1. George Zambellas served as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff from April 2013 before handing over duties to Admiral Sir Philip Jones in April 2016.
15 Facts About George Zambellas
1. 2.
George Zambellas went on to be Fleet Commander and Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff in early 2012.
3.
George Zambellas read Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering at the University of Southampton, graduating in 1980 with a Bachelor of Science degree.
4.
George Zambellas was commissioned as an acting sub-lieutenant in the Royal Navy on 17 September 1980.
5.
George Zambellas was promoted to lieutenant on 16 May 1982 and served with 814 Naval Air Squadron, 829 Naval Air Squadron and 815 Naval Air Squadron in his early career.
6.
George Zambellas was given command of the Royal Navy's Amphibious Task Group in January 2005.
7.
George Zambellas became Commander-in-Chief Fleet in January 2012 and was promoted admiral on 6 January 2012.
8.
George Zambellas was double-hatted as Commander, Allied Maritime Command in January 2012.
9.
George Zambellas was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 2012 Birthday Honours and became First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff on 9 April 2013.
10.
On 15 April 2014, in an op-ed article for the Daily Telegraph George Zambellas laid out the case for a "No" vote at the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, stating that it would weaken British maritime defence.
11.
On 4 July 2014, George Zambellas was among those attending the launch ceremony of the 70,600-tonne Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, the largest warship ever built in the United Kingdom, and formally named by Queen Elizabeth II.
12.
George Zambellas was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the 2016 New Year Honours being invested at Windsor Castle with Air Chief Marshal Sir Andrew Pulford on 13 April 2016.
13.
An Elder Brother of Trinity House since 2016, George Zambellas was admitted to the Freedom of the Shipwrights' Company in 2014, and is an Honorary Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors.
14.
George Zambellas succeeded Lord Boyce, on 20 June 2024, as Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and Constable of Dover Castle.
15.
In 1982 George Zambellas married Amanda Jane LeCudennec; they have three sons.