View source for John Talbot Savignac Hall

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
|name=John Talbot Savignac Hall
|image=John Talbot Savignac Hall.jpg
|caption=Hall as Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy
|birth_date=30 November 1896 
|death_date=21 January 1964 (aged 67)
|birth_place=
|death_place=
|placeofburial=
|placeofburial_label= Place of burial
|nickname=
|allegiance= {{flag|United Kingdom}}<br/>{{flag|British India}}<br/>{{flag|India}}
|branch={{navy|United Kingdom}}<br/>{{navy|British India}}<br/>{{navy|India}}
|serviceyears=1914–1950
|rank=[[Rear admiral (Royal Navy)|Rear-admiral]]
|unit=
|commands=
|battles= [[World War I]]<br>[[World War II]]
|awards=[[Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
|relations= 
|laterwork=
}}
[[Rear admiral (Royal Navy)|Rear-Admiral]] '''John Talbot Savignac Hall''', [[Order of the Indian Empire|CIE]] (30 November 1896 – 21 January 1964) was a [[Royal Navy]] officer who became the first post-Independence Commander-in-Chief and [[Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy|Chief of Naval Staff]] of the [[Royal Indian Navy]].<ref name="unithistories.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.unithistories.com/officers/rin_officers.html#P|title=Royal Indian Navy (RIN) Officers 1939–1945|work=unithistories.com|access-date=15 November 2015}}</ref>

==Life and career==
Hall was born in [[Kent]], the third son of Dr. William Hamilton Hall, [[Society of Antiquaries of London|FSA]]. He was educated at Elstow School in [[Bedford]] and then served in the Merchant Navy before being co-opted into the Royal Navy on his 18th birthday. He served aboard {{HMS|London|1899|6}} off Gallipoli in the [[Naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign|Dardanelles Campaign]].  In 1921, he was commissioned as a [[lieutenant]] in the Royal Indian Marine, and was promoted to [[lieutenant-commander]] in 1928. The following year, he became the [[executive officer]] on HMIS ''Lawrence'' a [[minesweeper]] and then transferred to another minesweeper, HMIS ''Clive'' in 1930. In 1932, he was appointed commanding officer of the patrol boat HMIS ''Baluchi''. He held this command until 1934. From February to July 1937, Hall was appointed Officer-in-Charge, Navy Office Section for the Defence Department (Navy Branch) of the Government of India. In April 1937, he was promoted to [[commander]]. In 1938, he was appointed Staff Officer (Plans), Naval HQ, aboard ''[[HMIS Dalhousie]]''.<ref name="unithistories.com"/>

Hall was promoted to [[Commodore (Royal Navy)|commodore]] 2nd Class on 1 December 1942,<ref>{{cite book |title=The Navy List: July 1945 |publisher=HM Government, UK |date=1945 |pages=2096 |chapter=Royal Indian Navy }}</ref> and appointed chief of staff to the Commander-in-Chief of the RIN. In January 1944, he was promoted to captain and appointed a Companion of the [[Order of the Indian Empire]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=36309|supp=y|page=7|date=31 December 1943}}</ref> He was then appointed as the Senior Naval Staff Officer and RIN liaison officer to the [[India Office]], serving in this capacity until 1946. Hall then commanded [[HMNZS Achilles (70)|HMS ''Achilles'']]. Upon Indian independence, he was selected to become the first post-Independence Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Indian Navy. Hall served for one year, when he was replaced by Admiral [[Edward Parry (Royal Navy officer)|Edward Parry]].

Afterwards, in his permanent rank of captain, Hall commanded a destroyer squadron with [[INS Delhi (1948)|HMIS ''Delhi'']] (later INS ''Delhi'') as his flagship. On 1 April 1950, he was promoted to the substantive rank of rear-admiral in the newly renamed [[Indian Navy]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Navy Branch) |page=20  |date=29 April 1950 |publisher=The Gazette of India}}</ref> He retired from active duty on 1 September 1950, with the rank of [[rear-admiral]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Navy Branch) |page=49 |date=10 March 1951 |url=https://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/1951/O-2306-1951-0010-107778.pdf |publisher=The Gazette of India}}</ref> From 1951 to 1959, he served as a [[civil defence]] officer for northeast [[Essex]]. Hall died in London in 1964, aged 67.

In 1933, he married Agnes Maud Shereen; the couple had one daughter (Elizabeth Anne) and a son (also John) who died in a missile hook-up accident while training with the Fleet Air-arm of the Scottish coast near HMS ''Fulmar'', RNAS (now RAF) Lossiemouth.

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Chief of the Naval Staff (India)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, John Talbot Savignac}}

[[Category:1896 births]]
[[Category:1964 deaths]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:Royal Navy rear admirals]]
[[Category:Royal Indian Navy admirals]]
[[Category:Chiefs of the Naval Staff (India)]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Kent]]
[[Category:Royal Navy personnel of World War I]]