{{Short description|Royal Navy Vice Admiral (1902–1996)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = Vice-Admiral | name = Sir Stephen Carlill | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KBE|CB|DSO*}} | office1 = 2nd Chief of the Naval Staff | term_start1 = 21 July 1955 | term_end1 = 21 April 1958 | president1 = Rajendra Prasad<br /> | prime_minister1 = Jawaharlal Nehru | predecessor1 = Mark Pizey | successor1 = Ram Dass Katari | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1902|12|23}} | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1996|02|09|1902|12|23}} | birth_place = Orpington, Kent | death_place = Colwall, Malvern, Worcestershire | allegiance = {{flag|United Kingdom}}<br>{{flag|India}} | branch = {{navy|United Kingdom}}<br/>{{navy|India}} | service_years = 1923–1959 | rank = Vice-Admiral | commands = {{HMS|Hambledon|L37|2}}<br>{{HMS|Farndale|L70|2}}<br>{{HMS|Quilliam|G09|2}}<br>Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy | battles = World War II | awards = KBE<br>CB<br>DSO & Bar }}
Vice-Admiral '''Sir Stephen Hope Carlill''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KBE|CB|DSO*}} (23 December 1902 – 9 February 1996) was a Royal Navy admiral who served as the last British Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy from 1955 to 1958, when he was succeeded by Vice-Admiral Ram Dass Katari.<ref name="officers">{{cite web|title=Royal Navy (RN) Officers 1939–1945|url=http://www.unithistories.com/officers/RN_officersC.html|website=World War II Unit Histories & Officers|accessdate=6 February 2018}}</ref>
==Early life and career== Carlill was born in Orpington, Kent, the son of Harold Flamenk Carlill (1875–1959), a civil servant, and Beatrice Newton Hope (d. 1924). He was educated at the Royal Naval colleges at Osborne and Dartmouth, and was commissioned as an Acting Sub-Lieutenant in 1923. From 1923 to 1926 he served aboard HMS ''Ramillies'' and was promoted to Lieutenant in 1925.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33065|date=10 July 1925 |page=4623}}</ref><ref name="officers"/> In 1927 he served aboard the minelayer HMS ''Adventure''. From 1928 to 1930, Carlill studied gunnery at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich and aboard HMS ''Excellent'' from 1929 to 1930. He served as 2nd Gunnery Officer on the cruiser {{HMS|Norfolk|78|6}} in the Atlantic Fleet from 1930 to 1931.<ref name="officers"/>
From 1932 to 1935, he served as gunnery officer on the cruiser HMS ''Dunedin'' and as squadron gunnery officer for the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy. Carlill was promoted to Lieutenant-Commander in 1933,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=33934 |date=25 April 1933 |page=2765}}</ref> and returned to Portsmouth from 1935 to 1936 to further study gunnery aboard HMS ''Excellent''. From 1936 to 1937, he served as a gunnery officer on the battlecruiser {{HMS|Hood|51|6}} in the Mediterranean and was promoted to Commander in July 1937.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=34414|date=2 July 1937 |page=4248}}</ref> He subsequently served as Squadron Gunnery Officer for the Mediterranean Fleet aboard the cruiser HMS ''Galatea'' until August 1939.
During the Second World War, Carlill was successively given command of three ships:<ref name="uboat">{{cite web|title=Stephen Hope Carlill DSO, RN|url=http://www.uboat.net/allies/commanders/commanders.php?cID=447|website=uboat.net|accessdate=6 February 2018}}</ref>
* HMS ''Hambledon'' (L37) – as Commander 1 April 1940 to Oct 1940 * HMS ''Farndale'' (L70) – as Commander 3 December 1940 to 14 July 1942 * HMS ''Quilliam'' (G09) – as Captain 26 August 1942 to Nov 1943
After World War II, Carlill served various ship and land roles:<ref name="officers"/>
* Deputy Director (Gunnery), Gunnery and Anti-Aircraft Warfare Division, Admiralty HMS ''President'' 1944–46 * Chief of Staff to Commander-in-Chief, British Pacific Fleet HMS ''Tamar'' 1946 * Chief Staff Officer to Commander-in-Chief, British Pacific Fleet HMS ''London'' 1946–1948 * Commanding Officer, HMS ''Excellent'' (gunnery school, Portsmouth) 1949–1950 * Commanding Officer, {{HMS|Illustrious|87|6}} (aircraft carrier) 1950–51 * Senior Naval Member, Imperial Defence College HMS ''President'' 1952–1954 * Flag Officer, Training Squadron, Home Fleet HMS ''Theseus'' 1954–1955
==Post-naval career== Following his service in the Indian Navy, Carlill retired from the Royal Navy on 7 July 1959.<ref name="uboat"/> He served as representative in Ghana of the West Africa Committee from 1960 to 1966, and as adviser to the West Africa Committee from 1966 to 1967.<ref name="officers"/>
==Personal life== Carlill was married in 1928 to Julie Fredrike Elisabeth Hildegard (died 1991), only daughter of late Reverend W. Rahlenbeck of Westphalia. The Carlills had two sons; one, Admiral James Michael Rahlenbeck Carlill (1934–2010), also served in the Royal Navy.<ref name="officers"/> Carlill died at Colwall, Malvern, Worcestershire in 1996.
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} {{s-bef|before=Sir Charles Pizey}} {{s-ttl|title=Chief of the Naval Staff, Indian Navy|years=1955–1958}} {{s-aft|after=Ram Dass Katari}} {{s-end}} {{Chief_of_the_Naval_Staff_(India)}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carlill, Stephen Hope}} Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Category:Graduates of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Category:Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Category:Royal Navy vice admirals Category:Royal Navy officers of World War II Category:1902 births Category:1996 deaths Category:Royal Indian Navy officers Category:Military personnel from Kent Category:Chiefs of the Naval Staff (India)