Ian Knox

Vice Admiral Ian Warren Knox, (9 February 1933 – 14 January 2024) was a senior officer of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). In a 42-year career, Knox commanded HMA Ships Torrens, Hobart and Melbourne, briefly served as Deputy Chief of Naval Staff, and was Flag Officer Commanding HM Australian Fleet from 1985 to 1987. His career culminated with his appointment as Vice Chief of the Defence Force in January 1987; a position he held until his retirement in September 1989.

Early life Knox was born in Wilcannia, New South Wales, on 9 February 1933 to Robert George Knox and his wife Kathleen Lily. He was educated at Wilcannia Primary School and Adelaide's Prince Alfred College. In 1947 he joined the Royal Australian Naval College at as a 13 year old cadet midshipman. The class was to prove a high achieving one. Out of the 24 cadets, three were to retire from the RAN as commodores, one (Sir David Martin) as a rear admiral and later Governor of New South Wales, Knox as a vice admiral and Vice Chief of the Defence Force, while a sixth, Mike Hudson, became an admiral and Chief of Naval Staff.

Naval career Commissioned in October 1950, Knox received further training ashore and at sea in both Australia and the United Kingdom. He married on 1 December 1956, to Margaret, with whom he had two sons and a daughter. The following year, he completed the Long Course in Torpedo and Anti-Submarine Warfare in the United Kingdom, being awarded the Ogilvy Medal as dux of the course. In 1960, he was posted to the Aeronautical Research Laboratory in Melbourne as the Anti-Submarine Warfare Project Officer. In this role, he assisted in the development of the Ikara ASW Guided Missile System. Service as a staff officer with the Navy Office in Canberra followed from 1964. Promoted to commander later that year, Knox was appointed Director Underwater Weapons at the Navy Office before being made the inaugural commanding officer of the destroyer escort in 1971. From 1972 to 1973, he attended the United States Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, following which he was made captain and appointed commanding officer of the guided missile destroyer . His next posting, in 1975, was to the Strategic and International Policy Division in the Department of Defence. His service in this role occasioned attendance at the third through to the sixth sessions of the United Nations Law of the Sea Conference as part of the Australian delegation. In 1979, Knox returned to the United Kingdom to attend the Royal College of Defence Studies. On graduation, he was promoted commodore and appointed to command the aircraft carrier . He was next posted as Director-General Naval Plans and Policy in 1981. After almost two years in command of the Fleet, Knox was posted to Canberra as Assistant Chief of Defence Force (Policy) in January 1987 for six months, before he was promoted vice admiral and appointed Vice Chief of the Defence Force (VCDF) in succession to Air Marshal Ray Funnell, who had been appointed Chief of the Air Staff. From 1988, Knox occupied a dual role as VCDF and Commander Joint Forces Australia. Knox retired from the RAN that September after 42 years of service and was succeeded as VCDF by Vice Admiral Alan Beaumont.