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Michael Torrens-Spence

2024-11-15T12:50:10Z

2A02:8012:227B:0:C58A:209F:B843:4842: Removed Category:Royal Navy officers as already in more specific Category:Royal Navy captains

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Michael Torrens-Spence
|image= Torrens-Spence.jpg
|image_size=
|alt=
|caption=
|nickname= "Tiffy"
|birth_date= {{Birth date|1914|3|10|df=yes}}
|birth_place= [[Whiteabbey]], [[County Antrim]], Ireland
|death_date= {{Death date and age|2001|12|12|1914|3|10|df=yes}}
|death_place= [[Northern Ireland]]
|allegiance= United Kingdom
|serviceyears= 1927–1972
|rank= [[Captain (Royal Navy)|Captain]] (RN) [[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant Colonel]] (Army)
|commands= {{Plainlist |
* [[815 Naval Air Squadron]]
* [[City of Derry Airport|RNAS Eglinton (HMS ''Gannet'')]]
* {{HMS|Delight|D119|6}}
* [[RAF Lossiemouth|RNAS Lossiemouth (HMS ''Fulmar'')]]
* {{HMS|Albion|R07|6}}
* [[2nd Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment]]
}}
|battles= [[World War II]]
* [[Battle of Taranto]]
* [[Battle of Cape Matapan]]
|awards= [[Distinguished Service Order]] [[Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom)|Distinguished Service Cross]] [[Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)|Air Force Cross]]
|relations=
|laterwork= [[Ulster Special Constabulary]] [[Ulster Defence Regiment]]
}}
[[Captain (Royal Navy)|Captain]] '''Frederick Michael Alexander Torrens-Spence''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|DSO|DSC|AFC}} (10 March 1914 – 12 December 2001) was a [[Royal Navy]] [[Fleet Air Arm]] pilot in the [[Second World War]]. Torrens-Spence earned the distinction of holding commissions in the Royal Navy, the [[Royal Air Force]], the [[British Army]] and the [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]].

==Early life==
Known as "Tiffy", Torrens-Spence was born in [[Whiteabbey]], [[County Antrim]], [[Ireland]] the son of a professional soldier. Educated at Mourne Grange Public School, [[Kilkeel]], at the age of 13 he attended [[Dartmouth Royal Naval College]].<ref name=tgraph>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/11/09/db01.xml Michael Torrens-Spence]{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} ''The Daily Telegraph''. Retrieved 27 February 2007</ref>

==Military career==
After initial service in the fleet Torrens-Spence volunteered for flying duties with the [[Fleet Air Arm]], which at that time was under the command of the Royal Air Force. After flying training, he was commissioned as a pilot in both the RAF and the Navy. His first postings were on the carriers {{HMS|Furious|47|6}} and, in 1937, {{HMS|Glorious||2}}.<ref name=tgraph/>

===Second World War===
When war broke out, Torrens-Spence was serving on ''Glorious'' which was sent through the [[Suez Canal]] to hunt German surface raiders. He was then sent home from [[Aden]] to join the new carrier {{HMS|Illustrious|87|6}}. Whilst serving on ''Illustrious'', which had been dispatched to the Mediterranean in September 1940, he took part in the attack on Italian [[battleship]]s in the [[Battle of Taranto]] as a [[Fairey Swordfish|Swordfish]] [[torpedo bomber]] pilot. During the Swordfish attack in [[Taranto]] harbour, he torpedoed one of Italy's newest and largest battleships, the {{Ship|Italian battleship|Littorio||2}}, sinking her in shallow water. He was awarded the [[Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom)|Distinguished Service Cross]] for this action.<ref name=tgraph/><ref name='Times'>Obituary 13 December 2001 [[The Times]]</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Taranto crewlist |url=http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/RollofHonour/Battlehonour_crewlists/FAATaranto_1940.html |website=fleetairarmarchive.net |url-status=usurped |access-date=13 June 2007 |archive-date=3 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070403220104/http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/RollofHonour/Battlehonour_crewlists/FAATaranto_1940.html }}</ref>

