User:Shipsview/Vice-Admiral Sir Hector MacLean

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Vice-Admiral Sir Hector MacLean, KBE, CB, DSC, former Chief of Staff, Home Fleet, and Chief of Allied Staff, Mediterranean, died at his home in Norfolk, 19 February, 2003. He was 94.

Hector Charles Donald MacLean was born 7 August, 1908, son of Capt. Donald Charles Hugh MacLean, DSO, The Royal Scots, who died in 1909, by his wife, Gwendoline Katherine Leonora Hope, a descendant of the 1st Earl of Hopetoun, and was educated at Wellington.

Career: Special Entry into the Royal Navy, 1926; Captain, 1948; Imperial Defence College, 1951; in Command of HMS Saintes & 3rd Destroyer Squadron, 1952-53; Director of Plans, Admiralty, 1953-56; in Command of HMS Eagle, 1956-57; Chief of Staff, Home Fleet, 1958-59; Chief of Allied Staff, Mediterranean, 1959-62; Vice-Admiral, 1960; retired from the Royal Navy, 1962.

MacLean was awarded the DSC in 1941; appointed CB in 1960; & KBE in 1962.

Sir Hector, of Brancaster Staithe, King's Lynn, Norfolk, was appointed a JP for Norfolk in 1964, and a deputy lieutenant of the county in 1977.He married in 1933, Opre [b. 1910], daughter of Capt [William] Geoffrey Vyvyan, and a descendant of the Vyvyan Baronets, of Trelowarren, Cornwall, by whom he had a son, Charles, and two daughters, Sara and Katherine.

The funeral takes place at St Mary's, Burnham Deepdale, 28 February, 2003.

Source for the above: Michael Rhodes

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Vice-Admiral Sir Hector Charles Donald MacLean was born on 7 August 1908.2 He was the son of Captain Donald Charles Hugh MacLean and Gwendoline Katherine Leonora Hope.1 He married Opre Vyvyan, daughter of William Geoffrey Vyvyan and Frances Mary Ford, in 1933.1 He died on 19 February 2003 at age 94.1

    He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) in 1941.3 He was Chief of Staff, Home Fleet between 1958 and 1959.3 He was appointed Knight Commander, Order of the British Empire (K.B.E.) in 1962.3 He held the office of Justice of the Peace (J.P.) for Norfolk in 1964.3 He held the office of Deputy Lieutenant (D.L.) of Norfolk in 1977.3

Children of Vice-Admiral Sir Hector Charles Donald MacLean and Opre Vyvyan

• Sara MacLean+1 b. 19 Sep 1934
• Charles David Hector MacLean+1 b. 1 Mar 1936
• Katherine Mary MacLean1 b. 10 May 1937

Sources for the above:

1. [S6527] Kenneth Williams, "re: Carey Family," e-mail message to Darryl Roger LUNDY (101053), 25 January 2013. Hereinafter cited as "re: Carey Family."
2. [S466] Notices, The Telegraph, London, UK. Hereinafter cited as The Telegraph.
3. [S1122] Peerage News, online http://peeragenews.blogspot.co.nz/. Hereinafter cited as Peerage News.

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Vice-Admiral Sir Hector Charles Donald MacLean, KBE, CB, DSC, DL UK 7 August 1908 – 19 February 2003

Naval officer who took part in the Altmark affair and commanded the carrier Eagle at the Suez landings. He was the 20th Claimant to the Chieftainship of the MacLeans of Coll. Grandson of Major General Charles Smith MacLean, CB, CIE (1836 – 1921), nephew of Lieutenant Hector Lachlan Stewart MacLean, VC (1870 – 1897) and of Rear-Admiral Colin Kenneth MacLean, CB, CVO, DSO (q.v. all) See obituaries at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article1112315.ece and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1422912/Vice-Admiral-Sir-Hector-MacLean.html

Source for the above: Clan Maclean Heritage Trust

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Vice Admiral Sir Hector MacLean

Officer who took part in the Altmark affair and commanded the carrier Eagle at the Suez landings

Hector MacLean was the scion of a remarkable military family. His grandfather, a major-general and consul-general, fought with great gallantry in the Indian Mutiny, then in China and the 1878 Afghan War, being awarded a sword of honour by the Shah of Persia for determining the Afghan-Persian border.

One of MacLean’s uncles won a posthumous VC as a young lieutenant in the Queen’s Own Corps of Guides during the Punjab Frontier Expedition in 1897. Another earned the DSO and rose to vice-admiral in the Navy during and after the First World War, while the third served on Sir Francis Younghusband’s expedition to Lhasa, Tibet, in 1904, and was subsequently killed in action at Gallipoli. MacLean’s father was awarded the DSO in 1902 while a lieutenant

Captain H C D MacLean, DSC,

Vice-Admiral Sir Hector MacLean

24 February 2003 • 12:01am

Vice-Admiral SIR Hector MacLean, who has died aged 94, was navigating officer of the destroyer Cossack when she hunted down a German supply ship carrying 299 captive merchant seamen in neutral Norwegian waters in 1940.

