Varyl Begg Admiral of the Fleet Sir Varyl Cargill Begg GCB , DSO , DSC , KStJ ( 1 October 1908 – 13 July 1995 ) was a Royal Navy officer . He fought in World War II as gunnery officer in a cruiser taking part in the North Atlantic convoys , the Norwegian campaign and the occupation of Iceland and then as gunnery officer in a battleship operating in the Mediterranean Fleet during the Battle of Cape Matapan . After that he commanded a destroyer during the Korean War and was Commander - in - Chief of Far East Command during the Indonesia – Malaysia confrontation . He was First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff in the late 1960s . In that role he vehemently opposed plans to introduce large new aircraft carrier s and instead managed to persuade the Government to develop the design for three small " through - deck cruisers " . Early career . Born the son of Francis Cargill Begg and Muriel Clare Begg ( née Robinson ) , Begg was educated at St Andrew ' s School , Eastbourne and Malvern College , before joining the navy as a special entry cadet in September 1926 . Promoted to midshipman on 1 September 1927 , he was posted to the cruiser on the China Station in October 1927 and then to the battleship in the Atlantic Fleet in April 1929 . Promoted to sub - lieutenant on 1 November 1929 and to lieutenant on 1 December 1930 , he joined the cruiser in the Mediterranean Fleet in April 1931 before training as a gunnery specialist at the shore establishment in 1934 . After qualifying in gunnery , he was then made second gunnery officer of the battleship , flagship of the Home Fleet , in December 1934 before returning to HMS " Excellent " in 1936 . He was appointed flotilla gunnery officer in the destroyer in November 1937 and , having been promoted to lieutenant commander on 1 December 1938 , he became gunnery officer of the gun cruiser in June 1939 . Second World War . It was on board the " Glasgow " that Begg first saw action in the Second World War : the " Glasgow " participated in North Atlantic convoys , the Norwegian campaign and the occupation of Iceland , before being badly damaged in a torpedo attack by Italian aircraft at Souda Bay in Crete in December 1940 . In January 1941 he was appointed gunnery officer of the battleship in the Mediterranean Fleet when it was flagship of the Commander - in - Chief , Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham ( soon to be First Sea Lord himself ) . Begg was in charge of " Warspite " s main guns during the Battle of Cape Matapan on the night of 28 March 1941 . It was an engagement in which the ships , and caught the Italian heavy cruisers and by surprise , with their guns still trained fore and aft , and sank them both in a brutally short action of less than two minutes . A third heavy cruiser , , and two Italian destroyers were also sunk in the engagement . Begg was mentioned in despatches and awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his part in the action . He was promoted to commander on 31 December 1942 and then went to the gunnery division in the Admiralty , where he remained until after the war . Post - war career . After the war , Begg joined the cruiser as operations officer for the destroyers in the Mediterranean Fleet . Promoted to captain on 30 June 1947 , he was given command of the gunnery school at Chatham in 1948 and of the destroyer as captain of the 8th destroyer flotilla in August 1950 . The Cossack took part in the Korean War being involved in the pre - invasion shelling and blockade of Inchon and Begg was mentioned in dispatches and appointed to the Distinguished Service Order on 3 October 1952 . Begg was given command of the shore establishment in April 1952 and officiated as the Officer Commanding the Naval Contingent at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953 . He went on to command the aircraft carrier in December 1954 . Having attended the Imperial Defence College , he was appointed Naval Aide - de - Camp to the Queen on 7 July 1956 . Promoted to rear - admiral on 7 January 1957 , he became Chief of Staff to the Commander - in - Chief , Portsmouth in February 1957 and went on to be Flag Officer , Second - in - Command , Far East Fleet in December 1958 . Appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 1959 New Year Honours and promoted to vice - admiral on 21 May 1960 , he became Vice Chief of the Naval Staff in January 1961 . He was advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1962 New Year Honours . Promoted full admiral on 8 March 1963 , on appointment as Commander - in - Chief of Far East Command and British military adviser to the South East Asia Treaty Organization , at a time of when President Sukarno of Indonesia was stepping up pressure on Malaysia . Advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the 1965 Birthday Honours , he went on to be Commander - in - Chief , Portsmouth in August 1965 . Begg was appointed First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff , following the sudden resignation of his predecessor Sir David Luce , in March 1966 . Begg strongly believed that the future of the Navy depended as much on surface - to - air missile s as on naval air power and he vehemently opposed plans to introduce large new aircraft carriers . Instead he managed to persuade the Government to develop the design for three small " through - deck cruisers " . He was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 12 August 1968 on his retirement . He became a Knight of the Order of St John in March 1969 . Later career . In March 1969 Begg was appointed Governor of Gibraltar where a residential development is still named after him . He left Gibraltar in 1973 and retired to his home at Stockbridge in Hampshire . His interests included fishing , gardening and sports - during his naval career he had been President of the Combined Services Winter Sports Association and President of Royal Navy Cricket . He suffered from Alzheimer ' s disease and died at Headbourne Worthy in Hampshire on 13 July 1995 . Family . In 1943 he married Rosemary Cowan ; they had two sons . Sources .