{{short description|Royal Navy Admiral of the Fleet (1928–1992)}} {{for|the 1980s and 90s rugby league footballer|John Fieldhouse (rugby league)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}} {{Infobox military person | honorific_prefix = Admiral of the Fleet The Right Honourable | name = The Lord Fieldhouse | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|GCB|GBE}} | image = Jfieldhouse.jpg | image_size = 175 | alt = | caption = | nickname = | birth_date = {{birth date|1928|2|12|df=y}} | birth_place = Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England | death_date = {{death date and age|1992|2|17|1928|2|12|df=y}} | death_place = Southampton, Hampshire, England | burial_place = | allegiance = United Kingdom | branch = Royal Navy | service_years = 1941–1989 | rank = Admiral of the Fleet | unit = | commands = Chief of the Defence Staff<br/>First Sea Lord<br/>Commander-in-Chief Fleet<br/>Flag Officer Submarines<br/>Flag Officer, Second Flotilla<br/>Standing Naval Force Atlantic<br/>{{HMS|Diomede|F16|6}}<br/>10th Submarine Squadron<br/>{{HMS|Dreadnought|S101|6}}<br/>{{HMS|Walrus|S08|6}}<br/>{{HMS|Tiptoe|P332|6}}<br/>{{HMS|Acheron|P411|6}}<br/>{{HMS|Subtle|P251|6}} | battles = Second World War<br/>Aden Emergency<br/>Falklands War | awards = Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath<br/>Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire | relations = | other_work = {{Infobox officeholder | embed = yes | office = Member of the House of Lords | status = Lord Temporal | term_label = Life peerage | term_start = 26 February 1990 | term_end = 17 February 1992 | party = Crossbencher }} }} Admiral of the Fleet '''John David Elliott Fieldhouse, Baron Fieldhouse''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|GCB|GBE}} (12 February 1928 – 17 February 1992) was a Royal Navy officer. He commanded five submarines and a frigate before achieving higher command from the 1970s. Following the invasion of the Falkland Islands by Argentine forces in April 1982, Fieldhouse was appointed Commander of the Task Force (designated Task Force 317) given responsibility for "Operation Corporate", the mission to recover the Falkland Islands. The campaign ended in the surrender of Argentine forces in June 1982. He became First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff in December that year and, in that role, persuaded the British Government to fund the replacement of ships lost in the Falklands War. He went on to be Chief of the Defence Staff from 1985 until his retirement in 1988.
==Early life== Born in Leeds to Sir Harold Fieldhouse, who had been secretary of the National Assistance Board, and Mabel Elaine Fieldhouse (née Elliott), Fieldhouse was educated at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth.<ref name="Telegraph obituary">{{cite news|title=Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fieldhouse|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/military-obituaries/naval-obituaries/7204491/Admiral-of-the-Fleet-Lord-Fieldhouse.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100220124354/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/military-obituaries/naval-obituaries/7204491/Admiral-of-the-Fleet-Lord-Fieldhouse.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 February 2010|access-date=26 August 2012|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=18 February 1992}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.freebmd.org.uk:443/cgi/information.pl?cite=ntjMX0FUZs9wOq2orPqIAw&scan=1 |title=Index entry |access-date=30 March 2017 |work=FreeBMD |publisher=ONS}}</ref>
==Naval career== Fieldhouse joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in 1944.<ref name=heath77>Heathcote, p. 77.</ref> He was promoted to midshipman on 1 September 1945 and posted to the cruiser {{HMS|Norfolk|78|6}} in November.<ref name=heath77/> Promoted to sub-lieutenant on 1 May 1947,<ref name="LG 19 November 1948">{{London Gazette |issue=38461 |date=19 November 1948 |page=6077 }}</ref> he joined the Submarine Service in 1948 and was posted to the submarine {{HMS|Thule|P325|6}} in March 1949.<ref name=heath77/> He was promoted to lieutenant on 1 October and subsequently served in the submarines {{HMS|Astute|P447|6}}, {{HMS|Aeneas|P427|6}} and then {{HMS|Totem|P352|6}}.<ref name=heath77/> He completed the Submarine Command Course in 1955.<ref name="Telegraph obituary"/>
