Richard Clayton (Royal Navy officer)

Clayton joined the Royal Navy in 1942 and served as a midshipman on HMS Cumberland until 1943 when he was on various destroyers of the Home Fleet.^[1] He also served on HMS Striker during the Suez Crisis in 1956.^[1]

He became Commanding Officer of HMS Puma in 1958 and Executive Officer on HMS Lion in 1962.^[1] He became Captain of the Gibraltar Dockyard in 1967^[2] and then commanded HMS Kent and then HMS Hampshire in the late 1960s.^[1] He was appointed Flag Officer Second Flotilla in 1973 and Senior Naval Member on Directing Staff at the Royal College of Defence Studies in 1975.^[1]

He was appointed Controller of the Navy in 1975, was promoted to full admiral on 28 March 1978,^[3] and became Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command in 1979.^[1] He retired in 1981.^[1]

In retirement he became a Director at GEC^[4] and was a Governor of Rendcomb College.^[5] He died in a motor cycling accident in September 1984.^[6]