The Altmark was returning from the South Atlantic where her parent ship, the pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee, had sunk several British merchantmen.

Alerted by his C-in-C, Captain Philip Vian chased the Altmark through the islands and fjords until they reached Jossingfjord at night. There Altmark tried to blind Cossack with her searchlight and charged her astern at full power through a channel in the ice.

But according to Vian, MacLean's "imperturbable skill and expert shiphandling" avoided disaster. He ensured that, as the two ships brushed together, a boarding party leapt onto the Altmark and shouted down a hold,"Any British there?" There was a boisterous response. "Then come up," was the reply. "The Navy's here."

Cossack achieved headlines around the world, but had to be docked to repair her damage; although MacLean had saved her propeller and the underwater hull from the ice and rocks, both her side and stem plates needed repair. Vian therefore had to transfer to another destroyer and, to his consternation, lost MacLean, who was mentioned in dispatches and given another appointment.

Hector Charles Donald MacLean was born on August 7 1908 at Bangalore, India. His uncle and namesake won the VC during the Pathan revolt in 1897, and his father, a captain in the Royal Scots, won the DSO at 25. Young Hector was brought up by his widowed mother and educated at Wellington before entering the Navy by special entry.

As a midshipman in 1928 he served in the cruiser Durban in the Pacific and was a "snotty" to Lieutenant Prince George of Kent. He specialised in navigation, serving in destroyers and, briefly, the cruiser Delhi in the British Mediterranean Fleet. It was at Malta that the aggressive Vian spotted MacLean's talent, and took him into Cossack.

After Norway, MacLean was sent to the aircraft carrier Ark Royal. He was navigating her when she was torpedoed on Friday November 13 1941 by a German U-boat. Already in need of maintenance, she lost all power and light and took a heavy list.

By nightfall MacLean, who was on the bridge, had helped to organise a tow. But then a fire broke out, and Ark Royal increased her list until she sank only 25 miles from Gibraltar. Every one on board behaved in an exemplary fashion, and only one man was lost. MacLean was awarded the DSC.

He next served on the battleship Anson, and had a short spell at the Admiralty before being appointed Master of the British Pacific Fleet; but he arrived too late for the war on Japan, and remembered only eating Sydney Bay oysters and playing golf with his commander-in-chief.

MacLean's career after the war alternated between staff and sea appointments. Although not an aviator, he commanded the aircraft carrier Eagle during the Suez crisis and became Flag Officer Aircraft Carrier Squadron. His last appointment was as Chief of Staff at Headquarters Allied Forces Mediterranean, based in Malta. He was appointed CB in 1960 and KBE in 1962.

In retirement MacLean worked for the defence engineering company Elliot Automation. Settling in Norfolk, he became a JP and a Deputy Lieutenant, and captained the Royal West Norfolk golf club. He also chaired the Royal Naval Benevolent Society and the Association of Retired Naval Officers.

MacLean claimed the chieftainship of the MacLeans of Coll, and would have been the 20th chief. But the death of Dr James MacLean of Glensanda, the clan historian who was helping him pursue the claim, meant that he did not succeed.

When MacLean lost some of his possessions to enemy bombing it was his books that he missed most. He had a quotation from Shakespeare or Alice in Wonderland for every occasion, kept Lord Wavell"s anthology Other Men's Flowers by the side of his bed and had recently been reading Trollope and Dickens.

Sir Hector MacLean died on February 19. He married, in 1933, Opre Vyvyan, who survives him with their son and two daughters.

Source for the above: Daily Telegraph; 24 February 2003

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DRAFT

Family

Hector Charles Donald MacLean was born 7 August, 1908, son of Capt. Donald Charles Hugh MacLean, DSO, The Royal Scots, who died in 1909, by his wife, Gwendoline Katherine Leonora Hope, a descendant of the 1st Earl of Hopetoun. His grandfather, Charles Smith MacLean, a Major General and a consul-general, fought with great gallantry in the Indian Mutiny, then in China and the 1878 Afghan War, being awarded a sword of honour by the Shah of Persia for determining the Afghan-Persian border. His uncle and namesake won the VC during the Pathan revolt in 1897, and his father, a captain in the Royal Scots, won the DSO at 25. Young Hector was brought up by his widowed mother and educated at Wellington before entering the Navy by special entry.

He married Opre Vyvyan, daughter of William Geoffrey Vyvyan and Frances Mary Ford. They had three children, Sara MacLean, b. 19 Sep 1934, Charles David Hector MacLean, b. 1 Mar 1936, and Katherine Mary MacLean, b. 10 May 1937