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ST EDWARD’S
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OSE Obituaries
V A L E T E
O B I T U A R I E S
ABBOTT
– On 28th
September 2015, Admiral Sir
Peter Abbott (C, 1955-1960),
son of Dennis Abbott (E, 1922-
1927) and brother of Ronald
Abbott (G, 1959-1964).
The following obituary has
been taken from the
Telegraph
;
Admiral Sir Peter Abbott,
who has died aged 73, had
a career that epitomised the
range of challenges facing
the British Armed Forces in
the late 20th century. Born in
New Delhi on 12th February
1942, Peter Charles Abbott
was the son of a Lieutenant-
Colonel in the Royal Garhwal
Rifles. He was educated at
St Edward’s, Oxford, before
reading Chemistry at Queens’
College, Cambridge. Abbott
turned down the opportunity
to undertake further research
and instead became an articled
clerk to a firm of accountants
in the city. In his spare time
he joined the Royal Marines
Forces Volunteer Reserve and
was commissioned as a 2nd
Lieutenant. Soon, however, he
decided that accountancy was
“a dreadful life”, and when the
Navy introduced a graduate
entry scheme he was one
of the first volunteers. Nine
months later, in 1969, he was
at Dartmouth. “My parents
were a bit fed up,” he recalled,
“because they had scraped and
saved to get me to university.
My dad went into the Indian
Army at 18, and had considered
it good luck that his son had
broken free from the thrall of
the services.” Abbott found that
his chemistry studies had taught
him to write, to be numerate
and self-disciplined, and “to
finish his practicals” – all skills he
applied to being a naval officer.
He was soon recognised as one
of the outstanding officers of
his generation. Extremely polite,
he did not overawe lesser men
with his intellect, but spoke
his mind even to considerably
senior officers when necessary.
Within three years he was
navigating officer of the frigate
Minerva. “I frightened myself
silly,” he said, “but I got by,
and got good reports.” He
had safely navigated Minerva
on deployments to the West
Indies, the Norwegian Sea, and
the Indian and Pacific Oceans,
and on Cold War operations
including shadowing the Soviet
aircraft carrier Moskva and the
blockade of Beira. Next he
specialised in communications
and electronic warfare,
becoming signals officer of the
guided missile-armed destroyer
London. In 1972, aged 29,
Abbott was given command
of the minesweeper Chawton
and her 30-strong crew. “I
discovered that if you care for
your people and showed them
loyalty, they would do anything
for you, and that meant that
you could become the best ship
in the squadron, or even the
fleet,” he recalled. Abbott’s first
shore appointment was to the
staff of the Senior Naval Officer
West Indies based in Bermuda,
where he helped to direct the
Navy’s commitment to policing
the Caribbean. On promotion
to Commander he was given
the frigate Ambuscade in 1976.
It was the start of 15 years
spent alternately at sea or in the
Ministry of Defence. In 1980
he was second in command
of the aircraft carrier Bulwark
and in 1983 he commanded
the frigate Ajax and the First
Frigate Squadron. Promoted to
rear-admiral, in 1989 his time
as Flag Officer Second Flotilla
included a fleet deployment
to the Far East and a visit to
Tokyo in the carrier Ark Royal.
Ashore during the Falklands
War, Abbott was the Chief of
the Defence Staff ’s personal
briefer. He served twice in
the Directorate of Naval
Plans, the Royal Navy’s “think
tank”, spending two years as
its director in the mid-1980s,
before attending the Royal
College of Defence Studies.
Abbott’s second career, as
he called it, was in the higher
echelons of the Ministry of
Defence, fighting for money.
“If you have no money,” he
said, “you have no men and
no equipment. If you fail,
history is going to hold you
responsible … and will say that
the Navy should have got its
act together.” Nevertheless,
as Assistant Chief of the
Naval Staff (1991-1993) he
was obliged to implement the
Conservative government’s
“Options for Change”, which
saw a 20 per cent reduction
in naval manpower to 60,000
men and in ships from 50 to 40
frigates and destroyers, aimed
at delivering a “peace dividend”
as the Cold War drew to a
close. On promotion to Vice-
Admiral, Abbott was appointed
Deputy Supreme Allied
Commander Atlantic, based
in Norfolk, Virginia, where in
1995 he was awarded the US
Legion of Merit. Promoted
to admiral in the same year,
he was Commander-in-Chief
Fleet (1995–1997) and for an
unusually long period, 1997-
2001, he was Vice-Chief of the
Defence Staff, during wars in
the Balkans and in Sierra Leone.
While government departments
bickered over the British role in
Sierra Leone (which started as
an evacuation of British civilians
and ended in an operation to
terminate the 10-year long civil
war), Abbott gave clear, calm
video-briefings to commanders
in the field. He was knighted
Peter Abbott