Herbert Annesley Packer

Admiral Sir Herbert Annesley Packer KCB CBE (9 October 1894 – 23 September 1962) was an officer in the British Royal Navy and ended his career as an Admiral and Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic.

Family background The only son of Dr. William Packer and musician Edith Mary Rutter, he entered the Royal Naval College, Osborne, as an officer cadet on 15 September 1907.

Early career Packer joined the Royal Navy in 1907. He left Dartmouth Naval College with the King's dirk and gold medal for outstanding qualities of leadership and joined HMS St. Vincent as a midshipman. In 1913 he invented an uncle in Australia and was chosen from a score of volunteers to sail the new battlecruiser HMAS Australia to Sydney. He left a wife and a son, the surgeon Peter Packer who emigrated to Australia. The ashes of Herbert Packer were scattered from the side of the frigate HMSAS Good Hope near Cape Point where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet.

Other activities Packer played a single first-class cricket match in 1920, appearing for a Royal Navy cricket team against Cambridge University; he batted as a tail-ender in the match, scoring 0 and 3, and took two catches as wicketkeeper.

Literature