Alexander Madden

Admiral Sir Alexander Cumming Gordon Madden KCB CBE (21 January 1895 – 21 September 1964) was a senior Royal Navy officer who went on to be Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel.[1]

Sir Alexander Madden
Birth nameAlexander Cumming Gordon Madden
Born21 January 1895
Stourbridge, Worcestershire, England
Died21 September 1964(1964-09-21) (aged 69)
Surrey, England
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Navy
Years of service1908–1956
RankAdmiral
Commands heldHMS Birmingham
HMS Anson
Plymouth Command
Battles/warsWorld War I
World War II
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Commander of the Order of the British Empire

Early life and education

Madden was born in Stourbridge, Worcestershire, the son of the Rev. Andrew Madden. He was educated at Royal Naval College, Osborne.[1]

Madden joined the Royal Navy in 1908.[2] He served in World War I as well as World War II.[2] During the latter War he commanded the light cruiser HMS Birmingham from 1941.[2] He then became Naval Assistant to the Second Sea Lord in 1942: he also served as head of the Admiralty Commission and Warrant Branch in which capacity he had the critical role of deciding who received the command of each ship in the Navy.[3] He returned to sea as Commander of the battleship HMS Anson in 1944.[2]

After the War he was appointed Deputy Controller of the Navy and Director of Naval Equipment and then, in 1948 he was made Flag Officer commanding 5th Cruiser Squadron and Flag Officer Second in Command for the Far East Station.[2] In that capacity he became involved in the Amethyst Incident on the Yangtze River in China in 1949.[2]

He was appointed Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel in 1950 and then became Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth in 1953. He retired in 1956.[2]

In retirement he became Chairman of the Association of Retired Naval Officers.[4]

References
  1. "Obituary: Sir Alexander Madden – The Amethyst Incident". The Times. The Times Digital Archive. 22 September 1964. p. 15.
  2. Sir Alexander Cumming Gordon Madden Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
  3. "HMS Hurworth:Life Aboard". Archived from the original on 2011-10-06. Retrieved 2010-07-10.
  4. The White Ensign Association Naval Review, Vol XLIX, No 3, July 1961
Military offices
Preceded by
Sir Cecil Harcourt		 Second Sea Lord
1950–1953		 Succeeded by
Sir Guy Russell
Preceded by
Sir Maurice Mansergh		 Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth
1953–1955		 Succeeded by
Sir Charles Pizey
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