Sandy Woodward

Admiral Sir John Forster "Sandy" Woodward GBE KCB (1 May 1932 – 4 August 2013) was a British admiral who commanded the British Naval Task Force in the South Atlantic during the Falklands War.

Early life

Woodward was born on 1 May 1932 at Penzance, Cornwall, to a bank clerk. He was educated at Stubbington House School, preparatory school in Stubbington, Hampshire. He then continued his education at the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, Devon. Woodward married, in 1960, Charlotte McMurtrie (with whom he had a son and a daughter), but in 1993 they separated.

Naval career

Having graduated from the Royal Naval College Dartmouth, Woodward joined the Royal Navy in 1946. He became a submariner in 1954, and was promoted to lieutenant that May. In 1960 he passed the Royal Navy's rigorous Submarine Command Course known as The Perisher, and received his first command, the T Class submarine HMS Tireless. Promoted to lieutenant-commander in May 1962, he then commanded HMS Grampus before becoming the second in command of the nuclear fleet submarine HMS Valiant. In 1967, he was promoted to Commander and became the Instructor (known as Teacher) of The Perisher Course. He took command of HMS Warspite in December 1969. He was promoted to the rank of Captain in 1972. In 1974, he became Captain of Submarine Training and in 1976 he took command of HMS Sheffield.