Philip Vian

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Philip Louis Vian
Sir Philip Vian
Born	(1894-06-14)14 June 1894 London, England
Died	27 May 1968(1968-05-27) (aged 73) Ashford Hill, Hampshire, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1907–1952
Rank	Admiral of the Fleet
Commands held	Home Fleet 1st Aircraft Carrier Squadron 15th Cruiser Squadron Force K HMS Cossack HMS Ganges HMS Arethusa HMS Douglas HMS Active
Battles/wars	First World War Second World War Volcano and Ryukyu Islands campaign
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order & Two Bars Mentioned in Despatches (5) Legion of Honour (France) Croix de guerre (France) Navy Distinguished Service Medal (United States) Commander of the Legion of Merit (United States) St. Olav's Medal With Oak Branch (Norway) Order of the Dannebrog (Denmark)
Other work	Director, Midland Bank (1952); Director, North British and Mercantile Insurance Co. Published: Action this day (1960)

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Philip Louis Vian, GCB, KBE, DSO & Two Bars (15 July 1894 – 27 May 1968) was a Royal Navy officer who served in both World Wars.

Vian specialised in naval gunnery from the end of the First World War, and subsequently received several appointments as gunnery officer. In the early 1930s, he was given command of a destroyer, HMS Active, and, later, various destroyer flotillas. During this phase of his career, in early 1940, he commanded a force that forcibly released captured British merchant sailors from the German supply ship Altmark in Jøssingfjord in then-neutral Norway and, later, his flotilla took an active role in the final action of the German battleship Bismarck.

Much of Vian's Second World War service was in the Mediterranean, where he commanded a cruiser squadron, defended several critical convoys and led naval support at the Allied invasions of Sicily and Italy. His wartime service was completed in command of the air component of the British Pacific Fleet, with successful actions against the Japanese in Sumatra and the western Pacific. Post-war, Vian served in the United Kingdom, as a Fifth Sea Lord and as Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet. He retired in 1952 with the rank of Admiral of the Fleet, took up commercial directorships and died at home, in 1968.