Chris Ritchie

Vice Admiral Christopher Angus Ritchie AO, RAN
Vice Admiral Chris Ritchie (left) receives an award from Admiral Vern Clark, U.S. Chief of Naval Operations, February 2003
Nickname	Chris
Born	16 January 1949 (1949-01-16) (age 62)
Allegiance	Australia
Service/branch	Royal Australian Navy
Years of service	1968 - 2005
Rank	Vice Admiral
Commands held	Chief of Navy Deputy Chief of Navy HMAS Tarakan HMAS Torrens HMAS Brisbane
Battles/wars	Vietnam War Gulf War
Awards	Officer of the Order of Australia
Other work	Patron of the Australasian Hydrographic Society

Vice Admiral Christopher Angus (Chris) Ritchie AO (born 16 January 1949) is a retired Vice Admiral of the Royal Australian Navy, and was Chief of Navy from 2002 to 2005.

Service history

Ritchie graduated from the RAN College at Jervis Bay in 1968. He received further training at sea and in the United Kingdom before undertaking a succession of seagoing appointments and a staff appointment at the NATO School of Maritime Operations at HMS DRYAD. His commands have included HMAS Tarakan, HMAS Torrens, and HMAS Brisbane.

During his period in command of HMAS Brisbane, the ship deployed to the Persian Gulf where she participated for the duration of the Persian Gulf War.^[1] In 1991, as a result of this service, he was appointed a Member in the Military Division of the Order of Australia (AM).

In 1992 he attended the Royal College of Defence Studies in the United Kingdom. On completion of this course he was promoted to Commodore and had appointments in Naval Policy and Warfare, and Military Strategy and Concepts.^{[citation needed]} In 1997 he was promoted to Rear Admiral and appointed as Maritime Commander Australia (MCAUST).^{[citation needed]} He then served as Deputy Chief of Navy (DCN) and Head of Capability Systems (HCS).^[1]

As a consequence of his service in these appointments, and in addition to receiving the Centenary medal,^[2] he was promoted to Officer in the Military Division of the Order of Australia (AO) in January 2001.^[3] He was promoted to Vice Admiral and appointed Commander Australian Theatre (COMAST) on 3 August 2001. He was the first Commander to have previously served as a Component Commander to the Headquarters. He assumed command of the Royal Australian Navy from Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral David Shackleton on 3 July 2002 and retired in July 2005.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Vice Admiral Chris Ritchie AO, RANR - Ancors Fellow^{[dead link]} Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources & Security - archived copy
2. ^ It's an Honour - Centenary Medal - 1 January 2001
   Citation: For services to Australian society through the Royal Australian Navy.
3. ^ It's an Honour - Officer of the Order of Australia - 26 January 2001
   Citation: For distinguished service to the Australian Defence Force and the Royal Australian Navy as the Maritime Commander Australia, Deputy Chief of Navy and Head Capability Systems.

External links

• Copyright photo of VADM Chris Ritchie, Chief of Navy, ANZAC Day 2005.

Military offices
Preceded by Vice Admiral David Shackleton	Chief of Navy 2002 – 2005	Succeeded by Vice Admiral Russ Shalders
Preceded by Rear Admiral ?	Deputy Chief of Navy 1999 – 2000	Succeeded by Rear Admiral Brian Adams
Preceded by Rear Admiral Christopher Oxenbould	Maritime Commander Australia 1997 – 1999	Succeeded by Rear Admiral John Lord

Persondata
Name	Ritchie, Chris
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	16 January 1949
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death