A Naval Odyssey

Wed, Sep 25th 2019 at 12:50 pm - 2:00 pm

Commodore Ronald J Sandford CBE RN

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‘A Naval Odyssey’ was the title given to the talk delivered by retired Commodore Ronald Sandford RN to the Rotary Club of St Andrews. He told us he had served in Minesweepers, Frigates, Destroyers, an offshore Patrol Vessel, Aircraft Carriers and various senior staff appointments ashore all of which took him all round the world.

In April 1982 he was unexpectedly off to war in the Falklands as 2^nd in command on the Guided Missile Destroyer HMS Antrim. They were in charge of Operation Paraguay which involved the retaking of South Georgia. Some weeks later they lead the Amphibious Ships in to Falkland Sound on D-Day 21 May. We heard many stories of Commandos, helicopter crashes, naval bombardment and all that makes up military warfare.

After the Falklands his next job would be in command of HMS Brilliant where he was Captain Training at the School of Maritime Operations in Portsmouth where he was responsible for Warfare training. Another move resulted in him going to the RN School of Physical Training being responsible for PTI Training among other things.

He told us that in 1997 he returned to Scotland as the Naval Regional Officer for Scotland and Northern Ireland based in Rosyth. This position meant he was advising the MOD and other RN authorities of matters in Scotland likely to impact on RN business. He retired from service in 2005 having had an eventful career where he was certainly never bored.

Colin Brown thanked the speaker for a most interesting and thought provoking talk.

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