Royal Navy: HMS Sultan in Gosport welcomes new Commanding Officer as he assumes leadership with "great honour"

Captain Mark Hamilton has become the 32nd Commanding Officer of the marine and air engineering facility in Military Road. He said he hopes to build on the success of his predecessor, Captain Jo Deakin OBE

"It is a great honour to assume Command of HMS Sultan and the Defence School of Marine Engineering and huge privilege to continue building on the fantastic work undertaken by my predecessor,” Capt Hamilton said. “As the home of Royal Navy Marine and Air Engineering HMS Sultan is long established as a world-class centre of engineering excellence, this is due in no small part to the exceptional Sultan team of Service personnel, civil servants, and contractors, who I look forward to working closely with.

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"My focus will be to ensure we remain at the cutting edge of modern training and technology, equipping engineers and technicians with the skills to embrace change, think innovatively, and to support operations anywhere around the globe.” The officer added that HMS Sultan has played an active role in the local community for a long time by promoting science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) opportunities. "I look forward to ensuring we continue to have a positive and close relationship,” Capt Hamilton said.

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Previous experience on HMS Queen Elizabeth and in Portsmouth

He joins HMS Sultan following a successful period with the Royal Navy’s defence equipment and support (DE&S) team. He was the leader of the Capital Ship Strategic Class Authority Team – overseeing maintenance and the safe to operate’ aspects of aircraft carriers and amphibious ships. Capt Hamilton an Engineer Officer, was previously an Executive Officer at HMS Sultan between 2016 and 2018.

In a career which has spanned over 25 years, he has performed numerous roles in the marine engineering sphere – including three Charge assignments as Head of Department and Marine Engineer Officer. This included roles on HMS Dumbarton Castle in 2004, T22 Frigate HMS Cornwall in 2010 and Cdr (ME) on HMS Queen Elizabeth in 2018. On the charge assignments, Capt Hamilton was involved in counter piracy patrols in the Indian Ocean and F35B flight trials off the Eastern Seaboard near USA.

Capt Deakin has become Commodore and Deputy Director Individual Training and Commandant of the Training Management Group at Naval Command Headquarters.