John O'Brien (admiral)

Vice Admiral John Charles O'Brien OC, CD (16 December 1918 – 24 March 1996) was a Canadian Forces officer who served as Commander Maritime Command from 1966 to 1970.

John O'Brien
Born16 December 1918
Hove, Sussex
Died24 March 1996
Ottawa, Ontario
Allegiance Canada
Service/branch Royal Canadian Navy
Canadian Forces
Years of service1935–1973
Rank Vice-Admiral
Commands heldHMCS Bonaventure
Maritime Command
NATO Defense College
Battles/warsSecond World War
AwardsOfficer of the Order of Canada
Canadian Forces Decoration

Career

O'Brien joined the Royal Canadian Navy in 1935.[1] He was in action off Norway in 1939, commanded a small boat at the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940, served as a Signals Officer for the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943 during the Second World War.[1] He became Director Naval Training in 1955, Director Naval Communications in 1957 and Commanding Officer of the aircraft carrier HMCS Bonaventure in 1959.[1] He went on to be Naval Member of the Canadian Joint Staff in Washington, D.C. in 1961, Senior Canadian Officer Afloat (Atlantic) in 1964 and Commander Maritime Command in 1966.[1] His last appointment was as Commandant of the NATO Defense College in Rome in 1970 before retiring in 1973.[1]

O'Brien married Stephanie Frances Swire; she died on 2 October 2006.[2]

Awards and decorations

Obrien's personal awards and decorations include the following:












RibbonDescriptionNotes
Order of Canada (OC)
  • Appointed Officer (OC) on 26 June 1970[3]
1939–1945 Star
  • WWII 1939-1945
Atlantic Star
  • WWII 1939-1945
Africa Star
  • WWII 1939-1945
Italy Star
  • WWII 1939-1945
Defence Medal (United Kingdom)
  • WWII 1939-1945
Canadian Volunteer Service Medal
  • WWII 1939-1945 with Overseas Service bar
War Medal 1939–1945
  • WWII 1939-1945
Special Service Medal
  • with NATO-OTAN Clasp
Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal
  • Decoration awarded in 1952
Canadian Centennial Medal
  • Decoration awarded in 1967
Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal
  • Decoration awarded in 1977
  • Canadian version
125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal
  • Decoration awarded in 1992
Canadian Forces Decoration (CD)
  • with two Clasp for 32 years of services
  • George VI version
Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
  • Decoration awarded 31 August 1973
  • 2nd Class / Grand Officer level
  • Italian award
gollark: There would be no photon torpedoes at this time.
gollark: ```Cold Ones (also ice giants, the Finality, Lords of the Last Waste)Mythological beings who dwell at the end of time, during the final blackness of the universe, the last surviving remnants of the war of all-against-all over the universe’s final stocks of extropy, long after the passing of baryonic matter and the death throes of the most ancient black holes. Savage, autocannibalistic beings, stretching their remaining existence across aeons-long slowthoughts powered by the rare quantum fluctuations of the nothingness, these wretched dead gods know nothing but despair, hunger, and envy for those past entities which dwelled in eras rich in energy differentials, information, and ordered states, and would – if they could – feast on any unwary enough to fall into their clutches.Stories of the Cold Ones are, of course, not to be interpreted literally: they are a philosophical and theological metaphor for the pessimal end-state of the universe, to wit, the final triumph of entropy in both a physical and a spiritual sense. Nonetheless, this metaphor has been adopted by both the Flamic church and the archai themselves to describe the potential future which it is their intention to avert.The Cold Ones have also found a place in popular culture, depicted as supreme villains: perhaps best seen in the Ghosts of the Dark Spiral expansion for Mythic Stars, a virtuality game from Nebula 12 ArGaming, ICC, and the Void Cascading InVid series, produced by Dexlyn Vithinios (Sundogs of Delphys, ICC).```
gollark: And it's all just horribly dense spaghetti code.
gollark: There are no docs or comments anywhere. It's ridiculous.
gollark: I think you triggered the end stage of a long process.

References
  1. O'Brien, John Charles The Nauticapedia
  2. Obituary: Stephanie Frances O'Brien The Telegarph, October 2006
  3. "The Governor General of Canada List". Gouvernment of Canada.
Military offices
Preceded by
William Landymore		 Commander Maritime Command
1966–1970		 Succeeded by
Henry Porter
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