{{Short description|Royal Navy Vice Admiral (1902–1989)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}} {{Infobox military person |honorific_prefix = Vice-Admiral |name = Sir Geoffrey Robson |honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KBE|CB|DSO*|DSC}} |image= Royal Navy Admirals at conference on HMS Liverpool 1952 IWM A 32077.jpg |image_size= 300 |alt= |caption= Rear Admiral Robson, fourth from left, at a conference with First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Rhoderick McGrigor, and other admirals aboard {{HMS|Liverpool|C11|6}} in 1952 |nickname= |birth_date= {{birth date|1902|03|10|df=yes}} |birth_place= Ceylon |death_date= {{death date and age|1989|12|25|1902|03|10|df=yes}} |death_place= |burial_place= |allegiance= United Kingdom |branch= Royal Navy |service_years= 1915–1958 |rank= Vice-Admiral |unit= |commands= Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic (1956–58)<br/>Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland (1953–56)<br/>HMS ''Ganges'' (1948–50)<br/>{{HMS|Superb|25|6}} (1945–47)<br/>26th Destroyer Flotilla (1944)<br/>{{HMS|Hardy|R08|6}} (1943)<br/>{{HMS|Kandahar|F28|6}} (1939–41)<br/>{{HMS|Wren|D88|6}} (1935–36)<br/>{{HMS|Rowena||6}} (1934) |battles= First World War<br/>Second World War |awards= Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire<br/>Companion of the Order of the Bath<br/>Distinguished Service Order & Bar<br/>Distinguished Service Cross<br/>Mentioned in Despatches (3)<br/>Order of St. Olav (Norway) |relations= |other_work= }} Vice-Admiral '''Sir William Geoffrey Arthur Robson''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|KBE|CB|DSO1|DSC}} (10 March 1902 – 25 December 1989) was a Royal Navy officer whose last Service appointment was Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic.
==Naval career== Educated at the Royal Naval College, Osborne, and the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth,<ref name="janus">{{Cite web|title=The Memoirs of Vice-Admiral Sir William Robson {{!}} ArchiveSearch|url=https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/repositories/9/resources/1791|access-date=2021-11-16|website=archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk}}</ref> Robson joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in 1915 during the First World War and served as a midshipman on the battleship {{HMS|Malaya||6}}.<ref name=lh>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110205225939/http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/ROBSON.shtml Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives]</ref> He commanded the destroyers {{HMS|Rowena||6}} from 1934 and {{HMS|Wren|D88|6}} from 1935.<ref name=janus/>
Robson also served during the Second World War, initially as Commander of the destroyer {{HMS|Kandahar|F28|6}} and then with combined operations from 1943 before commanding the 26th Destroyer Flotilla in 1944 and then Captain of Coastal Forces at The Nore in 1945.<ref name=lh/>
After the War he was given command of the cruiser {{HMS|Superb|25|6}} and then, from 1948, of the Royal Navy Training Establishment HMS ''Ganges''.<ref name=lh/> Robson was appointed President of the Admiralty Interview Board in 1950, Flag Officer (Flotillas) for the Home Fleet in 1951 and then Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland in 1953.<ref name=lh/> He went on to be Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic in 1956.<ref name=lh/>
He was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1956.<ref name=janus />
At Freetown in early 1957, {{HMS|Veryan Bay|K651}} wore Vice-Admiral Robson's flag as Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic. ''Veryan Bay'' proceeded to Plymouth, arriving on 11 March 1957, and was then paid-off.<ref name="VeryanBayK651">{{Cite web |url= http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-15Fr-Bay-VeryanBay.htm|title=HMS Veryan Bay, frigate |work=naval-history.net |last=Mason |first=Geoffrey B. |editor=Gordon Smith |date=2005 |accessdate=9 December 2020}}</ref>
Sir Geoffrey Robson retired in July 1958.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=41516|page=6110| date=7 October 1958}}</ref> In retirement he served as Lieutenant Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Guernsey from 1958 to 1964.<ref name=lh/>
==References== {{reflist}}
== Further reading == * "Vice-Admiral Sir Geoffrey Robson", ''The Times'' (London), 1 January 1990, p. 12.
{{S-start}} {{s-mil}} {{succession box|title=Flag Officer, Scotland and Northern Ireland|before=John Crombie|after=Sir John Cuthbert|years=1953–1956}} |- {{s-bef | before=Sir Ian Campbell}} {{s-ttl | title=Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic Station | years=1956–1958}} {{s-aft | after=Sir Dymock Watson}} |- {{s-gov}} {{succession box|before=Sir Thomas Elmhirst|title=Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey|years=1958–1964|after=Sir Charles Coleman}} {{end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robson, Geoffrey}} Category:1902 births Category:1989 deaths Category:People educated at the Royal Naval College, Osborne Category:Graduates of Britannia Royal Naval College Category:Royal Navy officers of World War II Category:Royal Navy vice admirals Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom)