"The heart of this job is our people": Royal Navy appoints new Second Sea Lord at HMS Victory ceremony

Vice Admiral Paul Beattie has formally taken over from the outgoing Vice Admiral Martin Connell. The handover took place aboard HMS Victory at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard with a traditional ceremony, where he signed the Supersession book.

“It is an immense honour to take up the role of Second Sea Lord,” VAdm Beattle said. “ I do with humility and pride. Humility for I follow in the footsteps of Admiral Connell, whose leadership and unfaltering professionalism has left a lasting mark on our service.

“Pride because I know the privilege of serving our sailors, marines, civil servants, contractors and their families in this role. At its heart this job is about our people. Ships, submarines, aircraft and now autonomous systems are powerful symbols of our maritime strength – but it is our people, and the families that support them, that bring them to life.

“Their skill, courage and commitment make the Royal Navy what it is. My duty is to ensure they are trained, motivated, supported and valued, so that all can deliver to their full potential. “

The Second Sea Lord is responsible for the delivering the Royal Navy’s future capabilities, strategy, and long-term programme. VAdm Beattle is also the force’s Principal Personnel Officer.

He joined in 1989 spent his early years conducting embargo enforcement in the Gulf, Northern Ireland and the Adriatic. While serving as Commanding Officer aboard the patrol vessel HMS Arun, he completed a second tour of Northern Ireland. He served as Operations Officer in HMS York and Edinburgh, then as the Executive Officer of HMS Westminster and HMS Daring, before taking command of HMS Manchester.

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Re-locating to the USA, he completed the Navy Senior Command Course at Newport, Rhode Island, before serving in the Pentagon on the USN Strategy Staff. VAdm Beattle was promoted to Captain in 2015 and worked on the 2015 Strategic Defence Review back in the UK.

He served as Chief of Staff to the UK Maritime Battle Staff, and then as the Principal Staff Officer to Commander UK STRATCOM. Promoted to Commodore, his assignments included Chief of Staff to Navy Command, before an ascension to Rear Admiral. The new Second Sea Lord became he Director Naval Staff in 2021, where he was tasked to improve outcomes on operations for Royal Navy sailors and bolster their lives experiences.

VAdm Beattle will be the understudy of the First Sea Lord, General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, who was sworn into the role in May of this year.