Individual Naval Officers and Ratings

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Obituary:

Cdr Andy Johnson who commanded HMS Onyx, the only RN conventional submarine deployed during the Falklands War.
A patrol of 117 days covering 20,000 miles. Also served as XO of HMS Superb and Swifsure.

See - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/ ... lands-war/

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Unsung teen hero who helped end the Second World War honoured

A teenage cook whose heroics onboard a warship helped shorten the Second World War has been honoured in his home town after a public vote.

The regenerated centre of North Shields, North Tyneside, has been named after Thomas Brown, who was awarded the George Medal for helping to retrieve codebooks from a sinking German U-boat in October 1942.

The books were later used to crack the Enigma code by experts at Bletchley Park, enabling the British to decipher Nazi messages.

Two naval men died while searching the stricken submarine but Thomas, a 15-year-old civilian who lied about his age to work in the canteen on HMS Petard, survived and managed to save the books from the sea.

See - https://www.yahoo.com/news/unsung-teen- ... ccounter=1 - LFT

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Navy Lookout
Sad to report the passing of Cdr Nigel "Sharkey" Ward, DSC, AFC, RN retd.
"Mr Harrier", a supremely talented and aggressive fighter pilot who led 801 Naval Air Squadron during the Falklands War, flying 60+ missions achieving 3 air-air kills.
In later life a strong advocate of carrier air power and a highly controversial and implacable critic of the RAF.

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Sir Humphrey
Sad news. Cdr Ward was a man born to fight the Falklands War. I have endless respect for his achievements and leadership in this conflict.
His later legacy, as someone whose views did not always see the value of joint operations is more controversial, but he will be remembered.
I didn't agree much of what he said re the RAF in later life, but recognise that he gave so much, and also lost those dear and close to him in his final years. Thoughts with his family and I hope he is now in the wardroom of an RN CTOL carrier somewhere in the great beyond.

Dr Phil Weir
Very sad news - retired Royal Navy Commander Nigel "Sharkey" Ward, who famously commanded the Sea Harriers of 801 Naval Air Squadron, flying from HMS Invincible during the 1982 Falklands War, has apparently passed away aged 80.

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Commander Ward R.N. ~ The Times obituary is here: https://archive.is/vfaPE

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Legendary Harrier pilot and champion of naval aviation Sharkey Ward dies

Inspiring. Dynamic. Outstanding. Determined. Brave. Passionate. Combative.

All could be ascribed to arguably the Navy’s most famous aviator of the post-war era, Commander Nigel ‘Sharkey’ Ward who has died aged 80.

His name is inseparable both with the Sea Harrier and the battle for the skies of the Falklands 42 years ago, when the men he led – a latter-day ‘few’ – became the scourge of Argentine aviators.

Ward was the senior Harrier pilot deployed to the South Atlantic where the jet carved its name in aviation history in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds.

Convinced of the abilities of both his machine and the men who flew and maintained them, he fought two battles: one against naysayers in Whitehall and senior military figures, the other against Argentine aviators.

On the long journey to the Falklands he impressed upon the media that in the hands of his pilots, the Sea Harrier had a distinct edge over its foe – countering a narrative that, outnumbered ten to one by their opponent, three out of four jump jet pilots would not return home.

His confidence was well placed. On its first day in combat, Ward’s squadron – which lived up to the motto it ‘borrowed’ from Marshal Petain at Verdun: On les aura, We’ll get ‘em – downed two Argentine Mirages and a Canberra.

Despite being widely hailed in the media and compared with legendary fighter pilots from the two World Wars, Sharkey Ward was not an ‘ace’ – the definition requires five air-to-air ‘kills’ – but he certainly possessed their traits.

The air war had been raging three weeks when Ward downed his first enemy, a Pucara twin-prop ground-attack aircraft, destroyed the ‘old-fashioned way’: by cannon.

That same day, May 21, while again providing cover for amphibious forces landing at San Carlos Bay, Ward (one) and his wingman Steve Thomas (two) downed three Argentine Daggers with Sidewinder missiles in an engagement lasting barely 60 seconds.

The squadron commander’s final victory of the conflict was a Hercules transporter brought down by a combination of Sidewinder and cannon on June 1.

He flew more than 60 sorties during Operation Corporate, by day and night, often in bad weather – winter had set in by the time the conflict ended.

Thanks to the skill of pilots and the unique abilities of the Sea Harrier, the jets downed 20 Argentine aircraft without loss in dogfights (two Harriers were lost to flak, four to accidents) earning them the nickname ‘La Muerta Negra’, the Black Death.

Ward clashed with task force commander Admiral Sir Sandy Woodward and his staff whose orders, in the Harrier pilot’s eyes, “were totally nonsensical”.

Sharkey Ward ignored them – the right thing to do, in hindsight, as Admiral Woodward conceded. Had he not “we might have lost the war”.

Instead, the Sea Harrier commander was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for both his leadership (“inspiring and dynamic”) and his deeds in Falklands skies as “an outstanding, successful Sea Harrier pilot” in the words of his citation.

Continues https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... d-obituary