Royal Navy makes history as Jude Terry promoted as first female admiral

Commodore Jude Terry, 47, will be the most senior woman in the Royal Navy past or present, after her promotion to rear admiral.

After serving her nation for nearly a quarter of a century, Commodore Terry will be responsible for sailors and Royal Marines from the moment they are recruited to their final day in service.

She will be promoted to rear admiral next year and take over as the Royal Navy’s director of people and training and Naval Secretary.

Commodore Terry, who is from Jersey, said: ‘Someone has to be first.

‘I have always thought of myself as a naval officer first, then a logistics officer, then Jude and finally as a female.

‘The navy genuinely doesn’t look at your gender and is an equal opportunities employer – it wants you to be part of a team and deliver outputs to support operations.

‘I have been really lucky throughout my career.

‘I’ve enjoyed great jobs, wonderful support from my family, worked with great people, seized the opportunity to see the world and contribute to a number of operations which have made a difference to people’s lives including Afghanistan, Somalia and Sierra Leone to name a few.’

Commodore Terry, who hails from a naval family and joined the Navy in 1997, has spent the bulk of her seagoing career in Plymouth-based warships, including survey vessel HMS Scott and two spells with helicopter carrier HMS Ocean.

She currently serves as deputy director of the department she is earmarked to take over, with the goal of helping to shape the Royal Navy and its people up to 2040.

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First Sea Lord Admiral Tony Radakin said: ‘I am delighted with Commodore Jude Terry’s selection for promotion to Rear Admiral.

‘Jude is part of a cohort of trailblazers in the Royal Navy who have seized the opportunities on offer, and risen to the top.

‘This builds on a rich career of naval and broader defence appointments, all of which she has excelled at.’

Commodore Terry was awarded the OBE in the New Year’s Honours List in 2017 for her efforts during three years at the UK military’s operational hub, Permanent Joint Headquarters, during which she was involved in the end of Britain’s front-line operations in Afghanistan, overseeing the closure of bases at Lashkar Gar, Bastion and Kandahar, and the successful efforts to curb the spread of the Ebola virus in west Africa in 2014 – 2015.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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