William Staveley

Admiral of the Fleet Sir William Doveton Minet Staveley (10 November 1928 – 13 October 1997) was a Royal Navy officer. Staveley saw service as a minesweeper commander on coastal patrol during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation before commanding a frigate and then an aircraft carrier and ultimately achieving higher command in the Navy. He served as First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff in the late 1980s. In that role he fought hard for a fleet large enough to meet NATO commitments. Early life Born the son of Admiral Cecil Staveley and Margaret Adela (née Sturdee), Staveley was educated at West Downs School, Winchester and the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. He was a grandson of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Doveton Sturdee, a naval commander in the First World War. Naval career He joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in 1942. Promoted to midshipman on 1 September 1946, he was posted to the cruiser HMS Ajax and then the destroyer HMS Zephyr. He was promoted to sub-lieutenant on 1 January 1948 and then served in the cruisers HMS Nigeria and HMS Bermuda. Promoted to lieutenant on 1 September 1950, he became Flag Lieutenant to the Commander-in-Chief Home Fleet in 1952, an instructor at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in 1954 and then served in HM Yacht Britannia from 1957. He served on the destroyer HMS Cavalier from November 1957, and having been promoted to lieutenant commander on 1 September 1958, he was present at the hydrogen bomb tests on Kiritimati.