| Sir John Forster Woodward | |
|---|---|
| Born 1 May 1932 | |
| Nickname | Sandy |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/branch |  Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1946 – 1989 |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Commands held | HMS Tireless HMS Grampus HMS Sheffield South Atlantic Task Groups/CTG 317.8 Naval Home Command |
| Battles/wars | Falklands War |
| Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath |
Admiral Sir John Forster "Sandy" Woodward GBE, KCB (born 1 May 1932) is a British Admiral who joined the Royal Navy in 1946 at age thirteen. He became a submariner. In 1960 he passed the Royal Navy's rigorous Submarine Command Course known as The Perisher,[1] and received his first command, the T Class submarine HMS Tireless. He then commanded HMS Grampus before becoming the second in command of the nuclear fleet submarine HMS Valiant. In 1967 he was promoted to Commander and became the Instructor (known as "Teacher") of the The Perisher Course. He took command of HMS Warspite in December 1969. He was promoted to the rank of Captain in 1972. In 1976 He took command of HMS Sheffield. Between these sea-going postings he served several tours ashore, including work at the the Royal Naval College Greenwich and in various Naval Staff appointments, including Head of Naval Plans in the Ministry of Defence. In July 1981 he was promoted to Rear Admiral and appointed as Flag Officer First Flotilla.
In 1982 he commanded the South Atlantic Task Groups in the Falklands War under the Commander-in-Chief Admiral Sir John Fieldhouse. For his efforts during the war Woodward was knighted. His book One Hundred Days, co-authored by Patrick Robinson, describing his Falklands experiences, is a candid account of the pressures of high command in wartime and the impact on the individual commander.
In 1983 Woodward was appointed Flag Officer Submarines and NATO Commander Submarines Eastern Atlantic. In 1984 he was promoted to Vice Admiral, and in 1985 he was a Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff. Before retirement in 1989 he also served as Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command and Flag Aide-de-Camp to the Queen.
Publications
- Woodward, Sandy (1992). One Hundred Days: Memoirs of the Falklands Battle Group Commander. HarperCollins. ISBN 0002157233.
- Woodward, Sandy (2003). One Hundred Days: Memoirs of the Falklands Battle Group Commander (2nd Edition, Fully revised and updated). HarperCollins. ISBN 0007134673.
External links
Footnotes
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