Fieldhouse took command of his first submarine, {{HMS|Subtle|P251|6}}, in January 1956 and went on to command the submarine {{HMS|Acheron|P411|6}} in March.<ref name=heath77/> Promoted to lieutenant commander on 1 October 1957, he took command of the submarine {{HMS|Tiptoe|P332|6}} in June 1958 and then joined the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich.<ref name=heath77/> He went on to command the submarine {{HMS|Walrus|S08|6}} from January 1961 and was promoted to commander on 31 December.<ref name=heath77/> In July 1964 he took command of {{HMS|Dreadnought|S101|6}}, the Royal Navy's first nuclear submarine.<ref name=heath77/> He attended the Joint Service Defence College in 1966,<ref name="Telegraph obituary" /> after which he became second-in-command of the aircraft carrier {{HMS|Hermes|R12|6}}.<ref name=heath77/> With ''Hermes'', Fieldhouse was involved in the preparation for the British withdrawal from Aden during the Aden Emergency.<ref name="Telegraph obituary" /> Promoted to captain on 31 December 1967,<ref name="LG 29 December 1967">{{London Gazette |issue=44493 |date=29 December 1967 |page=71 |supp=y}}</ref> he moved to Faslane Naval Base, Scotland to command the 10th Submarine Squadron of {{Sclass|Resolution|submarine|1}}s.<ref name="Telegraph obituary" /> From October 1970, he commanded {{HMS|Diomede|F16|6}}, a frigate, as part of his overall command of the 3rd Frigate Squadron.<ref name="Telegraph obituary" />
In 1972, with his promotion to commodore, Fieldhouse took command of the Standing Naval Force Atlantic.<ref name=heath77/> He then moved to the Ministry of Defence, initially as deputy director of Naval Warfare and then, from November 1973, as Director of Naval Warfare.<ref name="Telegraph obituary" /> He was appointed Flag Officer, Second Flotilla in December 1974,<ref name="Telegraph obituary" /> promoted to rear admiral on 7 January 1975,<ref name="LG 24 December 1974">{{London Gazette |issue=46440 |date=24 December 1974 |page=13195 |supp=y}}</ref> and became Flag Officer Submarines as well as NATO Commander Submarines Eastern Atlantic in November 1976.<ref name="Telegraph obituary" /> He was promoted to vice admiral on 1 April 1978,<ref name="LG 30 October 1978">{{London Gazette |issue=47676 |date=30 October 1978 |page=12974 |supp=y}}</ref> and became Controller of the Navy in January 1979.<ref name=heath77/> He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1980 New Year Honours.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=48041 |date=28 December 1979 |page=1 |supp=y}}</ref>
thumb|left|Argentine soldiers surrendering at the end of the Falklands War which Fieldhouse had directed from the Northwood Command Centre Fieldhouse became Commander-in-Chief Fleet and NATO Commander-in-Chief, Channel and Commander-in-Chief Eastern Atlantic in April 1981, and received promotion to full admiral on 23 July 1981.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=48677 |date=13 July 1981 |page=9292 |supp=y}}</ref><ref name=heath78>Heathcote, p. 78.</ref> Following the invasion of the Falkland Islands by Argentine forces in April 1982, Fieldhouse was appointed Commander of the Task Force (designated Task Force 317) given responsibility for "Operation Corporate", the mission to recover the Falkland Islands.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=49194 |date=13 December 1982 |page=16121 |supp=y}}</ref> He conducted the campaign, which ended in the surrender of Argentine forces in June 1982,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=49194 |date=13 December 1982 |page=16109 |supp=y}}</ref> from the Northwood Command Centre.<ref name=heath78/> He was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the 1982 Birthday Honours<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=49008 |date=11 June 1982 |page=2 |supp=y}}</ref> and appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire on 11 October 1982 "in recognition of service within the operations in the South Atlantic".<ref name="LG 8 October 1982">{{London Gazette |issue=49134 |date=8 October 1982 |page=12856 |supp=y}}</ref>
