John Eaton (Royal Navy officer)
{{Short description|Royal Navy Vice Admiral (1902–1981)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Sir John Willson Musgrave Eaton
|image=
|image_size=
|alt=
|caption=
|nickname=
|birth_date= {{birth date|1902|11|03|df=yes}}
|birth_place= Bulawayo, Rhodesia
|death_date= {{Death date and age|1981|07|21|1902|11|03|df=yes}}
|death_place= Kelvedon, Essex
|placeofburial=
|allegiance= United Kingdom
|branch= Royal Navy
|serviceyears= 1916–1958
|rank= Vice Admiral
|servicenumber=
|unit=
|commands= America and West Indies Station (1955–56)
Reserve Fleet (1954–55)
HM Australian Fleet (1951–53)
{{HMS|St Vincent|Gosport shore establishment|6}} (1945–47)
{{HMS|Sheffield|C24|6}} (1945)
{{HMS|Eskimo|F75|6}} (1942–43)
{{HMS|Somali|F33|6}} (1942)
{{HMS|Mohawk|F31|6}} (1939–41)
{{HMS|Venetia||6}} (1939)
{{HMS|Boreas|H77|6}} (1936–39)
{{HMS|Westminster|L40|6}} (1935–36)
|battles= First World War
Second World War
|awards= Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Companion of the Order of the Bath
Distinguished Service Order
Distinguished Service Cross
Mentioned in Despatches (2)
|relations=
|laterwork=
}}
Vice Admiral Sir John Willson Musgrave Eaton, {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|KBE|CB|DSO|DSC}} (3 November 1902 – 21 July 1981{{Cite news|title=Vice-Admiral Sir John Eaton|date=23 July 1981|work=The Times|issue=60987|page=16}}) was a Royal Navy officer who served as Commander-in-Chief America and West Indies Station from 1955 to 1956.
Naval career
Eaton joined the Royal Navy in 1916 and served in the First World War.[http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/EATON.shtml Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives] After the war he served in destroyers and then in submarines.
Eaton served in the Second World War and commanded the destroyers HMS Venetia, HMS Mohawk, HMS Somali and HMS Eskimo.
After the war he became Captain of the cruiser {{HMS|Sheffield|C24|6}} and then Captain of the training school HMS St Vincent. He was appointed Director at the Royal Navy Staff College, Greenwich in 1949, Flag Officer commanding HM Australian Fleet in 1951 and Flag Officer commanding the Reserve Fleet in 1954. His last appointment was as Commander-in-Chief, America and West Indies Station and Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic in 1955; he took part in Operation Strikeback (a major NATO training exercise) in 1957 and retired in 1958.
His life is commemorated by an inscription at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Kelvedon in Essex.[http://seax.essexcc.gov.uk/result_details.asp?DocID=713744 Monumental inscriptions] Essex Record Office
References
{{reflist}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-bef | before=Sir John Stevens}}
{{s-ttl | title=Commander-in-Chief, America and West Indies Station| years=1955–1956}}
{{s-aft | after=Sir Wilfrid Woods
as Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic}}
|-
{{s-bef | before=Sir Ian Campbell}}
{{s-ttl | title=Commander-in-Chief, Reserve Fleet | years=1954–1955}}
{{s-aft | after=Sir Peter Cazalet}}
|-
{{s-bef | before=John Eccles}}
{{s-ttl | title=Flag Officer Commanding HM Australian Fleet | years=1951–1953}}
{{s-aft | after=Roy Dowling}}
{{end}}
{{Fleet Commander of the Royal Australian Navy}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eaton, John}}
Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath
Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom)
Category:Royal Navy vice admirals
Category:Royal Navy personnel of World War I