David Haslam Rear - Admiral Sir David W . Haslam KBE CB ( 26 June 1923 – 4 August 2009 ) was a Royal Navy officer . David Haslam was born in Derby and educated at Ashe Preparatory School , Etwall and , from 1936 , at Bromsgrove School , Worcestershire ( from 1939 the school was evacuated to Llanwrtyd Wells in Wales ) . He joined the Royal Navy as a Special Entry Cadet in 1941 . He saw service in the cruiser , in the destroyer and in the battleship , in the Indian Ocean , between 1942 - 43 . In 1944 he specialised in hydrographic surveying and joined for surveys in waters off Burma and Malaya between 1944 - 46 . He was in command of Survey Motor Launch 325 in 1947 and then spent two years on exchange service with the Royal Australian Navy from 1947 - 49 . This was followed by service in the surveying vessel from 1949 – 51 and her sister ship 1951 - 53 . After a period in command of the Royal Navy Survey Training Unit at Chatham from 1953 – 56 , as a Lieutenant - Commander , he was First Lieutenant of the new survey vessel until 1957 . Promoted to Commander at the age of 34 , he then had a succession of survey ship commands : in 1958 , 1958 - 60 and 1962 - 64 , the period from 1960 - 62 being spent in the Admiralty . He was appointed OBE in 1964 . He was then appointed , in 1964 , as the Executive Officer of , the Royal Naval Barracks in Chatham , later serving as Hydrographer of the Royal Australian Navy from 1965 – 67 , during which time he was promoted to Captain . Back in the United Kingdom , he took command of the new survey vessel from 1968 - 70 before becoming Assistant Hydrographer of the Navy in the Ministry of Defence , from 1970 - 72 . His final sea command - his sixth - was from March 1972 to 1973 . While in charge of surveys in the Persian Gulf , he discovered a series of coral pinnacles now known and charted as Haslam ' s Patches . He was then an Assistant Director in the Hydrographic Department at Taunton , from 1973 – 74 and , in 1975 , he undertook the Senior Officers ' War Course . Promoted Rear - Admiral on 7 July 1975 , he became head of his branch when he took up the historic appointment of Hydrographer of the Navy in September 1975 , a position he held , exceptionally , for ten years . He retired from the Royal Navy in 1985 , after 44 years ' service . In retirement , he was busy as Acting Conservator of the River Mersey from 1985 – 87 and as an adviser on Port Appointments to the Department of Transport from 1986 - 87 . He was President of the Directing Committee of the International Hydrographic Bureau , Monaco , from 1987 - 92 . He was President of the Hydrographic Society from 1977 - 79 . He was a Governor of his old school , Bromsgrove School , from 1977 – 97 and , unmarried , he lived literally across the road from the School , in Worcester Road , for many years , and it was at home that he died peacefully . He was President of the English Schools Basketball Association from 1973 – 96 and President of Derbyshire County Cricket Club fom 1991 - 92 . He was a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Chartered Surveyors from 1983 , serving also as President of the Land Surveyors Division of the RICS , and also a FRGS , FRICS , FRIN and FRSA . The funeral took place at Bromsgrove School chapel on 21 August 2009 followed by a cremation at Redditch Crematorium . A memorial service is to be held on Friday 12 March 2010 at Bromsgrove School chapel .