Michael Pollock

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Admiral of the Fleet Sir Michael Patrick Pollock GCB LVO DSC RN (19 October 1916 - 27 September 2006) was a British officer in the Royal Navy who rose to become First Sea Lord from 1971 to 1974. In the Second World War, he was an officer on ships tasked with protecting convoys in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and was gunnery officer on the cruiser HMS Norfolk when she fought the German battlecruiser Scharnhorst during the Battle of North Cape. He later commanded the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, and hosted Ian Smith on HMS Tiger. In retirement, he held the position of King of Arms of the Order of the Bath (which office also holds the position of Gloucester King of Arms and responsibility for heraldry in Wales).

1 Early and private life
2 Second World War
3 Post-war naval career
4 In retirement
5 References

[edit] Early and private life

Pollock was born in Altrincham in Cheshire. His father was a civil engineer who lost a leg whilst fighting in the Battle of the Somme on the Western Front in the First World War, at around the time when Pollock was born.

Pollock attended the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth as a naval cadet in 1930, aged 13, and passed out in 1933. He joined the training cruiser HMS Frobisher, and was then a midshipman on the battleship HMS Nelson, flagship of the Home Fleet. He served in the Mediterranean on the destroyer HMS Express in 1935 to 1936, during the Abyssinian crisis. He was promoted lieutenant in 1937, and appointed to the cruiser HMS York, flagship of the America and West Indies station, and then to the battleship HMS Warspite, based in Malta until June 1939.

He was married twice. He married Margaret (Peg) Steacy in 1940, and they had two sons, David and William and a daughter, Vanessa. His first wife died in 1951. Pollock remarried in 1954, to Marjory (Midge) Reece (née Bisset), acquiring a step-daughter, Jan. His second wife died in 2001. One of his sons followed him into the Navy, becoming a Lieutenant Commander, and a grandson also joined the Navy, passing out at Dartmouth in December 2004 with the Commandant Talbot prize for leadership and the Queen's Sword.

[edit] Second World War

After the outbreak of the Second World War, Pollock became first lieutenant of the old destroyer HMS Vanessa, escorting shipping across the English Channel to supply the British Expeditionary Force in northern France, and protecting convoys in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. His ship was badly damaged by German aircraft off Dover in July 1940.

He qualified as a gunnery specialist in 1941, and became a gunnery instructor, but was then appointed gunnery officer on the light cruiser HMS Arethusa in Alexandria, where he was involved in the struggle to get supplies to Malta. On 18 November 1942, taking part in Operation Stoneage, the mission which effectively relieved the siege of Malta, Arethusa was hit by a torpedo bomber. A fuel tank caught fire, and a quarter of the crew were killed. Despite severe damage and a rising gale, the ship was towed 450 miles back to Alexandria for repairs. Pollock was mentioned in dispatches.

Now ranked Lieutenant Commander, Pollock was appointed gunnery officer on the heavy cruiser HMS Norfolk, which was tasked with protecting convoys to and from north Russia. Alerted by Enigma intercepts decoded at Bletchley Park, and assisted by radar, his ship and fellow cruisers HMS Belfast and HMS Sheffield twice intercepted Scharnhorst and its six accompanying destroyers when they attempted to attack two Arctic convoys (JW 55B travelling to and RA 55A travelling from Murmansk) in late December 1943. The 8-inch guns of Norfolk recorded two hits on Scharnhorst, but Norfolk was damaged by return fire from Scharnhorst's 11-inch guns on 26 December. Pollock was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions. Scharnhorst was attacked by the battleship HMS Duke of York later that day and sunk, in the Royal Navy's last battleship action.

He remained with Norfolk while she was repaired on the Tyne, and so missed D-Day, and was involved in further action off the coast of Norway. He was on Norfolk, visiting Malta en route to the Far East, when the Japanese surrendered on 15 August 1945. In addition to the DSC, Pollock was mentioned in dispatches on two further occasions for his actions on Norfolk.

[edit] Post-war naval career

After the war, Pollock was involved in actions by Norfolk against insurgents in Malaya and Java. Pollock was involved in organising the funeral of King George VI in 1952, at which he was second-in-command of the naval contingent. He was appointed to Royal Victorian Order (LVO).

In 1954, Pollock was second-in-command of the light cruiser HMS Newcastle, the flagship of the Far East fleet, and saw action in the Korean War. After a period at the Admiralty, he took command of a destroyer flotilla, as captain of the destroyer HMS Vigo. He was considered for command of the cruiser HMS Blake, but instead commanded the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal from 1963-64, when it carried out the first trials of the Hawker P.1127 which developed into the Hawker-Siddeley Harrier.

He was Assistant Chief of Naval Staff from 1964 to 1966, in the lead up to a defence review by the Labour government which produced the 1966 Defence White Paper, and cancelled the programmes for the CVA-01 aircraft carrier, the Type 82 destroyer, and the TSR-2 tactical strike aeroplane. Pollock was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 1966.

Pollock was then second-in-command of the Home Fleet from 1966 to 1967. His flag was on the cruiser HMS Tiger, which became the location for the "Tiger talks" between Prime Minister Harold Wilson and the Ian Smith about the future of Rhodesia. He led the Royal Navy delegations to the Royal Canadian Navy's centennial celebration of Canadian Confederation at Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1967, and to Expo '67 in Montreal.

Pollock was promoted vice-admiral in December 1967 and appointed Flag Officer Submarines in January 1968, and was NATO Commander Submarines in the Eastern Atlantic. He was in this post when the first Polaris missile was tested in 1968, and as the Faslane submarine base was developed. He was advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in 1969, and was Controller of the Navy and Third Sea Lord in 1970 to 1971.

Admiral Sir Michael Le Fanu, Chief of the Defence Staff, retired suddenly due to ill health in late 1970, only months after he had been promoted from First Sea Lord. The new First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Peter Hill-Norton, was promoted to replace Le Fanu, and Pollock was unexpectedly required to replace Hill-Norton in March 1971 and was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB). During Pollock's term as First Sea Lord, the Navy was involved in the "Cod War" with Iceland in 1972, and clearing mines in the Suez Canal after the Yom Kippur War. The Navy also had to deal with its role being cut back from a worldwide stage to a smaller player supporting NATO in the East Atlantic, and the reduced funding in the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and subseqent British economic problems. He was First and Principal Naval ADC to the Queen from 1972 to 1974.

Pollock was involved in the decisions that led to the creation of the "through deck cruiser", which became the small Invincible class aircraft carriers. He retired from the Navy in 1974, shortly before the decision was made to order Sea Harriers. He was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 1 March 1974, and succeeded as First Sea Lord by Admiral Sir Edward Ashmore.

[edit] In retirement

After he left the Navy, he lived in Churchstoke in Powys. In 1976, he was appointed King of Arms of the Order of the Bath and Gloucester King of Arms, with responsibility for heraldry in Wales (the two offices have been united since 1726; their holder is not, however, a member of the College of Arms). Pollock held this position until 1985. He was also chairman of the Naval Insurance Trust from 1976 to 1981. He died in Martock in Somerset.