Hugh Thompson

Vice-Admiral Sir Hugh Leslie Owen Thompson KBE FIMechE FREng (2 April 1931 - 11 December 1996) was a Royal Navy officer who served from 1946 to 1990. He acted as Chief Naval Engineering Officer from 1987-1989 and had the rare distinction of joining as an Artificer Apprentice and leaving as the head of his branch.

Early life Hugh Leslie Owen Thompson was born in Belfast, the son of Hugh Thompson, a shipwright with Harland & Wolff and Elsie Thompson (née Owen) a corsetiere. His grandfather was another Hugh Thompson who had also served in the Royal Navy as both a gunnery rating and officer.

Hugh Leslie Owen Thompson was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution and left to join the Royal Navy at 15½ years old.

Naval career

He began his career at the apprentice training establishment, HMS Caledonia and was subsequently selected for a commission and trained at Britannia Royal Naval College and the Royal Naval Engineering College in Manadon and Keyham. In 1951 he was awarded the King’s Sword

He attended the Royal College of Defence Studies His final appointment was as Deputy Controller of the Navy and Chief Naval Engineer Officer. He retired in 1990.

As his obituarist said: "Always at heart the classic "steam plumber" of yore - recognised by white overalls, electric torch and wheel spanner - Hugh Thompson's strengths lay in a universal technical knowledge coupled to a calm, humane management style."

Personal life and retirement In 1957 Thompson married Sheila Finch, a Queen Alexandra Royal Naval Nurse (QARNN) daughter of Albert, a Royal Navy engineer and Nora Finch, a nurse. They had three children. Sheila died in 1974 and he married his second wife, Rosemary Oliver MVO, in 1977. Rosemary subsequently launched and acted as sponsor of , the mine countermeasures vessel.

In retirement Thompson continued his lifetime enthusiasm for model railways and acted as President of Bath Sea Cadets and the HMS Arethusa Association.

He was a committed Christian and a man of strict principle who abhorred humbug or self-serving behaviour. As one of his naval reports said of him "he was firm, forthright and fun."