Lewin , Terence Thornton , 1920-1999 , Baron Lewin , Admiral of the Fleet

Terence Lewin was born in Dover in 1923. Educated at the Judd School in Tonbridge, he joined HMS BELFAST as a naval cadet shortly before the outbreak of war in 1939. After serving aboard the battleship HMS VALIANT, Lewin joined the destroyer HMS ASHANTI. In ASHANTI, he took part in convoys to Murmansk and later to the Mediterranean as part of Operation Pedestal, the vital convoys keeping Malta supplied. Lewin distinguished himself in action, being mentioned in dispatches 3 times and was awarded the DSC. After the war he rose to post rank and commanded the destroyer CORUNNA, before the Dartmouth Training Sqaudron, and then in the Indian Ocean in 1967, the aircraft carrier HMS HERMES in the lead up to the Arab-Israeli war. Lewin was made Rear Admiral in 1968 and by 1977 had become First Sea Lord. As Chief of Defence Staff, he played a prominent role in the decision to replace the Polaris missile system with the Trident system. Also as Chief of Defence Staff, he was Mrs Thatcher's main military adviser during the Falklands conflict (1982), for which, on his retirement, he was made a life peer (1982) and KG in 1983. In retirement he was as active as ever, patron of many societies and much in demand as a public speaker on naval and maritime subjects. He was Chairman of the National Maritime Museum between 1983 and 1995. He was also President of the George Cross Island Association and played a leading role in planning the 50th Anniversary of the siege of Malta and the giant memorial bell erected in its memory. He also became very interested in the explorations of Captain Cook and contributed to the foundation of a Cook museum in Middlesbrough. Lewin died in 1999, aged 78. See also Richard Hill's biography of the Admiral, Lewin of Greenwich (2000).