:Roy Dowling

File:Dowling1927.jpg

Roy Russell Dowling was born on 28 May 1901 in Condong, a township on the Tweed River in northern New South Wales. His parents were sugar cane inspector Russell Dowling and his wife Lily. The youth entered the Royal Australian Naval College (RANC) at Jervis Bay, Federal Capital Territory, in 1915. An underachiever academically, he excelled at sports, and became chief cadet captain before graduating in 1918 with the King's Medal, awarded for "gentlemanly bearing, character, good influence among his fellows and officer-like qualities".{{cite book|chapter-url=http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A140028b.htm |chapter=Dowling, Sir Roy Russell (1901–1969) |title= Australian Dictionary of Biography|publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |access-date=12 May 2014}}Eldridge, A History of the Royal Australian Naval College, pp. 79–80 The following year he was posted to Britain as a midshipman, undergoing training with the Royal Navy and seeing service on {{HMS|Ramillies|07|6}} and {{HMS|Venturous|D87|6}}.Dennis et al., Oxford Companion to Australian Military History, p. 188 He was promoted to sub-lieutenant on 15 April 1921. By January 1923 he was back in Australia, serving aboard the cruiser {{HMAS|Adelaide|1918|6}}. He was promoted to lieutenant on 15 March.{{cite web|url=https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=933160|title=Officers (RAN) personal record – Roy Russell Dowling|page=2|publisher=National Archives of Australia|access-date=20 August 2024}} In April 1924, Adelaide joined the Royal Navy's Special Service Squadron on its worldwide cruise, taking in New Zealand, Canada, the United States, Panama, and the West Indies, before docking in September at Portsmouth, England. There Dowling left the ship for his next appointment, training as a gunnery officer and serving in that capacity at {{HMS|Excellent|shore establishment|6}}.{{cite web |url=http://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-adelaide-i |title=HMAS Adelaide (I) |publisher=Royal Australian Navy |access-date=12 May 2014}}

After returning to Australia in December 1926, Dowling spent eighteen months on {{HMAS|Platypus|1917|6}} and {{HMAS|Anzac|G90|6}}, continuing to specialise in gunnery. In July 1928, he began instructing at the gunnery school in Flinders Naval Depot on Western Port Bay, Victoria. He married Jessie Blanch in Melbourne on 8 May 1930; they had two sons and three daughters.Legge, Who's Who in Australia 1968, p. 261 Jessie accompanied him on his next posting to Britain commencing in January 1931. Dowling was promoted to lieutenant commander on 15 March, and was appointed gunnery officer on the light cruiser {{HMS|Colombo|D89|6}} in May. He returned to Australia in January 1933, and was appointed squadron gunnery officer aboard the heavy cruiser {{HMAS|Canberra|D33|6}} that April. The ship operated mainly within Australian waters over the next two years.{{cite web |url=http://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-canberra-i |title=HMAS Canberra (I) |publisher=Royal Australian Navy |access-date=12 May 2014}} In July 1935, Dowling took charge of the gunnery school at Flinders Naval Depot. He was promoted to commander on 31 December 1936. The following month, he assumed command of the newly commissioned Grimsby-class sloop {{HMAS|Swan|U74|6}}, carrying out duties in the South West Pacific.{{cite web |url=http://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-swan-ii |title=HMAS Swan (II) |publisher=Royal Australian Navy |access-date=12 May 2014}} Completing his tenure on Swan in January 1939, he was briefly assigned to the Navy Office, Melbourne, before returning to Britain in March for duty at HMS Pembroke, awaiting posting aboard the yet-to-be-commissioned anti-aircraft cruiser, {{HMS|Naiad|93|6}}.

