Plymouth 1975–1977	Succeeded by Sir John Forbes
Preceded by Sir David Williams	Second Sea Lord 1977–1979	Succeeded by Sir Desmond Cassidi

Persondata
Name	Tait, Gordon
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	30 October 1921
Place of birth
Date of death	29 May 2005
Place of death