Denis Boyd


Sir Denis William Boyd was a Royal Navy officer who served as Fifth Sea Lord from 1943 to 1945, and as Commander-in-Chief, Far East Fleet from 1946 to 1949.

Naval career

Early career

Boyd joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman in 1906 and was commissioned in 1910. After serving as Torpedo Officer in during World War I, he set off on a journey around the world aboard in 1922. He returned in 1923 and was then attached to the Royal Australian Navy from 1926. He was appointed Fleet Torpedo Officer in the Mediterranean Fleet in 1928 and, while serving with the Naval Equipment Department, he was promoted to captain in 1931. He was briefly Commanding Officer of the destroyer in 1932, before joining the Tactical Division of the naval Staff in 1933 and becoming its Director in 1934.
Boyd became Commanding Officer of and Captain of the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla at Malta in 1936; a post that included responsibility for patrols off Spain during the Spanish Civil War. He was then made commanding officer of the Torpedo School in 1938, serving there until the outbreak of World War II.

World War II

During the Second World War, Boyd captained the aircraft carrier from 1940, seeing action at the Battle of Taranto. Promoted to rear admiral in August 1941, he became admiral commanding aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean Fleet. He moved to the Eastern Fleet in 1942 as admiral commanding aircraft carriers with as his flagship. He was appointed Fifth Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Air Equipment in 1943, and was promoted to vice admiral in August 1944. He then became Admiral at RNAS Lee-on-Solent in January 1945.

Post-war service

Boyd became Commander-in-Chief of the Far East Fleet in 1946. He was promoted to admiral in 1948 and retired in 1949.

Later life

In retirement, Boyd became Principal of Ashridge College. He died, aged 73, on 21 January 1965.