Michael Layard

Sir Michael Layard
Born	3 January 1936
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1954 - 1996
Rank	Vice Admiral
Commands held	RNAS Culdrose HMS Cardiff Naval Home Command
Battles/wars	Falklands War
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of the British Empire

Admiral Sir Michael Henry Gordon Layard KCB CBE (born 3 January 1936) is a senior Royal Navy officer who went on to be Second Sea Lord.

Naval career

Educated at Pangbourne College and the Britannia Royal Naval College, Layard was commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1954.^[1] He trained as a fighter pilot and in 1970 he took command of 899 Naval Air Squadron flying Sea Vixens.^[1] He became Commander (Air) in HMS Ark Royal in 1977 and Chief Staff Officer to the Flag Officer, Naval Air Command in 1979.^[1] During the Falklands War he was Senior Naval Officer in the MV Atlantic Conveyor^[1] which was sunk by two exocet missiles.^[2]

In 1982 he became Commander of RNAS Culdrose and in 1984 he was made Captain of the destroyer, HMS Cardiff.^[1] He became Director Naval Warfare (Air) at the Ministry of Defence in 1985, Flag Officer Naval Air Command in 1988 and Director General Naval Manpower & Training in 1990.^[1] In 1992 he was made Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel and from 1994 he was asked to combine this role with that of Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command.^[1]

In retirement he became a Trustee of the Fleet Air Arm Museum.^[3]

He owns a 32 foot yacht, Banjo.^[4]

Family

In 1966 he married Elspeth Horsley Fisher and they went on to have two sons.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} Debretts People of Today 1994
2. ^ Evans, Michael (2007-12-11). "Legal fears left Atlantic Conveyor defenceless". The Times (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3031542.ece. 
3. ^ Fleet Air Arm Museum Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2007
4. ^ Direct Art

Military offices
Preceded by Sir Michael Livesay	Second Sea Lord 1992–1995	Succeeded by Sir Michael Boyce
Preceded by Sir John Kerr	Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command 1993–1995
Court offices
Preceded by Sir Edward Burgess	Gentleman Usher to the Sword of State 1997–2005	Succeeded by Sir John Allison

Persondata
Name	Layard, Michael
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	3 January 1936
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death