Michael Pollock

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Michael Patrick Pollock, (19 October 1916 – 27 September 2006) was a senior officer in the Royal Navy who rose to become First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff in the early 1970s. In the Second World War, he was an officer on ships tasked with protecting convoys in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and was gunnery officer on the cruiser when she fought the German battleship Scharnhorst during the Battle of North Cape. He later commanded the aircraft carrier , and hosted Ian Smith on . In retirement, he held the position of King of Arms of the Order of the Bath and Gloucester King of Arms, with responsibility for heraldry in Wales.

Early career Born the son of Charles Albert Pollock and Gladys Pollock (née Mason), Pollock was educated at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. He joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in 1930, and was posted to the training cruiser HMS Frobisher in January 1934, receiving promotion to midshipman on 1 September 1934, on transfer to the battleship , flagship of the Home Fleet. He was deployed to the Mediterranean in the destroyer HMS Express in September 1935 and saw service with her during the Abyssinian crisis. and appointed to the cruiser HMS York, flagship of the America and West Indies Station in October 1937 and, after promotion to lieutenant on 1 August 1938, he transferred to the battleship HMS Warspite, based in Malta in June 1939.

Second World War Pollock served in the Second World War, becoming first lieutenant of the old destroyer in October 1939, escorting shipping across the English Channel to supply the British Expeditionary Force in northern France, and protecting convoys in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. Pollock was mentioned in despatches for his actions.

Pollock was appointed gunnery officer on the heavy cruiser in October 1943, tasked with protecting convoys to and from north Russia. Scharnhorst was attacked by the battleship HMS Duke of York later that day and sunk, in the Royal Navy's last battleship action.

Post-war naval career After the war, Pollock was involved in actions by Norfolk to provide gunfire support against insurgents in the Malayan Emergency and also in Java. he became Commander (G) at the Chatham Gunnery School in November 1950 and helped organise the funeral of King George VI, at which he was second-in-command of the naval contingent, in February 1952; it was in recognition of this that he was subsequently appointed a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order. He became Commander of the Junior Officers' War Course at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, in September 1952 and second-in-command of the light cruiser , the flagship of the Far East Fleet, in June 1954. In Newcastle he saw action in the Korean War and then in the Malayan Emergency. he became Assistant Director of Plans (Warfare) at the Admiralty in January 1956 and then became as Captain (D) at Portsmouth as well as Commanding Officer of the destroyer HMS Vigo in February 1958. He became Assistant Chief of Naval Staff in March 1964, with promotion to rear admiral on 7 July 1964, in the lead up to a defence review by the Labour government which resulted in the 1966 Defence White Paper.

Pollock became second-in-command of the Home Fleet in May 1966 with his flag in the cruiser HMS Tiger. on appointment as Flag Officer Submarines and NATO Commander Submarines in the Eastern Atlantic. he became Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy in January 1970 and received promotion to full admiral on 21 April 1970.

Admiral Sir Michael Le Fanu, the Chief of the Defence Staff-designate, retired suddenly due to ill health in late 1970. was suddenly invited to replace Hill-Norton as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff in March 1971. to March 1974. Promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 1 March 1974, he retired that month. to 1985. After he left the Navy, he lived in Churchstoke in Powys. His interests included walking, shooting, fishing and local affairs in Powys. He died in Martock in Somerset on 27 September 2006.

Family Pollock married Margaret (Peg) Steacy in 1940, and they had two sons and a daughter. His first wife died in 1951. He remarried in 1954, to Marjory (Midge) Reece (née Bisset), acquiring a stepdaughter. His second wife died in 2001. One of his sons became a lieutenant-commander in the Navy and his grandson, Barney Pollock, who also joined the Navy, passed out at Dartmouth in December 2004 with the Commandant Talbot prize for leadership and the Queen's Sword.