Dowling became executive officer on HMS Naiad when the ship was commissioned in 1940. Following service with the British Home Fleet, the cruiser transferred to the Mediterranean Station in May 1941, where she took part in the Battle of Crete. She was involved in action against German torpedo boats on the night of 20/21 May. On 22 May, after engaging a German destroyer with {{HMAS|Perth|D29|6}}, Naiad was severely damaged by air attack.Gill, [http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/records/awmohww2/navy/vol1/awmohww2-navy-vol1-ch9.pdf Royal Australian Navy, 1939–1942, pp. 344–346] Following repairs, she became flagship of the 15th Cruiser Squadron and conducted shore bombardments in support of Allied troops during the Syrian campaign in June and July.Gill, [http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/records/awmohww2/navy/vol1/awmohww2-navy-vol1-ch10.pdf Royal Australian Navy, 1939–1942, pp. 379–382] She also escorted convoys resupplying Malta. In December, Naiad participated in the First Battle of Sirte against Italian naval forces. On 11 March 1942, she was torpedoed by a German U-boat off the Egyptian coast, and sank in just over twenty minutes. Dowling remained in the water for an hour and a half before being rescued by a destroyer.{{cite news|title=Admiral will take orders from wife|work=The Age|location=Melbourne|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wzlVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XJUDAAAAIBAJ&dq=admiral%20dowling&pg=7167%2C242874|page=4|date=4 July 1962|access-date=12 May 2014}}

File:113059DowlingHobart1945.jpg

Having survived Naiad{{'}}s sinking, Dowling returned to Australia and was appointed Director of Plans at the Navy Office in July 1942. In September the following year he was made Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff (DCNS) and raised to acting captain; his rank became substantive on 30 June 1944. As DCNS, he was involved in planning the post-war Navy's composition, which for the first time was to include aircraft carriers. He defined the functions of maritime power in October 1943 as:Stevens, The Royal Australian Navy, p. 127

{{Quote|

(i) Maintenance of our lines of sea communications,

(ii) Destruction of the enemy's lines of sea communications,

(iii) Attack on the enemy's strategic positions in combined operations with Army and Air Force,

(iv) Defence of our bases.

}}

In November 1944, Dowling was given command of the light cruiser {{HMAS|Hobart|D63|6}}, which had been undergoing repair and refit in Sydney since being torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in the Solomons on 20 July 1943.{{cite web |url=http://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-hobart-i |title=HMAS Hobart (I)|publisher=Royal Australian Navy |access-date=12 May 2014}} Dowling took her on her shakedown cruise to Melbourne on 30 December, before embarking for the South West Pacific Area in February 1945. The following month, Hobart supported the US forces that recaptured Cebu during the liberation of the Philippines.Gill, [http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/records/awmohww2/navy/vol2/awmohww2-navy-vol2-ch9.pdf Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945, p. 292]Gill, [http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/records/awmohww2/navy/vol2/awmohww2-navy-vol2-ch22.pdf Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945, pp. 600–603] She bombarded Tarakan Island prior to the Allied invasion on 1 May and, later that month, covered the Australian 6th Division's operations at Wewak.Gill, [http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/records/awmohww2/navy/vol2/awmohww2-navy-vol2-ch23.pdf Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945, pp. 619–623]Gill, [http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/records/awmohww2/navy/vol2/awmohww2-navy-vol2-ch24.pdf Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945, pp. 629–631] The cruiser supported the Allied landings on Brunei in June, and on Balikpapan in July.Gill, [http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/records/awmohww2/navy/vol2/awmohww2-navy-vol2-ch25.pdf Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945, pp. 639–642]Gill, [http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/records/awmohww2/navy/vol2/awmohww2-navy-vol2-ch26.pdf Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945, pp. 649–652] For his "outstanding courage, skill and initiative" during these operations, Dowling was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), gazetted on 6 November 1945.{{London Gazette|issue=37338 |supp=y|page=5399|date=6 November 1945}}

{{-}}

File:Members Australian Mission Group Japanese surrender P00046.051.JPG; Lieutenant General Frank Berryman; Dowling; Air Commodore Ray Brownell]]

Dowling joined the Australian contingent at the surrender of Japan in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945. Following the cessation of hostilities, Hobart became flagship of HM Australian Squadron, and Dowling flag captain and chief of staff to Commodore John Collins, the squadron commander.{{cite web|author=Commonwealth of Australia (Navy Office)| title=The Navy List (October 1945)| location=Melbourne| url=http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Navy_List-October-1945.pdf|pages=8, 12|access-date=12 May 2014}} The war had taken a toll on Dowling's health, and he required leave before commencing his next appointment in May 1946 as Director of Ordnance, Torpedoes and Mines at the Navy Office. Rear Admiral James Goldrick, in the Australian Dictionary of Biography, observed that Dowling "was thrust into the highest positions of the RAN largely as a result of the heavy casualties of World War II". When John Armstrong—the only similarly qualified and more senior Navy captain—was pronounced unfit for seagoing duty, Dowling was given the chance to command Australia's first aircraft carrier, {{HMAS|Sydney|R17|6}}, commissioned in England on 16 December 1948. In April the following year, two months after the ship's belated acceptance into service due to teething troubles, Dowling embarked Sydney for Australia with two squadrons of fighters aboard.{{cite web |url=http://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-sydney-iii |title=HMAS Sydney (III) |publisher=Royal Australian Navy |access-date=12 May 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160121154219/http://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-sydney-iii |archive-date=21 January 2016 |df=dmy-all }}