thumb|right|Bust of Fieldhouse in the Falklands Gardens, Gosport Fieldhouse became First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff on 1 December 1982:<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=49203 |date=20 December 1982 |page=16685 |supp=y}}</ref> in that role he persuaded the British Government to fund the replacement of ships lost in the Falklands War.<ref name=heath78/> He was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 2 August 1985<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=50238|supp=y |date=23 August 1985 |page=11765 }}</ref> and became Chief of the Defence Staff later that month.<ref name=heath78/> He stepped down as Chief in December 1988,<ref name=heath78/> and retired from the Navy in May 1989.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=51754|supp=y|page=6661| date=5 June 1989}}</ref>
==Later life== Fieldhouse was made a life peer as '''Baron Fieldhouse''', of Gosport in the County of Hampshire in 1990.<ref name="LG 29 December 1989">{{London Gazette |issue=51981 |date=29 December 1989 |page=1 |supp=y}}</ref><ref name="LG 1 March 1990">{{London Gazette |issue=52063 |date=1 March 1990 |page=2765 }}</ref> In retirement he became a consultant to Vosper Thornycroft plc<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.royalmarinesassociation.org/vic/news/2009-august.pdf|title=Newsletter No. 8|date=August 2009|publisher=Royal Marines Association, Victoria – Australia|access-date=26 August 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726103011/http://www.royalmarinesassociation.org/vic/news/2009-august.pdf|archive-date=26 July 2014}}</ref> and his interests included sailing.<ref name="Telegraph obituary"/> In 1992 he had a major heart operation in Southampton General Hospital, subsequent to which he caught an infection and died there on 17 February 1992 at the age of 64.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thenewscentre.co.uk/falklands/bitter.htm|title=Bitter letter that cut deep|publisher=The News Centre|access-date=26 August 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120228213600/http://www.thenewscentre.co.uk/falklands/bitter.htm|archive-date=28 February 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=18 February 1992 |title=Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fieldhouse – obituary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/military-obituaries/naval-obituaries/7204491/Admiral-of-the-Fleet-Lord-Fieldhouse.htm |access-date=7 October 2019 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph}}{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
==Family== In 1953 Fieldhouse married Margaret (Midge) Cull; they had a son and two daughters.<ref name="Telegraph obituary" />
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==Sources== * {{cite book|last=Heathcote|first=Tony|title=The British Admirals of the Fleet 1734 – 1995|publisher=Pen & Sword Ltd|date=2002|isbn=0-85052-835-6}}
{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} {{s-bef|before=Sir Iwan Raikes}} {{s-ttl|title=Flag Officer Submarines|years=1976–1978}} {{s-aft|after=Robert Squires}} |- {{s-bef|before=Sir Richard Clayton}} {{s-ttl|title=Controller of the Navy|years=1979–1981}} {{s-aft|after=Sir Lindsay Bryson}} |- {{s-bef|before=Sir James Eberle}} {{s-ttl|title=Commander-in-Chief Fleet|years=1981–1982}} {{s-aft|after={{nowrap|Sir William Staveley}}|rows=2}} |- {{s-bef|before=Sir Henry Leach}} {{s-ttl|title=First Sea Lord|years=1982–1985}} |- {{s-bef|before=Sir Edwin Bramall}} {{s-ttl|title=Chief of the Defence Staff|years=1985–1988}} {{s-aft|after=Sir David Craig}} {{s-end}}
{{Chiefs of Defence Staff}} {{First Sea Lord}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fieldhouse, John}} Category:1928 births Category:1992 deaths Category:Chiefs of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom) Category:Crossbench life peers Category:First Sea Lords and Chiefs of the Naval Staff Category:Graduates of Britannia Royal Naval College Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Category:Royal Navy admirals of the fleet Category:Royal Navy personnel of the Falklands War Category:Graduates of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich Category:Royal Navy officers of World War II Category:Royal Navy submarine commanders Category:Military personnel from Leeds Category:Life peers created by Elizabeth II Category:Deaths from complications of heart surgery