Captain Graham Wright, Royal Australian Navy

"It is with sadness that Navy has learned of the death on 29 April 2018 of Captain Graham Wright RAN Retd. Captain Wright joined the RANC in 1934 aged 13 and graduated in 1937 as the King's Medalist. As a Midshipman in 1938 he was a member of the RN Honour Guard at the funeral of Kemal Ataturk, the President of Turkey.When Navigator of the destroyer HMAS Norman on a mission to Russia from Scapa Flow via Iceland he navigated the ship up the Drina River by night without accurate charts or pilotage to deliver Churchill's secret envoy to Stalin. While he was navigating Norman in the Mediterranean the ship avoided repeated dive bomb and torpedo attacks. One of these attacks destroyed HMAS Nestor. Later he undertook the Navigation Specialist Course at Greenwich Naval College and was awarded the sextant prize for topping the course.Post war he commanded the River Class frigate HMAS Culgoa in 1951 to 1952 and later he was appointed Training Commander at HMAS Cerberus. In the rank of Captain he was the Naval Officer in Command West Australia Area from 1959 to 1960.After he retired from the Navy he became head of the Research Office for SEATO in Bangkok.As a senior public servant he worked on the Tange Report, which created the modern Australian Defence Force by amalgamating the administration of the three armed services. His thesis for an Honours Degree to add to his Bachelor of Arts, gained whilst serving, was the blueprint for the amalgamation.He was one of the founders and a life member of the RAN Ski Club, played cricket for Navy and Manuka CC, and at 90 in UK he played his last innings for the I.Zingari Australia Cricket Club Captain Wright was awarded the Arctic Star by the UK Government in 2013 for his service in World War 11, in particular in the Arctic region.He was the oldest serving graduate of the RANC and a lifelong member of the Naval Officers Club and the Naval Warfare Officers Association. Navy extends its condolences to Captain Wright's family."