In June 1950, Dowling was promoted to commodore and appointed Second Naval Member and Chief of Naval Personnel, serving in this capacity until the end of 1952. His term coincided with the outbreak of the Korean War, and resultant increased demands on manpower. Dowling was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1953 New Year Honours, before travelling to London to attend the Imperial Defence College.{{London Gazette|issue=39734 |supp=y|page=39|date=1 January 1953}} Raised to rear admiral in July 1953, he returned home to take up the post of Flag Officer Commanding HM Australian Fleet that December, serving through the following year. He had to preside over cutbacks to operations brought on by government stringency after the Korean War.

File:305542Dowling1948.jpg at HMNB Devonport, England, for the commissioning of the aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney, 16 December 1948]]

On 24 February 1955, Dowling succeeded Vice Admiral Sir John Collins as First Naval Member, Australian Commonwealth Naval Board, and Chief of Naval Staff (CNS).Stevens, The Royal Australian Navy, pp. 310–312 He was promoted to vice admiral on 7 June, and appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the Queen's Birthday Honours two days later.{{cite web|author=Commonwealth of Australia (Navy Office)| title=The Navy List (July 1955)| location=Melbourne| url= http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Navy_List-July-1955.pdf|page=20|access-date=12 May 2014}}{{London Gazette|issue=40498 |supp=y|page=3297|date=9 June 1955}} On 15 June, he joined fellow chiefs of staff Lieutenant General Henry Wells and Air Marshal John McCauley, Prime Minister Robert Menzies, and senior government members in approving a draft directive for the role of the Far East Strategic Reserve (FESR); this made Commonwealth forces available for the fight against communist insurgents in Malaya, as well as for the security of Malaya and Singapore against external aggression.Edwards, Crises and Commitments, pp. 174–175 The Navy's contribution to the FESR was to be at least two destroyers or frigates on an ongoing basis, as well as a yearly visit by an aircraft carrier. The destroyers {{HMAS|Arunta|I30|6}} and {{HMAS|Warramunga|I44|6}}, already in the region on an exercise, were immediately committed, and Dowling flew to Singapore to personally announce the plan and the reasons for it to the ships' crews.Pfennigwerth, Tiger Territory, pp. 56–58, 75

Dowling was an early advocate for the establishment of an Australian submarine fleet; in 1963, after several false starts, the first of six Oberon-class submarines was ordered.Dennis et al., Oxford Companion to Australian Military History, p. 399 As part of a general Western trend that viewed with alarm the increasing capability of the Soviet Navy's surface fleet, Dowling also worked to improve the offensive power of the Fleet Air Arm. In March 1956, he went so far as proposing purchase of nuclear weaponry for the RAN's De Havilland Sea Venoms. During much of Dowling's remaining time as CNS, faced with the obsolescence of HMAS Sydney and in accordance with its two-carrier policy, the Navy tried unsuccessfully to acquire a new and larger aircraft carrier to augment {{HMAS|Melbourne|R21|6}}.Stevens, The Royal Australian Navy, pp. 186–187 Believing in the maintenance of traditionally close ties between the RAN and the Royal Navy, he worked to coordinate his policies as CNS with those of Britain's First Sea Lord, Earl Mountbatten. Taking into account the provisions of the ANZUS treaty and the absence of suitable supplies from Britain, the RAN began to turn reluctantly towards the United States in terms of strategy and equipment, as Dowling explained to Mountbatten:

File:An014908Dowling&Son1952.jpg

{{quote|We now find ourselves at the crossroads because we very much doubt whether the United Kingdom can provide us with what we want in the future. We have no wish to become Americans but there is a strong belief in this country that the sensible course of action for Australians is to acquire war equipment from the United States now. Our very telling reason is of course that, certainly in a global war, our salvation in the Pacific will depend chiefly on the aid of that country. For that we are not less loyal members of the Empire.Frame, No Pleasure Cruise, pp. 219–220}}

