Edward Ashmore Admiral of the Fleet Sir Edward Beckwith Ashmore , ( born 11 December 1919 ) is a former senior Royal Navy officer . He served in World War II and then commanded two frigates before achieving higher command in the Navy . He served as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff in the mid - 1970s and in that role he advised the incoming Labour Government on a major defence review and on the implications of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus . He went on to be Chief of the Defence Staff serving briefly in a caretaker capacity following the death of his predecessor . Naval career . Born the son of Vice - Admiral Sir Leslie Haliburton Ashmore DSO and Tamara Vasilevna Ashmore ( née Schutt ) and brother of Vice - Admiral Sir Peter Ashmore , KCB , KCVO , DSC , who was the Master of the Household to the Queen from 1973 to 1986 , Ashmore was educated at various schools including Yardley Court in Kent and then at the Royal Naval College , Dartmouth . He joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in September 1933 and was posted to the cruiser HMS " Frobisher " in May 1937 and then , having been promoted to midshipman , to the battleship HMS " Rodney " in September 1937 . He transferred to the cruiser HMS " Birmingham " on the China Station January 1938 and was promoted to sub - lieutenant on 1 September 1939 . Ashmore was posted to the destroyer HMS " Jupiter " in January 1940 , early in World War II , and saw action during the Norwegian Campaign . Promoted to lieutenant on 1 January 1941 , he transferred to the destroyer HMS " Middleton " in June 1941 and took part in the Arctic Convoys and as well as a convoy to relieve Malta in June 1942 : it was during this latter operation that he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross . In August 1942 he went to Russia to help evacuate the survivors of the ill - fated Convoy PQ 17 . He attended signals and radar training courses in 1943 and was posted to the staff of the Commander - in - Chief , Home Fleet , as Fleet Wireless Assistant in December 1943 . He became Squadron Signal Officer for the 4th Cruiser Squadron in September 1944 and helped provide naval support during the Battle of Okinawa in April 1945 . In that capacity he experienced a Kamikaze air attack in July 1945 and observed the signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on USS " Missouri " in September 1945 . He was mentioned in despatches for distinguished service in the Far East on 11 June 1946 . After the War Ashmore qualified as a Russia n interpreter and became Assistant Naval Attache in Moscow in 1946 . He joined the staff of the Royal Navy Signals School in September 1947 and , having been promoted to lieutenant commander on 1 January 1948 , he attended the Royal Naval Staff College in 1949 . He was appointed Squadron Communications Officer for the 3rd Aircraft Carrier Squadron in October 1949 and , having been promoted to commander on 31 December 1950 , was posted to the Admiralty as Assistant Director ( Communications ) in the Radio Equipment Department . He was given command of the frigate HMS " Alert " in June 1953 and returned to the Royal Navy Signals School as Second - in - Command in October 1954 before being promoted to captain on 30 June 1955 . He attended the Joint Service Staff College before becoming Chief Signals Officer at the Headquarters of the Commander - in - Chief Allied Forces Northern Europe in Oslo . He went on to be Captain ( F ) of the 6th Frigate Squadron sailing in the frigate HMS " Blackpool " in October 1958 . Ashmore became Deputy Director of Naval Plans at the Admiralty in June 1960 , Director of Naval Plans there in November 1960 and then Chairman of the Service Directors of Plans at the Ministry of Defence in December 1961 . Promoted to commodore in March 1962 , he became Commander of British Forces in the Caribbean and Senior Naval Officer West Indies in July 1963 . He was appointed Naval Aide - de - Camp to the Queen on 7 July 1964 and promoted to rear admiral on appointment as Assistant Chief of Defence Staff ( Signals ) on 7 January 1965 . Appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 1966 Birthday Honours , he became Flag Officer Second in Command of the Far East Fleet based in Singapore in April 1967 . Promoted to vice admiral on 24 July 1968 , he went on to be Vice Chief of the Naval Staff in December 1968 and , having been promoted to the rank of full admiral on 4 November 1970 , he was advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1971 New Year Honours . He became the last Commander - in - Chief Western Fleet in September 1971 and then the first Commander - in - Chief Fleet and NATO Commander - in - Chief , Channel and Commander - in - Chief Eastern Atlantic , as a result of the amalgamation of the Far East Fleet and the Western Fleet into the a single Fleet Command in November 1971 . He was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the 1974 New Year Honours . Ashmore became First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff on 1 March 1974 . In that role he advised the incoming Labour Government on a major defence review and on the implications of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in July 1974 . He was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 9 February 1977 and was appointed Chief of the Defence Staff that month serving in a caretaker capacity ( following the death of his predecessor ) before retiring at the end of August 1977 . Later career . In retirement he became a Director of Racal Electronics and a Governor of Suttons Hospital in London as well as Chairman of the Royal Navy Club of 1765 & 1785 ( United 1889 ) . He describes his interests as the " usual " . Family . In 1942 he married Elizabeth Mary Doveton Sturdee , daughter of Rear Admiral Sir Lionel Sturdee ; they had one son and one daughter ( and one daughter who died in the Hither Green rail crash ) .