Caspar John

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Caspar John (22 March 1903 – 11 July 1984) was a senior Royal Navy officer who served as First Sea Lord from 1960 to 1963. He was a pioneer in the Fleet Air Arm and fought in the Second World War in a cruiser taking part in the Atlantic convoys, participating in the Norwegian campaign and transporting arms around the Cape of Good Hope to Egypt for use in the western desert campaign. His war service continued as Director-General of Naval Aircraft Production, as naval air attaché at the British embassy in Washington, D.C., and then as Commanding Officer of two aircraft carriers. He went on to serve as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff in the early 1960s. In that capacity he was primarily concerned with plans for the building of the new CVA-01 aircraft carriers.

Early life Born the second of the five sons of the artist Augustus John (1878–1961) and his first wife, Ida John, née Nettleship (1877–1907), John was raised with his siblings in an undisciplined manner, frequently dressing as ragamuffins, to such an extent that his maternal grandmother, Ada Nettleship, attempted to secure and raise them herself. At the age of nine, he went with his brothers to Dane Court preparatory school in Parkstone, Dorset. There he won the prize for the best gentleman in the school and a copy of Jane's Fighting Ships, and it was this, together with a wish to seek a more orderly existence, that inspired him to join the Royal Navy. In 1916 he entered the Royal Naval College, Osborne on the Isle of Wight, at the age of thirteen. He transferred to the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in 1917 and passed out eighty-third of a hundred in 1920. John is remembered at Dartmouth by the naming of the college's theatre and lecture hall, the Caspar John Hall.

Early years in the Royal Navy Promoted to midshipman on 15 January 1921, John was posted to battleship in the Mediterranean Fleet in February 1921 and then to the flagship of that fleet, , in April 1922. He was promoted to sub-lieutenant on 30 January 1924. It was at this time that the future of naval aviation was being debated; the issue caught his imagination and during his qualifying exams at the RAF Flying Training School at Netheravon in 1925 (he gained first class certificates in gunnery and torpedo), he applied to train as a pilot in the Fleet Air Arm, then under the dual administration of the navy and Royal Air Force. In April 1926 he was posted to RAF Leuchars in Scotland. John joined the battlecruiser in October 1933 and transferred to the aircraft carrier as Staff Officer (Operations) for the Home Fleet in August 1934. he was appointed to the Admiralty's naval air division, where he was involved in discussions about the transfer of the Fleet Air Arm to the sole control of the Navy.

Second World War John served in the Second World War initially with , taking part in the Atlantic convoys, participating in the Norwegian campaign and transporting arms around the Cape of Good Hope to Egypt for use in the western desert campaign. Promoted to captain on 30 June 1941, he became Director-General of Naval Aircraft Production at the Ministry of Aircraft Production in summer 1941 and then naval air attaché at the British embassy in Washington, D.C., from March 1943. and promoted to rear admiral on 8 January 1951 on appointment as Commander of the 3rd Aircraft Carrier Squadron, later renamed the Heavy Squadron, Home Fleet. he was posted to the Ministry of Supply as Deputy Controller of Aircraft that year and, having been promoted to vice admiral on 30 March 1954, he became Flag Officer, Air (Home) at Lee-on-Solent in June 1955. promoted to full admiral on 10 January 1957, and became Vice Chief of the Naval Staff in May 1957. He was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the 1960 Birthday Honours. As First Sea Lord he was primarily concerned with plans for the building of the CVA-01 aircraft carriers (which were eventually cancelled in 1966). He was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 23 May 1962 and retired in August 1963. He was also a member of the Plowden Committee on primary education, a member of the Templer Committee on rationalisation of air power, chairman of the Star and Garter Home for disabled servicemen, chairman of the Back Pain Association and chairman of the tri-service Milocarian Club. He suffered from vascular disease and had both legs amputated in 1978.