Obituary: Admiral Sir Julian Oswald KCB

John Julian Robertson Oswald, Admiral.

Born: 11 August, 1933, in Invergordon, Ross-shire.

Died: 19 July, 2011, in Bishop's Waltham, Hampshire, aged 77.

ADMIRAL of the Fleet Sir Julian Oswald was the inspirational First Sea Lord during the 1991 Gulf War and the Navy commander who introduced the women-at-sea policy.

Oswald was First Sea Lord from May 1989 to March 1993 when there were demands for a peace dividend and a major review of defence policy by the Conservative government, called Options for Change, a fundamental review of front-line commitments and the size and shape of British armed forces in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Oswald dealt with sensitive and near-intractable issues ranging from nuclear weapons to women-at-sea, and the future of the naval dockyards. This required all his talents, in particular his powerful intellect, which made him a formidable protagonist in any debate, but also called upon his tact, diplomacy and capacity for sheer hard work.

He always remained calm and measured and never let irritation or ire cloud his judgment; he maintained a puckish sense of humour.

He was responsible for the controversial decision that the Women's Royal Naval Service should serve in sea-going ships. On coming into office he had been against the idea but a study by Captain Alan West (himself a future First Sea Lord and later Minister for Security) had concluded that this step should be taken gingerly and tried out in small ships first.

However, Prime Minister Thatcher's government wanted quicker progress.

Gradually Oswald accepted the arguments, including shortfalls in the recruitment of suitable men and the opinion of the majority of women he spoke to as he toured the Royal Navy. Once fully persuaded, he steered the new policy through inevitable minefields.

Some of his fellow admirals would have preferred to resist the pressure, but he won them round.

However, asked at a press conference how he felt about a woman taking his job as First Sea Lord, he replied that he had no difficulty with the idea, but it would take 38 years to prepare her for the task.

He was also the armed forces' principal nuclear theoretician, and he had even slept in an empty nuclear magazine in the carrier Victorious when he was armaments officer and the empty magazine was the only air-conditioned haven he could find in the tropics.

As assistant chief of defence staff (policy and nuclear) and then as First Sea Lord, he saved the defence budget several billion pounds by showing that the flexibility of the submarine-launched Trident missile system meant that it could take on the British sub-strategic nuclear option and thus the RAF's costly theatre air-to-surface missile could be cancelled.

Oswald laid the foundations for the Royal Navy's present amphibious capability by persuading Conservative ministers to order the assault ship Ocean.

He dealt with the sheer volume of work by taking briefcases full of work home at the end of each day: these which would be despatched in the small hours after his busy social programme. When, once, he failed to open his boxes, his office provided him with a school homework book, which he delighted in completing and handing back the next morning with a twinkle in his eye. His calm, reflective style and his political nose served him well and he won respect from political leaders and civil servants in the Ministry of Defence. Tipped by many, Oswald's disappointment in not becoming chief of the defence staff was not for his own sake but rather that he felt he had let down the Royal Navy.

John Julian Robertson Oswald was born on 11 August, 1933, the son of Captain George Hamilton Oswald, Royal Navy, at Newmore, Invergordon, Ross-shire, and was educated at Beaudesert Park School, Minchinhampton. Oswald joined the Royal Navy as a cadet at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in May 1947.

After cadet training in the cruiser Devonshire, Oswald served in the battleship Vanguard (the last of her kind in the Royal Navy), the frigate Verulam, and the aircraft carrier Theseus, where he was sub-lieutenant of the gunroom, responsible for some 50 midshipmen, "all the funnies", he said. "Air cadets, Canadians, Venezuelans and reservist national servicemen."

Later as officer of the watch in Newfoundland, Oswald witnessed the destruction of the Egyptian frigate Domiat in the Gulf of Suez during the 1956 Suez campaign.

Domiat replied to a challenge with three rounds from her 4-inch gun and threatened to ram before Newfoundland's 8-inch guns at close range wrecked her. Newfoundland suffered six casualties, but only about half Domiat's 120-plus crew was rescued. Oswald recalled that the action as "made a pretty horrifying impression on me."

In 1959 he qualified as a gunnery specialist, though his specialist appointments were to do with air weapons rather than guns.

His took command of the minesweeper Yarnton in 1962, and qualified at the Royal Naval Staff College, Greenwich in 1964. Oswald was first lieutenant of the frigate Naiad in 1966-8, and then showed his talent for staff work when he was appointed to the Ministry of Defence in the directorate of naval plans.

He commanded the frigate Bacchante from 1971-2, before returning to the Ministry of Defence where he was promoted to Captain in December 1973.

Oswald was a student at the Royal College of Defence Studies before commanding the guided weapons destroyer Newcastle from 1977-9. He led the Royal Naval presentation team in 1979, explaining the Navy's case to a wide range of audiences throughout the UK, and he commanded the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth from 1980 until promoted to rear-admiral in September 1982.In succession he held two of the most demanding appointments in Whitehall, assistant chief of the defence staff (programmes) and ACDS (policy and nuclear).

From 1985 to 1987 he was Flag Officer Third Flotilla and Commander Anti-Submarine Warfare Striking Fleet, then the most senior sea-going appointment in the Royal Navy, and became Commander in Chief Fleet, and Nato Commander-in-Chief, Channel and Eastern Atlantic 1987.

Oswald was knighted in 1989.

In retirement Oswald led a full life, giving his time most generously to a wide range of service charities and other activities in addition to his paid work, mainly within the defence industry.

Notably he was the first admiral to become chairman of a FTSE 100 company, SEMA Group, and he was chairman or director of a number of other companies, including MGM Assurance, marine specialists James Fisher, Corda (Operational Analysis), and Aerosystems International. As a chairman, he was outstanding and unstinting.

His hand appeared light on the tiller, but he always had a deep understanding of the key issues in any area and was able, often in a humorous and gentle way, to keep discussions focussed on these.

Despite the huge and multi-faceted load he shouldered, he was never too busy to listen to a problem and to offer a sensible and wise solution.

He derived much pleasure and satisfaction from being a trustee of the National Maritime Museum, where he was also chairman of the National Historic Ships Committee, responsible for compiling a national register of historic vessels.

Modest and softly spoken but dogged and hard-edged when required, Oswald was invariably courteous and charming to all, regardless of rank.

Driven by deep religious conviction, he was a delightfully unpompous senior officer who treated each person as an individual of worth.

Encouragement was always on offer and any reprimand was always gentle so that the recipient felt that he had given real sadness to his boss. His favourite saying was "A problem is only a solution in disguise."

He published The Royal Navy - Today and Tomorrow (1994) and numerous articles on strategy and defence policy, and in 1994 he became president of the Sea Cadet Association.

His recreation was gliding. He qualified as an instructor and was reckoned to have taught more than 1,500 young men and women to fly. He held a diamond height badge for having reached 22,500 ft in a flight of three and a half hours, and on the ground he undertook every task including once cleaning out the cockpit after a young WRNS trainee had been airsick.He admitted, with his self- effacing smile, that while working anonymously on the airfield he also learned a thing or two about the Navy of which he was the professional head.

Oswald, who died on 19 July, 2011, married Veronica "Roni" Thompson in 1958. She and their two sons and three daughters survive him.