John Adams

Rear-Admiral John Harold Adams, (19 December 1918 – 3 November 2008) was a Royal Navy officer who commanded during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation. Following his retirement in 1968, he served as Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Policy) and chairman of the Future Fleet Working Party. He advocated for the development of "through-deck cruisers" capable of carrying vertical take-off jet fighters and helicopters, which led to the launch of HMS Invincible in 1977. He was appointed as a Member of the Fourth Class of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO; later known as Lieutenant of the Royal Victoria Order, LVO) in 1957 and a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 1968.

Early life Adams was born in Newcastle upon Tyne on . He attended Glenalmond College in Perth and Kinross, Scotland and joined the Royal Navy as a special entry cadet in 1936. After eight months of training he joined the .

Naval career After the outbreak of the Second World War, Adams was assigned to the destroyer . On 11 September 1939, Walker ran down and went through her sister ship, , and was jammed in her. As the weather and conditions were good, both ships were able to be saved. During the crisis, Adams carried Vanquishers safe with its confidential material inside to the deck of Walker, but found that after the situation had calmed down the next morning that he was unable to lift it.

After the war, he commanded the destroyer and served in the Admiralty's torpedo and anti-submarine warfare division, among other staff appointments. and commander on 31 December 1950. He was then appointed the executive commander of the Royal Yacht Britannia, which included taking Princess Margaret to the West Indies, Queen Elizabeth II to Portugal and a world tour for Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, serving from 1954 to 1957. He was promoted captain on 31 December 1956.

Adams commanded from May 1964 to January 1966. The ship was deployed in the Indian Ocean and the Far East. She arrived east of Suez with 848 Naval Air Squadron and a strong force of Royal Marines. During the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation, Albion sent two flights of Wessex helicopters to support marine and army border patrols from bases in Borneo and Sarawak.

In 1966, serving as Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Policy), Adams was assigned to the Ministry of Defence and became chairman of the Future Fleet Working Party, reporting to Admiral of the Fleet Sir Varyl Begg. Building on his experience with the Albion, Adams' working party recommended a "through-deck cruiser" that would carry vertical take-off jet fighters and deploy helicopters, insisting that this approach was the logical conclusion of his research. Begg, who believed that missiles would replace planes, exploded with anger and rejected Adams's report publicly. Begg told him that he would never be employed again. and was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in that year's Queen's Birthday Honours, but was invited to the launch of the aircraft carrier in 1977, which was a vindication of his approach.

Adams died on .