Sandy Woodward

Sir John Forster Woodward
Woodward talking to journalist Elizabeth Massey in 2013
Nickname(s)	Sandy Spock
Born	(1932-05-01)1 May 1932 Penzance, Cornwall
Died	4 August 2013(2013-08-04) (aged 81) Bosham, West Sussex
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1946–1989
Rank	Admiral
Commands held	HMS Tireless HMS Grampus HMS Warspite HMS Sheffield South Atlantic Task Groups Naval Home Command
Battles/wars	Falklands War
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath

Admiral Sir John Forster "Sandy" Woodward GBE, KCB (1 May 1932 – 4 August 2013) was a British admiral who commanded the British Naval Task Force in the South Atlantic during the Falklands War.

Woodward was born on 1 May 1932 at Penzance, Cornwall, to a bank clerk. He was educated at Stubbington House School, preparatory school in Stubbington, Hampshire. He then continued his education at the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, Devon. Woodward married, in 1960, Charlotte McMurtrie (with whom he had a son and a daughter), but in 1993 they separated.

Having graduated from the Royal Naval College Dartmouth, Woodward joined the Royal Navy in 1946. He became a submariner in 1954, and was promoted to lieutenant that May. In 1960 he passed the Royal Navy's rigorous Submarine Command Course known as The Perisher, and received his first command, the T Class submarine HMS Tireless. Promoted to lieutenant-commander in May 1962, he then commanded HMS Grampus before becoming the second in command of the nuclear fleet submarine HMS Valiant. In 1967, he was promoted to Commander and became the Instructor (known as Teacher) of The Perisher Course. He took command of HMS Warspite in December 1969. He was promoted to the rank of Captain in 1972. In 1974, he became Captain of Submarine Training and in 1976 he took command of HMS Sheffield.