At the time I wrote (rather unfairly) to The Times commenting that Sir Jock had obviously followed W.S.Gilbert's advice and "stuck to his desk and never gone to sea", but they wisely did not publish the letter! -TTN
A wise decision indeed since, quite apart from time spent in training ships, Jock served in some ten seagoing ships, and commanded four of them, plus a major establishment, before becoming a Rear Admiral at 47.
Quite a few Admirals who had had substantial amounts of valuable sea service during the Cold War ended up with an empty chest until receiving a valedictory honour, a subject I have touched on before.
Jack