Lieutenant Commander RN John Howard Townshend MBE (5D52)
| Date of Birth: | 1926 |
|---|---|
| Date of Death: | 1 May 1992 |
| Generation: | 8th |
| Residence: | Truro, Cornwall |
| Father: | George Marsden Townshend [5D30] |
| Mother: | Reynolds, Dorothy Elizabeth |
| Spouse: |
|
| Issue: | |
| See Also: | Table VD ; Scrapbook ; Lineage ; Ancestors' Tree ; Descendents' Tree |
Notes for Lieutenant Commander John Howard Townshend RN MBE
John was born in Kenya.
Married 1955. Ursula Dorothy (Wendy) was the daughter of Captain William Moore Tomkins sometime Marine Superintendent of the Union Castle Line, Younger Brother of Trinity House and Freeman of the City of London.
John went to prep school in Broadstairs, Kent and then to Rugby. He joined the Royal Navy (1) as soon as he left school and served in the Yellow Sea, the Sea of Japan and the Mediterranean as a young officer. In the early 1950's he served as an Exchange Officer with the RNZN and was promoted to Lieutenant Commander on 16 August 1955 (2).
John was appointed Navigating Officer on HMS Warrior, as part of the Royal Navy Amphibious Squadron, in 1957 and later undertook two tours as Navigating Officer on HMS Daring , based in Malta. He spent the years before his retirement in 1976 (3) as an Instructor at the Navigational School at HMS Dryad.
Though on the 'Retired List' John worked for the Admiralty Hydrographic Department at Taunton writing Books of Instruction to accompany Admiralty Charts until 29 June 1978 when he finally retired for good (4). He was appointed MBE shortly before his retirement (5).
Taking up sailing on retirement, John derived great pleasure in racing his Ajax dinghy "Achilles" whenever he could. Chairman of the Ajax Association from 1987 to 1990, he died during the evening of May Day 1992 having won his last race in "Achilles" that morning.
(1) He was commissioned on 16 August 1947 London Gazette 38167 dated 2 January 1948.
(2) London Gazette 40646 page 6791 dated 2 December 1955.
(3) London Gazette 46989 page 11247 dated 16 August 1976.
(4) London Gazette 47571 page 7453 dated 19 June 1978.
(5) London Gazette 47549 page 6233 dated 2 June 1978.