John Allan (Canadian naval officer)

Vice Admiral John Allan CMM CD (31 March 1928 - 1 May 2014) was a Canadian Forces officer who served as Commander of Maritime Command from 1979 to 1980.

John Allan
Nickname(s)	Jock
Born	(1928-03-31)31 March 1928 Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Canada
Died	1 May 2014(2014-05-01) (aged 86) Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Allegiance	Canada
Service/branch	Royal Canadian Navy Canadian Forces Maritime Command
Years of service	1946–1980
Rank	Vice-Admiral
Commands held	HMCS Qu'Appelle First Canadian Destroyer Squadron Maritime Command
Awards	Order of Military Merit Canadian Forces Decoration

Career

Allan joined the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) as an Ordinary Seaman in 1946. He left the RCN in 1952 as a Petty Officer 2nd class. The next year, he re-enrolled as an Officer Cadet and was commissioned as an acting sub-lieutenant in 1954. He continued his studies at Queen’s University, graduating in 1955. .[1] He became commanding offficer of the destroyer escort HMCS Qu'Appelle in 1968, project manager of the DDH 280 Program at National Defence Headquarters in 1970 and Commander First Canadian Destroyer Squadron in 1973. He went on to be Chief of Staff (Sea) in 1974, Director General Maritime Engineering and Maintenance in 1975 and Associate Assistant Deputy Minister Materiel in 1977.[1] His last appointments were as Commander Maritime Command in 1979, in which role he claimed that budget cutbacks were restricting the activities of Maritime Command,[2] and Deputy Chief of Defence Staff in 1980. He served in this position until he retired in 1982.[1]

He died on 1 May 2014 in Ottawa.[3]

Awards and decorations

Allan's personal awards and decorations include the following:

Ribbon	Description	Notes
	Order of Military Merit (CMM)	Appointed Commander (CMM) on 18 June 1979 [4] Appointed Officer (OMM) on 13 December 1973 [4]
	Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal	Decoration awarded in 1977 Canadian version
	Canadian Forces Decoration (CD)	with two Clasp for 32 years of services

References

1. "Allan, John". nauticapedia.ca. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
2. "Cutbacks sinking Canada's Navy says Admiral". The Montreal Gazette. The Canadian Press. 2 August 1979. p. 11. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
3. "John Allan". Ottawa Citizen. 1 May 2014. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
4. "Order of Military Merit List". The Governor General of Canada.

Military offices
Preceded by Andrew Collier	Commander Maritime Command 1979–1980	Succeeded by Andrew Fulton