George Zambellas
Sir George Zambellas
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Admiral Sir George Zambellas
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Born | 4 April 1958 |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ |
Royal Navy |
Years of service | 1980– |
Rank | Admiral |
Commands held | First Sea Lord Fleet Commander Commander United Kingdom Maritime Forces HMS Chatham HMS Argyll HMS Cattistock |
Battles/wars | Operation Palliser |
Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Cross |
Admiral Sir George Michael Zambellas, GCB, DSC, ADC, DL, FRAeS, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , (born 4 April 1958)[1] is the current First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval staff of the Royal Navy. In his early career he served as a helicopter pilot with 814 Naval Air Squadron, 829 Naval Air Squadron and then 815 Naval Air Squadron.
As captain of HMS Chatham he was deployed as part of Operation Palliser off Sierra Leone for which he received the Distinguished Service Cross in 2001. He went on to be Fleet Commander and Deputy Chief of Naval staff of the Royal Navy in early 2012.
Early life
Born the son of a Greek father, Michael George Zambellas and Rosemary Frederique Zambellas (née Lindsay), Zambellas was educated at Shabani Primary School in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), and at Stowe School.[1] He studied aeronautical and astronautical engineering at the University of Southampton and graduated in 1980 with a Bachelor of Science (BSc Hons) degree.[2]
Military career
Zambellas was commissioned as an acting sub-lieutenant in the Royal Navy on 17 September 1980.[3] He was promoted to lieutenant on 16 May 1982[4] and served with 814 Naval Air Squadron, 829 Naval Air Squadron and 815 Naval Air Squadron in his early career.[1]
Zambellas was trained for the naval staff at Greenwich in 1990,[1] and after spending a short time as a corporate planner for the Royal Navy's manpower and training division within the Ministry of Defence, he took command of the mine-sweeper HMS Cattistock in 1991.[1] His next appointment was ashore, as an aviation operations officer in the Fleet Headquarters at Northwood, before being promoted to commander on 30 June 1994.[5] In 1995 he was given command of the frigate HMS Argyll and was deployed on counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean.[1]
Zambellas served as a corporate planner during the 1997–98 Strategic Defence Review[1] before returning to operational command in 1999 as captain of the frigate HMS Chatham and being deployed as part of Operation Palliser off Sierra Leone for which he received the Distinguished Service Cross in 2001.[6][7] In 2001 he took the Higher Command and Staff Course at Shrivenham before becoming Deputy Flag Officer Sea Training, responsible for training Royal Navy and foreign warships and auxiliaries.[1]
Promoted to commodore in 2002, Zambellas was appointed to be principal staff officer to the Chief of the Defence staff and served Admiral Boyce and General Walker during the invasion of Iraq and the early days of its fallout.[1] He was given command of the Royal Navy's Amphibious Task Group in January 2005.[1]
Promoted to rear admiral on 29 August 2006[8] and appointed Chief of staff (Transformation),[1] Zambellas was in this role entrusted with "designing and delivering the Fleet's new approach to the generation of maritime capability and support to operations."[9] In 2007, he became Commander United Kingdom Maritime Force,[1] and in October 2008, he became Chief of staff (Operations) at the UK's Permanent Joint Headquarters at Northwood.[1]
Promoted vice admiral in January 2011, Zambellas was appointed Deputy Commander-in-Chief Fleet, Chief of staff to Navy Command Headquarters, and Chief Naval Warfare Officer.[10] He became Commander-in-Chief Fleet in January 2012 and was promoted admiral on 6 January 2013.[11] In April 2012 his role was re-designated Fleet Commander and Deputy Chief of the Naval Service.[12]
Zambellas was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 2012 Birthday Honours[13] and became First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval staff on 9 April 2013.[14][15]
On 15 April 2014, Zambellas wrote an op-ed piece in the Daily Telegraph that laid out the case for a "No" vote in the Scottish independence referendum, 2014. He said it would weaken the maritime defence of the UK.[16] Despite this, on 12 November 2014 he was publicly overruled by the UK Defence Secretary after suggesting to a journalist that the contract for Type 26 frigates may not be awarded to Scottish shipyards.[17][18]
On 4 July 2014, Zambellas was among those attending the launch ceremony of the 70,600-tonne Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, the largest warship ever built in the United Kingdom, and formally named by Queen Elizabeth II.[19]
Zambellas is a Younger Brother of Trinity House.[1]
He was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) in the 2016 New Year Honours.[20]
Family
In 1982 Zambellas married Amanda Jane LeCudennec; they have three sons.[1]
Honours and awards
Zambellas was elected Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society (FRAeS) in 2009.[2] In September 2013, he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant (DL) of Dorset.[21]
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) | 31 December 2015[22] | |
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) | 16 June 2012[13] | |
Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) | 6 April 2001[6] | |
Operational Service Medal for Sierra Leone | ||
Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal | 2002 | |
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal | 2012 |
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 Who's Who 2010, A & C Black, 2010, ISBN 978-1-408-11414-8
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 49251. p. 1500. 1 February 1983. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
- ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 48976. p. 6288. 11 May 1982. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
- ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 53724. p. 9603. 5 July 1994. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 56168. p. 4246. 6 April 2001. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 58095. p. 12407. 12 September 2006. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 60025. p. 285. 10 January 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 60173. p. 2. 16 June 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 61450. p. N2. 30 December 2015.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 60644. p. 19290. 1 October 2013. Retrieved 04 April 2015.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to George Zambellas. |
Military offices | ||
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Preceded by | Commander United Kingdom Maritime Forces 2007–2008 |
Succeeded by Sir Philip Jones |
Preceded by | Deputy Commander-in-Chief Fleet 2011 |
Succeeded by Sir Philip Jones |
Preceded by | Commander-in-Chief Fleet January 2012 – April 2012 |
Succeeded by Post disbanded |
Preceded by
New post
|
Fleet Commander and Deputy Chief of the Naval staff Spring 2012 – November 2012 |
Succeeded by Sir Philip Jones |
Preceded by | First Sea Lord 2013– |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
Honorary titles | ||
Preceded by | Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom 2012 |
Succeeded by Sir Donald Gosling |
- EngvarB from May 2014
- Use dmy dates from May 2014
- Commons category link is defined as the pagename
- Royal Navy admirals
- First Sea Lords
- Living people
- British people of Greek descent
- Alumni of the University of Southampton
- Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
- Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom)
- Deputy Lieutenants of Dorset
- People educated at Stowe School
- British military personnel of the Sierra Leone Civil War
- Royal Navy personnel of the Iraq War
- 1958 births
- Helicopter pilots
- People from Zvishavane
- Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society