Other issues facing the RAN during Dowling's term as CNS were its relegation—since the beginning of the 1950s—to third place behind the other armed forces in terms of Federal budget allocations, its replacement by the RAAF as the country's first line of defence, and a shortage of manpower. Dowling himself considered "separation from families, lack of houses, over employment, high wages and overtime payment in civvie street" as the causes for the Navy's inability to attract and retain personnel; the Allison Report in 1958 led to improvements to service conditions, which helped reduce wastage.Stevens, The Royal Australian Navy, pp. 189, 194 The RANC had moved to Flinders Naval Depot in 1930, and Dowling was pleased to be able to oversee its return to Jervis Bay in 1958, the year before he relocated the office of the CNS to Canberra.{{cite web|url=http://www.navy.gov.au/establishments/hmas-creswell|title=HMAS Creswell|publisher= Royal Australian Navy|access-date=12 May 2014}}

Dowling was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in the 1957 New Year Honours,{{London Gazette|issue=40961 |supp=y|page=42|date=1 January 1957}} and completed his term as CNS on 23 February 1959. On 23 March he took over from Sir Henry Wells as Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC), a role foreshadowing that of the Chief of the Defence Force.{{cite web|url=http://www.defence.gov.au/cdf/PreviousChiefs.asp |title=Chief of the Defence Force|publisher= Department of Defence|access-date=12 May 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.navyhistory.org.au/research/on-this-day/on-this-day-date-lookup/ |title=Australian Naval History on 23 March 1959|publisher=Naval Historical Society of Australia|access-date=12 May 2014}} He was succeeded as CNS by Vice Admiral Henry Burrell. Happily surprised by his appointment as Chairman of COSC, Dowling hoped to transform the position such that it would exercise command authority over the service chiefs, but in this he was to be disappointed. The position's rank remained the same as the heads of the Army, Navy and Air Force, and was only responsible for putting their views on military matters to the Minister for Defence.Horner, Making the Australian Defence Force, p. 43 Other setbacks during his tenure included the Defence Department's decision—rescinded after his term—to disband the Fleet Air Arm, and the Federal government's failure to back him when he announced at a SEATO press conference in March 1961 that Australia was prepared to intervene militarily in the second Laotian crisis if it became necessary. In September 1959, during the first Laotian crisis, the Australian government had authorised Dowling to commit "an infantry battalion, a squadron of RAAF fighters, air transport, and two RAN destroyers" to support US and SEATO forces, but no intervention took place.Edwards, Crises and Commitments, pp. 214–215