He was also involved when ''Illustrious'' was badly damaged; ''Illustrious'' was escorting a convoy to [[Malta]] when she was attacked by three squadrons of German [[Junkers Ju 87|Stuka]] [[dive bombers]]. Suffering multiple bomb hits (including to Torrens-Spence's wardroom) and more than 200 casualties, ''Illustrious'' limped to Malta and eventually to America for repairs. Her aircraft were disembarked in Malta, and Torrens-Spence flew to [[Eleusis]], near [[Athens]], [[Greece]], with elements of [[815 Naval Air Squadron|815]] and [[819 Naval Air Squadron|819]] Squadrons for an active anti-shipping campaign which later earned him the [[Distinguished Service Order]].<ref name=Times/>

At the [[Battle of Cape Matapan]], Torrens-Spence was ordered to find and attack a large Italian naval force. After observing an attack by aircraft from the carrier {{HMS|Formidable|67|6}} achieve no result, he found a hole in the enemy smokescreen and was confronted with the {{Ship|Italian cruiser|Pola||2|up=yes}}, which he torpedoed from close range. The cruiser immediately slowed to six knots and the Italian admiral decided to divide his force, leaving a large detachment to escort ''Pola'' and sail for home. That night, the Royal Navy engaged with the Italian force off Cape Matapan, and with the aid of radar sank the major part of them. ''Pola''{{'}}s captain was rescued by the destroyer {{HMS|Jervis|F00|6}} and was heard to remark, "Either that pilot was mad or he is the bravest man in the world". [[Andrew Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope|Admiral Andrew Cunningham]] wrote in his dispatch after the battle: "An example of the spirit of these young officers is the case of Lieutenant F.M.A. Torrens-Spence who rather than be left out, flew with the only available aircraft from Eleusis to Maleme ... arranged his own reconnaissance and finally took off with a second aircraft in company and took part in the dawn attack."<ref name=tgraph/><ref name=Times/>
[[File:Fairey Swordfish on Airfield.jpg|thumb|A Fairey Swordfish similar to those used by Torrens-Spence]]
From March to October 1941, Torrens-Spence commanded 815 Squadron in [[Albania]], where he added to his tally. Unfortunately, this included a hospital ship which the Italians had failed to mark and illuminate. No blame was ever attached to Torrens-Spence, but he was forever saddened by the incident.<ref name=tgraph/>

From 1942, Torrens-Spence was posted to the UK to become a leading Admiralty [[test pilot]] at RAF [[Boscombe Down]] where he remained for the next three years, and worked closely with fellow former HMS Glorious and 819 Naval Air Squadron pilot Lieutenant [[Roy Sydney Baker-Falkner]] in developing and test flying the [[Fairey Barracuda]] aircraft prior to its operational service in the Fleet Air Arm. He was posted back to ''Illustrious'' for the closing stages of the war.<ref name=tgraph/><ref>{{cite web |title=815 Squadron history |url=http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/Squadrons/815.html |website=fleetairarmarchive.net |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924013834/http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/Squadrons/815.html |archive-date=24 September 2015 |url-status=usurped}}</ref>

===Post-war===
He remained in the Navy after the war, becoming chief inspector of the [[Empire Test Pilots' School]]. He then served in the carrier {{HMS|Theseus|R64|6}}, and as commanding officer of [[City of Derry Airport|RNAS Eglinton]] (HMS ''Gannet'') in [[Northern Ireland]].<ref name=tgraph/><ref name='Newsletter'>''Obituary: Capt F M A Torrens-Spence'' [[The News Letter]], 6 November 2001</ref>

In 1952, he was promoted captain and sent to the Admiralty to look after future aircraft requirements as deputy director of the Air Warfare Division, naval staff. He wrote the staff requirement for the [[Blackburn Buccaneer|Buccaneer]] strike aircraft and steered it through the [[Admiralty Board]].<ref name=tgraph/>

In 1955, he took command of {{HMS|Delight|D119|6}}, a [[Daring class destroyer (1949)|Daring class destroyer]] deploying in British and [[Mediterranean]] waters. Afterwards he commanded a training establishment, [[RAF Lossiemouth|RNAS Lossiemouth]] (HMS ''Fulmar''), before taking command of the [[aircraft carrier]] {{HMS|Albion|R07|6}} in 1959 where he spent the next two years, most of it in the Far East.<ref name=tgraph/><ref>[http://www.content-delivery.co.uk/aviation/airfields/articles/lossie-n.html Training the Naval Pilot. RNAS Lossiemouth 1958] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927230305/http://www.content-delivery.co.uk/aviation/airfields/articles/lossie-n.html |date=27 September 2007 }} Flight August 1958</ref>

