Admiral

Admiral (United Kingdom)

Admiral is a senior rank of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, which equates to the NATO rank code OF-9, outranked only by the rank Admiral of the Fleet...

 Sir Michael Henry Gordon Layard KCB

Order of the Bath

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...

 CBE

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 (born 3 January 1936) is a senior Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 officer who went on to be Second Sea Lord

Second Sea Lord

The Second Sea Lord and Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command , commonly just known as the Second Sea Lord , is one of the most senior admirals of the British Royal Navy , and is responsible for personnel and naval shore establishments.-History:In 1805, for the first time, specific functions were...

.

Naval career

Educated at Pangbourne College

Pangbourne College

Pangbourne College is a coeducational independent school located in the civil parish of Pangbourne, just South West of the village, in the English County of Berkshire....

 and the Britannia Royal Naval College

Britannia Royal Naval College

Britannia Royal Naval College is the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy, located on a hill overlooking Dartmouth, Devon, England. While Royal Naval officer training has taken place in the town since 1863, the buildings which are seen today were only finished in 1905, and...

, Layard was commissioned into the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 in 1954. He trained as a fighter pilot and in 1970 he took command of 899 Naval Air Squadron flying Sea Vixens. He became Commander (Air) in HMS Ark Royal

HMS Ark Royal (R09)

HMS Ark Royal was an Audacious-class aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy and, when she was decommissioned in 1978, was the Royal Navy's last remaining conventional catapult and arrested-landing aircraft carrier...

 in 1977 and Chief Staff Officer to the Flag Officer, Naval Air Command in 1979. During the Falklands War

Falklands War

The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...

 he was Senior Naval Officer in the MV Atlantic Conveyor

Atlantic Conveyor

The Atlantic Conveyor was a British merchant navy ship, registered in Liverpool, that was requisitioned during the Falklands War and sunk on 25 May 1982 after being hit by two Argentine Exocet missiles, killing 12 sailors...

 which was sunk by two exocet

Exocet

The Exocet is a French-built anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from surface vessels, submarines, helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. Hundreds were fired in combat during the 1980s.-Etymology:...

 missiles.

In 1982 he became Commander of RNAS Culdrose and in 1984 he was made Captain of the destroyer, HMS Cardiff

HMS Cardiff (D108)

HMS Cardiff was a British Type 42 destroyer and the third ship of the Royal Navy to be named in honour of the Welsh capital city of Cardiff. Construction was started by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, and completed by Swan Hunter in Tyne and Wear...

. He became Director Naval Warfare (Air) at the Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....

 in 1985, Flag Officer Naval Air Command in 1988 and Director General Naval Manpower & Training in 1990. In 1992 he was made Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel

Second Sea Lord

The Second Sea Lord and Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command , commonly just known as the Second Sea Lord , is one of the most senior admirals of the British Royal Navy , and is responsible for personnel and naval shore establishments.-History:In 1805, for the first time, specific functions were...

 and from 1994 he was asked to combine this role with that of Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command

Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth

The Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth was a senior commander of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years. Portsmouth Command was a name given to the units, establishments, and staff operating under the post.-History:...

.

In retirement he became a Trustee of the Fleet Air Arm Museum

Fleet Air Arm Museum

The Fleet Air Arm Museum is located north of Yeovil, and south of Bristol. It has an extensive collection of military and civilian aircraft, as well as models of Royal Navy ships, especially aircraft carriers. Some of the museum has interactive displays...

.

He owns a 32 foot yacht

Yacht

A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...

, Banjo.