{{-}}

Dowling retired from the military on 27 May 1961 and was succeeded as Chairman of COSC by Air Marshal Sir Frederick Scherger.{{cite web|url=http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/Veteran.aspx?serviceId=N&veteranId=1189370|title=Dowling, Roy Russell|work=World War 2 Nominal Roll|access-date=12 May 2014|archive-date=12 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512221958/http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/Veteran.aspx?serviceId=N&veteranId=1189370|url-status=dead}} Though keen to secure a diplomatic appointment, nothing was offered to him and, as a practising Anglican, he instead busied himself with church affairs in Canberra. In July 1962, the government gave him responsibility for organising Queen Elizabeth II's upcoming royal tour. In this role he was required to liaise with the state governments to plan the Queen's itinerary, and to become a member of the royal household for the duration of the tour, the first time an Australian tour planner had been given such close access to a visiting monarch.{{cite news|title=Admiral to plan 1963 tour by Queen|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|location=Sydney|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=nn1WAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vOUDAAAAIBAJ&dq=admiral%20dowling&pg=4491%2C1224018|page=1|date=6 July 1962|access-date=12 May 2014}} He was rewarded with appointment as a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) as of 27 March 1963, and became Australian Secretary to the Queen on 1 November the same year.{{London Gazette|issue=42969|pages=3327–3328|date=16 April 1963}}{{London Gazette|issue=43148|page=8949|date=1 November 1963}} Dowling was also the Australian Red Cross Society's Canberra chairman from 1962 to 1967; at the time he took over the chairmanship, Lady Dowling was acting president of the organisation, in the absence of Lady William Oliver. Roy Dowling died of a heart attack on 15 April 1969 in Canberra Hospital. He was given a naval funeral at St John's Church, and cremated. His wife and five children survived him.{{cite news|title=Admiral torpedoed in Battle of Crete|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|location=Sydney|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NwBkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TOcDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3468,4848450|page=1|date=16 April 1969|access-date=12 May 2014}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book|last1=Dennis| first1=Peter|last2=Grey|first2=Jeffrey|author-link2=Jeffrey Grey |last3=Morris|first3=Ewan|last4=Prior|first4=Robin| year=2008| orig-year=1995| title=The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History| location=South Melbourne| publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-551784-2}}
• {{cite book|last=Edwards| first=Peter|author-link=Peter Edwards (historian)|author2=Pemberton, Gregory | year=1992| title=Crises and Commitments: The Politics and Diplomacy of Australia's Involvement in Southeast Asian Conflicts 1948–1965 |location=North Sydney| publisher=Allen & Unwin in association with the Australian War Memorial|isbn=1-86373-184-9}}
• {{cite book|last=Eldridge| first=Frank Burgess| year=1949| title=A History of the Royal Australian Naval College| location=Melbourne| publisher=Georgian House|oclc=14472805}}
• {{cite book|last=Frame| first=Tom|author-link=Tom Frame (bishop)| year=2004| title=No Pleasure Cruise: The Story of the Royal Australian Navy| location=Crows Nest, New South Wales| publisher=Allen & Unwin|isbn=1-74114-233-4 }}
• {{cite book|first=George Hermon|last=Gill|title=Royal Australian Navy, 1939–1942|series=Australia in the War of 1939–1945|volume=I|url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/RCDIG1070207/|publisher=Australian War Memorial|location=Canberra|year=1957|oclc=848228}}
• {{cite book|first=George Hermon|last=Gill|title=Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945 | series=Australia in the War of 1939–1945|volume=II| url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/RCDIG1070208/|publisher=Australian War Memorial|location=Canberra|year=1968|oclc=65475}}
• {{cite book|last=Horner|first=David|author-link=David Horner|title=Making the Australian Defence Force|series=Australian Centenary History of Defence|publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Melbourne|year=2001|isbn=0-19-554117-0}}
• {{cite book|editor-last=Legge| editor-first=J. S.| year=1968| title=Who's Who in Australia 1968|location= Melbourne|publisher=The Herald and Weekly Times|oclc=4171414}}
• {{cite book|last=Pfennigwerth |first=Ian |title=Tiger Territory: The Untold Story of the Royal Australian Navy in Southeast Asia from 1948 to 1971 |publisher=Rosenberg |location=Kenthurst, New South Wales |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-877058-65-3}}
• {{cite book|editor-last=Stevens| editor-first=David |year=2001| title= The Royal Australian Navy: A History| series= Australian Centenary History of Defence | location=London| publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-554116-2}}

{{s-start}}

{{s-mil}}

{{succession box|

title=Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee|

before=Lieutenant General Sir Henry Wells|

after={{nowrap|Air Chief Marshal Sir Frederick Scherger}}|

years=1959–1961

}}

{{succession box|

title=First Naval Member & Chief of Naval Staff|

before=Vice Admiral Sir John Collins|

after=Vice Admiral Sir Henry Burrell|

years=1955–1959|

}}

{{succession box|

title=Flag Officer Commanding HM Australian Fleet|

before=Rear Admiral John Eaton|

after=Rear Admiral Henry Burrell|

years=1953–1954|

}}

{{s-end}}

{{Chief of the Defence Force (Australia)}}

{{Chief of Navy (Australia)}}

{{Fleet Commander of the Royal Australian Navy}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dowling, Roy}}

Category:1901 births

Category:1969 deaths

Category:Australian Companions of the Distinguished Service Order

Category:Australian Companions of the Order of the Bath

Category:Australian Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire

Category:Australian Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order

Category:Chairmen, Chiefs of Staff Committee (Australia)

Category:Deputy chiefs of Naval Staff (Australia)

Category:Graduates of the Royal Australian Naval College

Category:Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies

Category:Military personnel from New South Wales

Category:People from the Northern Rivers

Category:Royal Australian Navy admirals

Category:Royal Australian Navy personnel of World War II