Manley Laurence Power

Admiral Sir Manley Laurence Power KCB, CBE, DSO & Bar, DL (10 January 1904 – 17 May 1981) was a Royal Navy Admiral who fought in World War II as a Captain and later rose to more senior ranks, including the NATO position Allied Commander-in-Chief, Channel. He is chiefly remembered for leading the 26th Destroyer Flotilla that sank the Japanese cruiser Haguro in the Malacca Strait during Operation Dukedom.

Early career
Born the son of Admiral Sir Laurence E. Power KCB, CVO, Power was educated at the Royal Naval Colleges at Osborne and Dartmouth. He joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in 1917. In the early part of his career, he served mainly in submarines, attaining his first command (HMS H32) in 1934.

World War II
In 1939 he was promoted to Commander and appointed as Staff Officer (Operations) to the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, Vice-Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham.

In 1942, he was given command of HMS Opportune, escorting Arctic convoys, before returning as Staff Officer (Operations) in the Mediterranean in September 1942, in preparation for the invasion of North Africa and then became Staff Officer (Plans), on the staff of Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, assisting the planning of the invasion of Sicily. He was promoted to Captain in 1943, and Deputy Chief of Staff (Plans), and stayed in the Mediterranean until March 1944, planning the invasion of Italy and the Anzio landings.

Power then became captain of the 26th Destroyer Flotilla, taking part in the Normandy landings [France], and as captain of the destroyer HMS Myngs participated in an action to destroy an enemy convoy off the Norwegian coast in November 1944. He was then appointed to command HMS Saumarez (G12) in the Eastern Fleet, and his flotilla destroyed the Japanese cruiser Haguro in May 1945.

Post-war
Following the war, Power served as Deputy Director of Plans in the Admiralty between January and July 1946, then as Senior Naval Member of the Directing Staff at the Joint Services Staff College, later becoming commander of the Portland (Dorset) naval base. Following this he served as Flag Captain to the Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet (Admiral Sir Philip Vian), then in May 1952 as Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean (Admiral 1st Lord Mountbatten of Burma). He was promoted to Rear-Admiral in 1953, and in the following year was appointed Senior Naval Member of the Directing Staff of the Imperial Defence College. Power was then Flag Officer Aircraft Carriers between 1956 and 1957 (becoming a Vice-Admiral in 1956) and Deputy Chief of Naval Staff and Fifth Sea Lord from 1957 to 1959. He was made an Admiral in 1960, and Power's final appointments were as Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth and Allied Commander-in-Chief, Channel (1959–61), until his retirement in 1961.

Family
He married Barbara Alice Mary Topham in 1930 and the couple had a daughter and a son.

Honours and decorations

 * Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath 12 June 1958 (CB 9 June 1955)
 * Commander of the Order of the British Empire 20 April 1943 (Operation Torch – landings in N Africa 8 November 1942) (OBE 1 January 1941)
 * Distinguished Service Order 14 November 1944 (Operation Neptune – Normandy landings June 1944), 10 July 1945 (Operation Dukedom – destruction of a Japanese cruiser May 1945)
 * Mention in Despatches 21 December 1943 (Operation Husky – invasion of Sicily July 1943), 6 June 1944 (Operation Shingle – landing at Anzio 22 January 1944)
 * Officer of the Legion of Merit (United States) 19 March 1946 (Staff Officer Planning C-in-C Mediterranean)
 * Croix de guerre des théâtres d'opérations extérieures (France) 15 April 1958 (Near East 1956)