David Stevenson ( admiral ) Vice Admiral Sir Hugh David Stevenson AC , KBE , RAN ( 24 August 1918 – 26 October 1998 ) was an officer of the Royal Australian Navy , eventually serving as its Chief . Early life . Stevenson was born in The Valley , a suburb of Brisbane , Queensland to the Reverend William Henry Webster Stevenson and Katherine Stevenson , the third of four children . His father was the Rector of Holy Trinity Church and later became Anglican Bishop of Grafton , New South Wales . His paternal grandfather was master of a sailing vessel plying to Pacific Ocean ports ; his maternal grandfather was William Saumarez Smith , the first Anglican Archbishop of Sydney , New South Wales . Stevenson was educated at The Southport School and was active in most sports , athletics , football , cricket and represented his school in rowing . Naval career . He chose a naval career for himself , and joined the Royal Australian Naval College on 13 September 1932 , aged 14 , to complete his schooling . He was the smallest and shortest of his entry , measuring . He graduated Dux in 1935 and received sporting colours in swimming , tennis , cricket and Rugby . After initial training in HMAS " Canberra " , he was posted to , flagship of the Royal Navy ' s Mediterranean Fleet , which was observing the Spanish Civil War . World War II . After courses in Britain from May 1938 to January 1939 , he returned to Australia and was promoted to Lieutenant in 1940 while in HMAS " Hobart " . The ship saw war service in the Red Sea . He joined HMAS " Napier " in late 1941 in time for the Tobruk Ferry Service and the convoys to Malta , staying on for its service with the Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean , and its support the Allied invasion of Madagascar during which he landed with the British Commandos . In March 1943 he joined HMAS " Nepal " as First Lieutenant , still with the rank of Lieutenant , which he held until after the end of the war . With Nepal he served again in the Indian Ocean . In early 1944 he returned to Australia en route to the United Kingdom for his Long Navigation Course . He returned to HMAS " Napier " as Flotilla Navigating Officer , and remained in her until the end of the war , including a period of temporary command when Captain H . J . Buchanan , in charge of the first British landing force in Japan , went ashore at Yokosuka and Lieutenant Stevenson took the ship into Tokyo Bay . Stevenson was Mentioned in Despatches in 1946 for his war service . Post War . Stevenson joined HMAS " Swan " for two years , as Flotilla Navigating Officer of the 20th Minesweeping Flotilla . After his Advanced Navigation Course in England , he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander in 1948 . He next served in HMAS " Australia " , as Fleet Navigation Officer but also First Lieutenant . While serving in " Australia " a collision occurred in Sydney Harbour ; a court case went to the Supreme Court of New South Wales sitting in Admiralty and the appeal in the High Court of Australia , which the Navy won . In 1952 , promoted to Commander , Stevenson served again under Captain Buchanan as Navigating Officer of the aircraft carrier HMAS " Sydney " . He then served ashore as Director of Administrative Plans and Director of Plans . He joined HMAS " Vengeance " in 1954 , the aircraft carrier then the Fleet Training Ship , which was sent to Japan to ferry No . 77 Squadron , Royal Australian Air Force , back to Australia after service in the Korean War . Stevemson then sailed in " Vengeance " to the UK where she was decommissioned at Devonport Dockyard late in 1955 ; he then commissioned HMAS " Melbourne " at this yard . Ashore in the UK , Stevenson completed the Royal Navy Staff Course at the Royal Naval College , Greenwich , then served two years in the Tactics and Staff Division of the British Admiralty on the staff of Lord Louis Mountbatten , First Sea Lord . In 1958 , promoted to Captain , Stevenson commanded HMAS " Tobruk " and was Captain ( D ) ( commanding all RAN destroyers ) in 1959 - 60 . He then commanded HMNZS " Royalist " , New Zealand ' s only cruiser . The family moved to Canberra in 1962 when he joined Navy Office as Director of Plans . He returned to sea in 1964 to command HMAS " Sydney " , and later that year assumed command of HMAS " Melbourne " after the Melbourne - Voyager collision . Senior Officer positions . In 1966 Stevenson studied at the Imperial Defence College in London , returning in 1967 and promotion to Commodore , appointed as Naval Officer in Charge ( NOIC ) Western Australia and Captain of HMAS " Leeuwin " , the Junior Recruit Training Establishment . 1968 brought promotion to Rear Admiral and appointment as Deputy Chief of Naval Staff . In 1970 he became Flag Officer Commanding Australian Fleet ( FOCAF ) . On completion , he returned to Navy Office as Chief of Naval Personnel and 2nd Naval Member , and was honoured in the New Year Honours of 1970 with the Commander of the Order of the British Empire . Stevenson was appointed Chief of Naval Staff , serving from 23 November 1973 to 22 November 1976 with the rank of Vice Admiral . He replaced Vice Admiral Sir Richard Peek KBE , CB , DSC , and was succeeded by Vice Admiral Sir Anthony Synnot KBE , AO . He served under Admiral Sir Victor Smith , Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee . Further honours flowed from this appointment : After the Navy . In retirement , Sir David Stevenson became Chairman for the ACT for the Queen Elizabeth Fund for Young Australians . He also served for many years and also served on the Board of the YMCA in Canberra . In 1980 he was invited to be a consultant for the Australian Bicentenary Authority , and attended the Sail Training Association ' s Tall Ships Regatta in Amsterdam for the purpose of inviting the STA to have their fleet attend Australia ' s Bi - Centenary in 1988 . After a number of strokes in the 10 years before his death , he became progressively more physically handicapped while remaining mentally alert . He died on 26 October 1998 . His funeral was held with Full Naval Honours on 6 November 1998 , at the ANZAC Memorial Chapel of St Paul , Royal Military College Duntroon , with his body conveyed on a gun carriage drawn by 34 naval personnel . A Memorial Service was held in his honour at St Peter ' s Anglican Church , Southport , Queensland . Family . Stevenson ' s older brother , James , died as a test pilot during World War II . His older sister Dorothy , was a prima - ballerina with the Royal Ballet and the Borovansky Ballet Company . His younger brother was William . On 18 April 1944 , Stevenson married Myra Clarke ( died 1978 ) of Melbourne , at St . Peters Church , Eastern Hill in Melbourne . He sailed soon after for the Long Navigation Course in England . Their daughter , Jacqueline , was born in 1948 and their son , David , was born in 1952 . He married Margaret Wheeler Wright in 1979 . In 1985 he and his wife retired to the Gold Coast , Queensland , near where he had attended school , where he continued his interests in golf , fishing , sailing , lawn bowls , travelling , reading and playing bridge . He was Patron of Queensland ' s N Class Destroyers Association for some years .