===Northern Ireland===
After leaving the Royal Navy Torrens-Spence was appointed as the Commandant of the [[Ulster Special Constabulary]] (the "B" Specials) in [[County Armagh]].<ref name=tgraph/>

When the Specials were disbanded in 1970 and replaced by the [[Ulster Defence Regiment]], Torrens-Spence took control of the [[2nd Battalion, Ulster Defence Regiment|County Armagh Battalion (2 UDR)]], as a [[lieutenant colonel]], to get it up and running. He retired in 1972.<ref name=tgraph/>

==Later life==
In 1981, he became [[Lord Lieutenant of Armagh]], after [[Norman Stronge]] was killed by the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] in an armed assault on his home, [[Tynan Abbey]]. During this time, he resided at Laurelvale House, [[Laurelvale]] – originally the home of industrialist [[Thomas Sinton]]. He was also a [[justice of the peace]], served as [[High Sheriff of Armagh]] in 1979<ref>{{London Gazette | city=b | issue=3638 |page=54 | date=26 January 1979 }}</ref> and was aide-de-camp to the Queen. He was never overtly involved in politics, but remained throughout his life a committed [[Unionism in Ireland|Unionist]], holding senior office in the County Armagh Unionist Association, yet saddened by what he saw as the government's appeasing of terrorism.<ref name=tgraph/><ref name=Newsletter/>

He married Rachel Torrens-Spence, with whom he had four children.<ref name=tgraph/> One of his sons, Brigadier Edward John (Johnny) Torrens-Spence CBE, was British Embassy military attaché to the United States.<ref>A story of love. [[The Washington Times]]; 13 May 2005</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* [[Charles Lamb (Royal Navy officer)|Lamb, Charles]], ''War in a Stringbag''. Cassell and Collier Macmillan (1977) {{ISBN|0-304-29778-X}}
* Wragg, David, ''Stringbag: The Fairey Swordfish at War''. Leo Cooper Ltd (2004) {{ISBN|978-1-84415-130-1}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-hon}}
{{succession box | title=[[High Sheriff of Armagh]] | before= Ronald McIlroy Wilson | years= 1979 | after= John Reginald Miller }}
{{succession box | title=[[Lord Lieutenant of Armagh]] | before=[[Norman Stronge|Sir Norman Stronge]] | years=1981–1989 | after=[[Nicholas Alexander, 7th Earl of Caledon|The Earl of Caledon]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Torrens-Spence, Michael}}
[[Category:1914 births]]
[[Category:2001 deaths]]
[[Category:Military personnel from County Antrim]]
[[Category:Graduates of Britannia Royal Naval College]]
[[Category:High sheriffs of Armagh]]
[[Category:Lord-lieutenants of Armagh]]
[[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom)]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force officers]]
[[Category:Ulster Defence Regiment officers]]
[[Category:Royal Navy captains]]
[[Category:Fleet Air Arm personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:British World War II pilots]]
[[Category:British World War II bomber pilots]]
[[Category:British test pilots]]
[[Category:Fleet Air Arm aviators]]
[[Category:Ulster Special Constabulary officers]]
[[Category:Irish officers in the Royal Navy]]

Nick Tindal

2024-11-15T12:47:32Z

2A02:8012:227B:0:C58A:209F:B843:4842: Removed Category:Royal Navy officers as already in more specific Category:Royal Navy commodores

{{short description|British naval officer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{BLP sources|date=July 2020}}

