Catherine Jordan

Commodore Catherine Jordan, (born October 1974) is a senior Royal Navy officer who currently serves as Head of the Royal Navy Culture Centre.

In 2002 she became the first female Flight Commander in the Royal Navy and in 2022 she was one of the four captains involved in the first time women had been in command of all four of the Royal Navy's training establishments.

Also in 2022, she led the Royal Navy State Funeral Gun Carriage during the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. For this she was appointed a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order.

Early life Jordan was born in October 1974 and grew up in Easington, County Durham. She received her education at Wellfield Community School in the nearby town of Wingate and Gordonstoun School, an independent school in Moray, Scotland. She became interested in the Royal Navy as a teenager. She was selected for training on the Westland Lynx, qualifying on both the Lynx Mk.3 and Mk.8 as a Flight Observer under the Fleet Air Arm, an individual responsible for the navigation, communications systems and weaponry of a helicopter.

She performed two tours in the Mediterranean as part of NATO counterterrorism operations and was later appointed as the first female flight commander in the Royal Navy and the first flight commander of the newly commissioned Type 23 frigate HMS St Albans in 2002. In the build-up to the Iraq War in 2003, she regenerated and commanded Gibraltar Flight from RAF Gibraltar, performing maritime security operations in the Mediterranean due to the increased terror threat for 3 months before returning to HMS St Albans, where she completed a deployment in the Middle East under Operation Calash.

In May 2017, Jordan was appointed as aviation chief of staff, Carrier Strike & Aviation Division. In September 2019, she was appointed as commander of the shore establishment HMS Collingwood and the Maritime Warfare School.

During the preparations for and the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, Jordan was responsible for the state ceremonial team and led the Royal Navy State Funeral Gun Carriage alongside Commander Steve Elliott, who served as her deputy during the procession;'' for Elliott, it was his final duty in uniform after 32 years of service.

On 9 January 2023, Jordan was promoted to commodore. For her role in the state funeral, she was honoured as a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order on the 25 March 2023 Honours List on The Demise of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. On May 30, 2023, 142 men and women of all ranks and branches, including Jordan, were invested with the order by King Charles III.

Catherine has been married to Commodore Andy Jordan, ADC, a now retired Royal Naval officer, since before 2016.