{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}} {{Use British English|date=February 2018}} {{Infobox military person | honorific_prefix = Admiral | name = Sir John Edelsten | honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|GCB|GCVO|CBE}} | image = John Edelsten (1953).jpg | caption = John Edelsten (1953) | birth_date = 12 May 1891<ref name="Churchill Archives Centre">{{Cite web|url=https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/repositories/9/resources/1544|title=The Papers of Vice-Admiral Sir John Edelsten|work=Archivesearch|publisher=Churchill Archives Centre}}</ref> | death_date = 10 February 1966<ref name="Churchill Archives Centre"/> | birth_place = Enfield, Middlesex, England | death_place = Liphook, Hampshire | nickname = | allegiance = {{flag|United Kingdom}} | branch = {{navy|United Kingdom}} | service_years = | rank = Admiral | unit = | commands = 1st Battle Squadron<br/>4th Cruiser Squadron<br/>Mediterranean Fleet<br/>Portsmouth Command | battles = World War II | awards = Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath<br/>Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order<br/>Commander of the Order of the British Empire }} Admiral '''Sir John Hereward Edelsten''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|GCB|GCVO|CBE}} (12 May 1891 – 10 February 1966) was a senior Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth.<ref name="times">{{cite news |title= Obituary: Admiral Sir John Edelsten |work=The Times |date=11 February 1966 |page= 18 }}</ref>
==Early life== Edelsten was born 12 May 1891 in Enfield, Middlesex, England the third son to John Jackson Edelsten and Jessica Gooding.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Amarna|first=Cheri|date=|title=Edelsten/Taylor Family Tree|url=https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/11109087/person/-525493131/facts|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=Ancestry.com}}</ref> John Jackson Edelsten owned a tea broker business.<ref>{{Cite ODNB|title=Edelsten, Sir John Hereward (1891–1966), naval officer|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-65600|access-date=2020-06-10|year = 2004|language=en|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/65600}}</ref>
==Naval career== Edelsten joined the Royal Navy in 1908.<ref name=lh>[http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/EDELSTEN.shtml Sir John Hereward Edelsten] Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, kcl.ac.uk; accessed 8 April 2016.</ref> He served in World War I and then became Deputy Director of Plans in 1938.<ref name=lh/>
He also served in World War II initially as Senior Naval Officer during operations against Italian Somaliland before becoming chief of staff to the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Station in 1941.<ref name=lh/> He was made Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (U-boat Warfare and Trade) in 1942 and Rear Admiral (Destroyers) for the British Pacific Fleet in 1945.<ref name=lh/>
After the War he commanded 1st Battle Squadron and then 4th Cruiser Squadron before becoming Vice Chief of the Naval Staff in 1947.<ref name=lh/> He was made Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet in 1950; this post was dual hatted from 1952 as NATO Commander Allied Forces Mediterranean.<ref name=lh/>
In this capacity he conducted a two-day visit to Israel. His last post was as Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth and NATO Allied Naval Commander-in-Chief, Channel Command in 1952; he retired in 1954.<ref name=lh/>
He was also First and Principal Naval Aide-de-Camp to the Queen from 1953 to 1954.<ref name=":0">{{London Gazette|issue=39853|supp=y|page=2704|date=15 May 1953}}</ref>
Edelsten was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order in the 1953 Coronation Honours.<ref name=":0" />
== Family == On 14 December 1926, Edelsten married Frances Anne Hoile Masefield at the Holy Trinity Church in London.<ref name=ancestry>Ancestry.com. London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.</ref> Frances was born 14 October 1900 in Broughty Ferry, Forfarshire, Scotland to Henry Valentine Masefield and Caroline Gordon.<ref name=ancestry/>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} {{succession box|title=Vice Chief of the Naval Staff|before=Sir Rhoderick McGrigor|after=Sir George Creasy|years=1947–1949}} |- {{succession box | title=Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet | before=Sir Arthur Power | after=Lord Mountbatten| years=1950–1952}} |- {{succession box | title=Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth | before=Sir Arthur Power | after=Sir George Creasy| years=1952–1955}} |- {{s-hon}} {{s-bef | before=Sir Rhoderick McGrigor}} {{s-ttl | title=First and Principal Naval Aide-de-Camp | years=1953–1954}} {{s-aft | after=Sir Guy Russell}} |- {{s-bef|before=Sir Percy Noble}} {{s-ttl|title=Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom |years=1955–1962}} {{s-aft|after=Sir Peter Reid}} |- {{s-bef|before=Sir Martin Dunbar-Nasmith}} {{s-ttl|title=Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom |years=1962–1966}} {{s-aft|after=Sir Peter Reid}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edelston, John}} Category:1891 births Category:1966 deaths Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:Royal Navy officers of World War I Category:Royal Navy admirals of World War II Category:Lords of the Admiralty Category:Admiralty personnel of World War II Category:People from Enfield, London Category:Military personnel from the London Borough of Enfield