{{Infobox military person
| name = Nick Tindal
| image = Nick Tindal reviews CCF (cropped).jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| allegiance = United Kingdom
| branch = {{navy|United Kingdom}}
| serviceyears = 1986-2020
| rank = [[Commodore (Royal Navy)|Commodore]]
| unit =
| commands = {{HMS|Dumbarton Castle|P265|6}} [[BNS Karotoa|HMS Alderney]] [[RNAS Yeovilton]]
| awards =
}}
[[Commodore (Royal Navy)|Commodore]] '''Nicholas Henry Charles Tindal''' is a senior [[Royal Navy]] officer who served as the commanding officer of [[RNAS Yeovilton]] until July 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/news/2017/april/04/170404-new-co-yeovilton|title=A New Commanding Officer at the helm {{!}} Royal Navy|website=www.royalnavy.mod.uk|language=en|access-date=2020-04-12}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=NEW COMMANDING OFFICER AT RNAS YEOVILTON|url=https://www.fleetairarmoa.org/news/new-commanding-officer-at-rnas-yeovilton|access-date=2021-01-19|website=www.fleetairarmoa.org}}</ref>

== Biography ==
Commissioned in 1986, Tindal gained his bridge watch-keeping certificate and first experience of maritime aviation while serving as a fighter controller in {{HMS|Ark Royal|R07|6}}. Awarded his pilot's 'wings' in 1989, his early aviation career included tours flying the anti-submarine warfare [[Westland Sea King|Sea King]] ([[814 Naval Air Squadron]]) and multi-role [[Westland Lynx|Lynx]] ([[815 Naval Air Squadron]]) helicopters on board a variety of [[aircraft carrier]]s, [[frigate]]s, [[destroyer]]s, and [[Royal Fleet Auxiliary]] vessels, conducting over 1000 deck landings.

He is also a [[principal warfare officer]], specialised in above-water warfare and was {{HMS|Argyll|F231|6}}{{'s}} operations officer. He has commanded the [[corvette]] {{HMS|Dumbarton Castle|P265|6}}, which, as the RN's only permanent warship in the South Atlantic, played a key role in looking after UK interests in the [[Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute|Falkland Islands]] and [[South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands|South Georgia]]. He also had command of {{HMS|Alderney|P278|6}}, an offshore patrol vessel based in the UK to support the policing of the UK's [[Exclusive economic zone|economic exclusion zone]]. Ashore, he is an alumnus of the Advanced Command and Staff Course, gaining a [[King's College London]] master's degree in defence studies. Subsequent staff appointments have included a tour at the [[Permanent Joint Headquarters]], where he led the operations team supporting the UK's overseas counter-terrorism effort and two tours at the [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]], first in the directorate of Joint Capability leading Defence's Carrier Strike concept development and then, on promotion to captain in 2012, as the operations directorate assistant head responsible for operational capability advice in support of ongoing and contingent operations.

He has had RN staff tours as the pilots appointer in 2001 and as Navy Command's aviation division chief of staff in 2011–2012. He has also had two exchange appointments with the [[United States Navy]], first as part of the [[United States Fleet Forces Command|US Atlantic Fleet]] team responsible for the embarked training and certification of all 'East Coast' carrier and expeditionary strike groups. Second, immediately prior to taking command of RNAS Yeovilton, he was the Royal Navy's first-ever officer to work for the [[Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet|Commander US Pacific Fleet]] based in [[Pearl Harbor]], [[Hawaii]], an admiral responsible for US maritime operations across half the globe.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/-/media/royal-navy-responsive/documents/profiles/tindal-nick.pdf|title=Commodore Nick Tindal - Royal Navy Biography|last=|first=|date=|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tindal, Nick}}
[[Category:Royal Navy commodores]]
[[Category:Fleet Air Arm aviators]]
[[Category:Helicopter pilots]]
[[Category:Alumni of King's College London]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Living people]]

T. Neville Stack

2024-11-15T12:25:30Z

2A02:8012:227B:0:C58A:209F:B843:4842: Removed Category:Royal Navy officers as already in more specific Category:Royal Navy captains

{{for|his son and RAF Air Officer|Neville Stack}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
Captain '''Thomas Neville Stack''' [[Royal Victorian Order|CVO]], [[Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)|AFC]] (1 April 1896<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/aviators/s |title=A fleeting peace – aviators |access-date=25 February 2015 |archive-date=25 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150225160210/http://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/aviators/s |url-status=dead }}</ref> – 22 February 1949) was a 1920s test pilot, air racer and aviation pioneer. He served in both the First and Second World Wars and in all three services. His son [[Neville Stack]], born in 1919, became an Air Chief-Marshal in the Royal Air Force.

