Alastair Ewing

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Vice-Admiral Sir Alastair Ewing KBE CB DSC (10 April 1909 – 19 May 1997) was a senior Royal Navy officer who later became Naval Secretary.

Born in Roxburghshire, Scotland, he studied at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, and joined the Royal Navy in 1923. He served in World War II and held several commands. In 1940 he commanded the destroyer HMS Cattistock. Later he captained HMS Offa and took part in a Commando raid on Vågsøy in western Norway in December 1941. He also witnessed the loss of many ships during Convoy PQ 17 in July 1942. In 1943 he commanded the cruiser HMS Diomede and was twice mentioned in dispatches for his service.

After the war he commanded the destroyer HMS Cheviot. He joined the NATO Standing Group Staff in 1950, then commanded the battleship HMS Vanguard in 1953. He was Director at the Naval Staff College in Greenwich in 1954 and became Naval Secretary in 1956. He later served as Flag Officer Flotillas (Mediterranean) in 1958 and as Flag Officer commanding the Reserves and Inspector of Recruiting in 1960. He was promoted to vice-admiral on 22 July 1960 and retired from the Navy in 1962. In retirement he worked as a yacht broker in Florida.

Personal life: In 1940 he married Diana Archer; they had a son. Diana died in 1980. He married Anne Chichester in 1984. He passed away in Winchester, Hampshire, in 1997 at the age of 88.