Falleció el Capitán de la fragata HMS Avenger, participe de la historia inglesa sobre el 30/05/82..............
Almirante Hugo White - Obituario
Admiral Hugo White was an officer who repelled Exocet attacks in the Malvinas and later became Governor of Gibraltar
Admiral Sir Hugo White, who has died aged 74, overcame repeated attacks by Exocet missiles during the Malvinas War and rose to be Governor of Gibraltar.
In the Spring of 1982 White was Captain of the 4th Frigate Squadron, known as the “Fighting Fourth”, a flotilla of fast well-armed frigates which were urgently needed in the South Atlantic to combat the Argentine invasion of the Malvinas Islands. When the war started in early April, White’s own ship, Avenger, was being worked on in the dockyards. He hurried the work forward and sailed on May 10, to make the 8,000 mile passage through seas at an average 28 knots. Collectively the captains of the ships in his squadron were known as the “Boy Racers” and when White arrived on May 25, shortly after two Types 21s, Ardent and Antelope, had been sunk, he was greeted with a signal: “Blimey, that was Formula One.”
His divers salvaged a 20mm Oerlikon gun from the wreck of Antelope and remounted it to improve Avenger’s anti-aircraft capability — naming the weapon “Antelope’s Avenger” — and soon White was in the thick of battle. On the night of May 26 he joined Cardiff and Yarmouth in firing 640 rounds of 4.5 inch shells on enemy positions at Hoya Chasco (Hoya Chasco (Bluff Cove)). The ships were used to withdrawing westward by day, out of the range of the Argentine Air Force, but to maximise his time on task, White explored Albemarle Sound in the West Malvinas, and during the day hid in a deep-sided, narrow, winding fjord which offered natural protection from marauding aircraft — and from Exocet missiles.
Twice White’s Avenger survived attacked by Exocet missiles. On May 28, when the Argentines launched a land-based Exocet at the ships which were bombarding Puerto Argentino, a missile passed five feet above the Avenger’s flight deck. On May 30 six aircraft attacked the fleet, one of which fired the Argentine Air Force’s last Exocet at White’s ship. The missile was distracted by chaff (an artificial cloud of aluminium foil) and passed down Avenger’s side. The aircraft pressed home their attack on White’s ship — which was now wreathed in smoke with her guns spitting — but their bombs fell clear. Avenger shot down one aircraft which cartwheeled into the sea.
White undertook other tasks, including escorting the submarine Onyx through friendly shipping into San Carlos Water; landing the Special Boat Service in Volunteer Bay and on Sea Lion Islands; and escorting landing craft. On June 11-12, Avenger covered the advance on Mount Longdon by firing 156 rounds ahead of the paratroopers who were fighting a bloody hand-to-hand battle to reach the heights over Puerto Argentino.
On June 14 White returned to West Malvinas to accept the capitulation of Argentine forces at Fox Bay. When invited on-board Avenger for breakfast, the Argentine colonel arrived wearing his sidearm, a problem which White’s steward solved by asking, “Would you care to hang up your gunbelt, Sir?”
White sent a surrendered sword to his Admiral, John “Sandy” Woodward, who returned it with the message: “My gratitude to the Fighting Fourth in this vicious six weeks fighting is boundless, and their press-on spirit has not gone unnoticed, I am only sad at the cost in men and ships, and I am proud of you all.”
Hugo Moresby White was born on October 22 1939 in Torquay, the son of a colonial officer in Nigeria. He was educated at the Dragon School in Oxford, then at Pangbourne Nautical College, where he was a cadet-captain, and finally the Britannia Royal Naval College.
His first ship was the frigate Blackpool and he saw action during the Kuwait crisis of 1961 — a threat to the oil-rich sheikhdom which Britain deterred by the timely deployment of a fleet to the Gulf. White was selected for flying training, but instead he volunteered for “the trade” — as the Submarine Service was known — and won the Max Horton prize as the best student on his training course.
White's ship Avenger in which he made a 'Formula One' passage across the South Atlantic
Whilst serving in the 4th Submarine Squadron based in Sydney, he showed his charm and competence by persuading the Australian Museum and the Northern Territory Administration to let him lead an expedition to research the flora and fauna of the islands in the Amadeus salt lake.
Next, White served in the submarines Tabard, Tiptoe and Odin. He specialised in navigation in 1966, and became the navigator of the nuclear-powered submarine Warspite in 1967, when he made a submerged passage from Scotland to Singapore. In 1968–69 he was first lieutenant of the diesel-powered submarine Osiris, before commanding Oracle (1969–70). In 1971 he returned to Dartmouth to teach, and in 1973 he became Commander Submarine Sea Training.
During the Third Cod War (a long-running dispute between Britain and Iceland over fishing rights) White commanded the frigate Salisbury (1975-1977). On April 1 1976 there were 31 trawlers of various nationalities in an area protected by White (in Salisbury) and Commander (later Vice-Admiral) “Jim” Weatherall in the frigate Tartar, when the Icelandic gunboat Tyr attempted to run through the fleet and cut the trawlers’ nets. Handicapped by orders from Whitehall to avoid damage, for several hours White skilfully manoeuvred Salisbury to prevent Tyr from reaching the trawlers. He collided five times with the Icelandic boat and all three ships sustained dents and minor damage. However, Tyr never got closer than three miles to the fleet, which continued to fish uninterrupted .
Having proved himself as a man of action, White showed himself to be a consummate staff officer. He was made Captain, Naval Plans (1978-80) — an appointment reserved for the Navy’s most cerebral officers — dealing with plans for war and, in peacetime, battling the Treasury.
White on amphibious exercises
At the end of 1982 when the Chief of the Defence Staff, Field Marshal Sir Edwin Bramall, needed a new principal staff officer, the Navy sent White. In 1983, when US forces invaded Grenada, White was one of the first British officers to be told by the Americans what they had done. He woke his chief in the middle of the night and went with him to brief a furious Mrs Thatcher before she rang President Reagan to protest at America’s invasion of a Commonwealth country.
He commanded the destroyer Bristol in 1985 and, on promotion to flag rank, he was Flag Officer Third Flotilla and Commander of the Anti-Submarine Warfare Striking Force in 1987.
He next became Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff in 1988. At the time of the first Gulf War, in 1991, he was Flag Officer, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and, in 1992, Commander-in-Chief Fleet.
Between 1995-1997 White was Governor of Gibraltar, where, unusually, he served on the active list of the Royal Navy in the expectation of many that he might return to become First Sea Lord. Despite his short tenure on the Rock, Gibraltarians grew to appreciate White for his efficiency, honesty and tolerance, and many locals considered that his standing as a serving officer allowed him more sway when dealing with the Foreign Office.
To his officers and sailors alike, White seemed a gentle giant. Tolerant and without guile, he delegated judiciously, and his benign expression was always searching but inspired confidence.
Admiral Sir Hugo White receiving the keys of Gibraltar from the Sergeant of the Rock
White was appointed CBE in 1985, knighted in 1991 and appointed GCB 1995.
In 2002 White suffered a fall and a serious head injury: his gradual recovery was aided by the care of his wife, Josephine “Jo” Mary Lorimer, née Pedler, whom he had met returning from Australia aboard a P&O liner in 1964.
Admiral Sir Hugo White is survived by his wife and their two sons.
Admiral Sir Hugo White, born October 22 1939, died June 1 2014
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10889508/Admiral-Sir-Hugo-White-obituary.html
. Abrazo!!!