==First World War==
Thomas Neville Stack left the Army to join the Royal Flying Corps in 1917, at the end of the war he became a flying instructor. In 1921<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=32476 |date=4 October 1921 |page=7766 }}</ref> he re-joined the Royal Air Force and served in Iraq leaving in 1925 to become chief flying instructor with the [[Lancashire Aero Club]].<ref name="flight251" />

==England to India==
On 15 November 1926 Stack left England in at attempt to reach India in a [[De Havilland DH.60]], he was accompanied by [[Bernard Leete]] in another Moth, they reached Karachi on 8 January 1927.<ref name="flight251" /><ref>[http://www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=4503657&contentId=57676 AirBP Developments in Flight 1922-1927]</ref> In June 1927 Stack and Leete were each awarded the [[Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)|Air Force Cross]], ''Air Ministry, 3 June 1927, The King had been graciously pleased to approve the award of the Air Force Cross to Mr. Thomas Neville Stack (Flying Officer, Reserve of Air Force Officers), in recognition of the distinguished service rendered to aviation by his recent flight in a light aeroplane from London to Delhi.''<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33280 |date=3 June 1927 |page=3620 |supp=y }}</ref>

==England to Australia==
In 1934, to enable him to compete in the England-Australia [[MacRobertson Air Race]], Stack together with Sidney Lewis Turner had a specially modified long-range version of the [[Airspeed Envoy]] (AS.6) built. It was named the [[Airspeed Viceroy]] (AS.8).

The Airspeed Viceroy started the race from RAF Mildenhall, England, but after several reliability problems including with the mainwheel brakes and the electrical systems, it was withdrawn from the race at Athens. The pilots concluded that it would be unsafe to proceed and they would probably be unable to finish the race. Subsequently, Stack started litigation against Airspeed, refusing to pay the balance outstanding on the aircraft. The Court found in essence that his claims of defects were a ruse to try to avoid payment, and he lost both his claim and Airspeed's counter-claim for the balance of the price of the aircraft and Stack & Turner were forced to return the aircraft (which later served in the [[Spanish Civil War]]) and pay substantial monies to Airspeed.<ref>Nevil Shute : Slide Rule</ref>

==Second World War==
In the 1940s, he was Chief Test Pilot at Austin Motors where he flew new aircraft straight from the production lines. He later joined the [[Fleet Air Arm]] and commanded 742 Naval Air Squadron in Southern India.<ref name="flight251" />

==Death==
Stack was a manager at Orient Airways when he died near [[Karachi]], Pakistan on 22 February 1949.<ref name="flight251">Flight 3 March 1949, page 251</ref> Newspaper reports that he was killed when he was run over by a lorry. The police alleged he threw himself under the vehicle. Stack had recently been interned by the Pakistan authorities (with regard a sale of a Dakota to India) but was allowed a daily visit to see his priest at Mauripore Airport and he is alleged to have thrown himself under the lorry while walking to the house of the priest.<ref>[http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/691027 ''Canberra Times'' 24 February 1949]</ref> However, an inquest into his death – conducted by a local magistrate and Royal Navy medical officer – revealed Stack had suffered an [[aortic aneurysm]] prior to being struck by the lorry. His death was ruled to be by natural causes. The inquest was requested by his sons Anthony and [[Neville Stack]], who flew to Pakistan after the local authorities alleged their father had committed suicide.<ref name="times">{{cite news |title= Captain Neville Stack's Death: 'Natural Causes' Verdict |work=[[The Times]] |page=3 |date=22 March 1949 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[MacRobertson Air Race]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stack, Thomas Neville}}
[[Category:1896 births]]
[[Category:1949 deaths]]
[[Category:British test pilots]]
[[Category:British aviation pioneers]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force officers]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)]]
[[Category:British World War II pilots]]
[[Category:Royal Navy captains]]
[[Category:Fleet Air Arm aviators]]
[[Category:Royal Flying Corps officers]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:People educated at St Edmund's College, Ware]]
[[Category:Road incident deaths in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Fleet Air Arm personnel of World War II]]