Anthony Synnot

{{Infobox military person

|name= Sir Anthony Synnot

|image= Admiral Anthony Synnot.jpg

|alt=

|caption=

|birth_name= Anthony Monckton Synnot

|birth_date= {{birth date|1922|01|05|df=yes}}

|death_date= {{Death date and age|2001|07|04|1922|01|05|df=yes}}

|birth_place= Corowa, New South Wales

|death_place= Yass, New South Wales

|placeofburial=

|allegiance= Australia

|branch= Royal Australian Navy

|serviceyears= 1939–1982

|rank= Admiral

|servicenumber=

|unit=

|commands= Chief of Defence Force Staff (1979–82)
Chief of Naval Staff (1976–79)
HM Australian Fleet (1973–74)
{{HMAS|Melbourne|R21|6}} (1967)
{{HMAS|Sydney|R17|6}} (1966)
Royal Malaysian Navy (1962–65)
{{HMAS|Vampire|D11|6}} (1960–61)
{{HMAS|Warramunga|I44|6}} (1956–57)

|battles=

|awards= Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Officer of the Order of Australia
Mentioned in Despatches
Commander of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (Malaysia)

|relations=

|laterwork= Chairman of the Council of the Australian War Memorial (1982–85)

}}

Admiral Sir Anthony Monckton Synnot, {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100%|sep=,|KBE|AO}} (5 January 1922 – 4 July 2001) was a senior officer in the Royal Australian Navy, who served as Chief of the Defence Force Staff from 1979 to 1982.

Early life

Synnot was born in 1922 at Corowa, New South Wales, a descendant of Monckton Synnot, brother of Captain Timothy Monckton Synnot and a distant relative of the American Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. Synnot was educated at Geelong Grammar School. He joined the Royal Australian Navy as a cadet midshipman in March 1939 and trained in Britain with Prince Philip of Greece (as he then was). His first ship was the cruiser HMAS Canberra.

Naval career

During the Second World War, Synnot served aboard the destroyer {{HMAS|Stuart|D00|6}} in the Battle of Cape Matapan, for which he was mentioned in despatches, and during the evacuation of Greece and Crete. With the Royal Navy, he saw service on the battleship {{HMS|Barham|04|6}} and was on board the destroyer {{HMS|Punjabi|F21|6}} when she sank off Iceland in 1942 after being accidentally rammed by the battleship {{HMS|King George V|41|6}}.

Subsequently, Synnot served for two years on the Australian destroyer {{HMAS|Quiberon|G81|6}} on North Sea convoy duty and during the North Africa landings, eventually becoming the ship's executive officer. In 1945, Synnot qualified as a gunnery officer and served on the staff of gunnery schools in Australia. Promoted to commander in 1954, he took charge of {{HMAS|Warramunga|I44|6}} in 1956. He became captain of the Daring-class destroyer {{HMAS|Vampire|D11|6}} in 1960.

In 1950, Synnot had taken part in the Bridgeford Mission to Malaya, which advised the Australian government on the Malayan Emergency. His report on the options for providing naval support for the British laid the foundations for Australian naval involvement in the region and led to Synnot's secondment to command the Royal Malaysian Navy from 1962 to 1965.

On his return to Australia, Synnot attended administrative staff college before returning to sea in 1966 as Captain of the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney, then in 1967, the carrier HMAS Melbourne. He was the only officer to command both aircraft carriers.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}}

After a year at the Imperial Defence College in London, he returned to Australia as director general of fighting equipment. Promoted to rear-admiral in 1970, he became chief of naval personnel and subsequently deputy chief of naval staff. He became Flag Officer Commanding HM Australian Fleet in 1973. In 1974, he was appointed director joint staff in the Australian Defence Department, and played a leading role in the relief effort following the devastation of Darwin by Cyclone Tracy.

In 1976, Synnot was promoted to vice admiral and appointed Chief of Naval Staff. He initiated a review of the Navy Office and of the Navy's structure of command and control. He drew up a blueprint for the maintenance of naval capability into the future, and oversaw the Navy's guided-missile frigate project.

In April 1979 he was promoted to Admiral and became the Chief of Defence Force Staff, a position he held until his retirement in 1982. Synnot came to be regarded as one of the country's most outstanding defence force chiefs.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}} A strong believer in deterrence and an advocate of close co-operation with America and countries in the Pacific region, Synnot emphasised the need for a strong military capability for national defence and for joint operations with Australia's allies overseas.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}} He was said{{who|date=December 2009}} to have done more to equip Australia's armed forces with up-to-date military technology than any of his predecessors. In particular, he was instrumental in persuading the Australian government of the need to upgrade the country's air force with the acquisition of the F/A-18 Hornet.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}}

He was also behind the decision to acquire the British aircraft carrier {{HMS|Invincible|R05|6}} as a replacement for the ageing HMAS Melbourne.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}} However, Britain withdrew the offer to sell Invincible after the Falklands War.{{cite book |author=Stevens, David |author2=Sears, Jason|author3= Goldrick, James|author4= Cooper, Alastair|author5= Jones, Peter|author6= Spurling, Kathryn |editor=Stevens, David |title=The Royal Australian Navy |series=The Australian Centenary History of Defence (vol III) |year=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=South Melbourne, VIC |isbn=0-19-554116-2 |oclc=50418095 |page=227}}

Synnot retired on 20 April 1982.

Personal

Synnot was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1971,{{London Gazette|issue=45555|date=31 December 1971|page=34|supp=y}} and knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1978.{{London Gazette|issue=47724|date=29 December 1978|page=36|supp=y}} He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1976.[https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/878582 It's an Honour] – Entry He married Virginia Davenport in 1959 and they remained married until her death in 1965. He married a second time in 1968 to Anne Colvin (née Manifold), great-niece of former Prime Minister of Australia Stanley Bruce and mother of journalist Mark Colvin.

Admiral Sir Anthony Synnot died on 4 July 2001 at the age of 79, after suffering from a long illness and a number of years also suffering total blindness.[http://www.ada.asn.au/defender/Spr01all.pdf Defender] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080530033731/http://www.ada.asn.au/defender/Spr01all.pdf |date=30 May 2008 }} – The National Journal of the Australia Defence Association

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20090109075513/http://www.navy.gov.au/Publication:Papers_in_Australian_Maritime_Affairs_No._17 Australian Naval Personalities:] Synnot, Anthony Monckton (1922–2001)
[https://web.archive.org/web/20090130082835/http://defence.gov.au/cdf/past_chiefs.htm Defence Force] – Previous Chiefs
[https://web.archive.org/web/20080510150300/http://www.fesrassociation.com/archive/040.pdf Media release] – Death of Admiral Sir Anthony Synnot

{{succession box|

title=Chief of Defence Force Staff|

before=General Sir Arthur MacDonald|

after={{nowrap|Air Chief Marshal Sir Neville McNamara}}|

years=1979–1982|

}}

{{succession box|

title=Chief of Naval Staff|

before=Vice Admiral Sir David Stevenson|

after=Vice Admiral Sir James Willis|

years=1976–1979|

}}