Peter Gretton (Royal Navy officer)

Sir Peter William Gretton
Born	(1912-08-27)27 August 1912 Farnham, Surrey
Died	11 November 1992(1992-11-11) (aged 80) Oxford, Oxfordshire
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1930–1963
Rank	Vice Admiral
Commands held	Fifth Sea Lord (1962–63) Flag Officer Sea Training (1960–61) HMS Saker (1954–55) HMS Gambia (1952–53) HMS Chelmer (1943–44) HMS Vidette (1943) HMS Duncan (1943) HMS Wolverine (1942) HMS Sabre (1941–42)
Battles/wars	Abyssinia crisis Arab rebellion in Palestine Second World War Norwegian Campaign Battles of Narvik Operation Pedestal Battle of the Atlantic
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order & Two Bars Officer of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Cross Mentioned in Despatches
Other work	Domestic Bursar of University College, Oxford Senior Research Fellow President of the Royal Humane Society

Vice Admiral Sir Peter William Gretton KCB, DSO & Two Bars, OBE, DSC (27 August 1912 – 11 November 1992) was an officer in the Royal Navy. He was active in the Battle of the Atlantic during the Second World War, and was a successful convoy escort commander. He eventually rose to become Fifth Sea Lord and retired as a vice admiral before entering university life as a bursar and academic.

Gretton joined the Royal Navy as a cadet at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, Dartmouth. He served in the aircraft carrier Courageous before seeing action in the cruiser HMS Durban during the Abyssinia crisis and the Spanish Civil War. He led a landing party in Haifa during the Arab rebellion in Palestine He attended an anti-submarine course at Portland and, on the outbreak of the Second World War, was assigned to the destroyer HMS Vega as first lieutenant.