Commander Simon Huntington has taken over the Command of the Type 22 Frigate HMS Chatham, at her base in Devonport, Plymouth.
Simon Huntington was born in Southern Scotland in 1969 and raised in Cumbria. He went to the Trinity School in Carlisle and then studied Marine Biology at Newcastle University as a Royal Navy Bursar, while also training as a Seaman Officer in the Royal Naval Reserve. He joined the Royal Navy in 1990 and during training was awarded the Queen’s Binoculars in 1991 and the Queen’s Sword in 1992.
He served as the Assistant Navigator in HMS Illustrious during a challenging period that included two operational deployments to the Adriatic contributing to United Nations, and then NATO operations in Bosnia. In 1996 he returned to Newcastle, commanding the patrol boat HMS Example and the Northumbrian Universities’ Royal Naval Unit, conducting sea training in home waters and the Baltic Sea.
After training as an Anti-Submarine Warfare Officer, he joined HMS Cumberland in 1999 as Operations Officer for a seven month deployment to the Arabian Gulf enforcing United Nations sanctions against Iraq. He was then appointed to the Joint.
Task Force Headquarters in 2001, based at Northwood. In 2002 he was closely involved in planning for Operation TELIC in the United States European Command Headquarters at Stuttgart, before deploying to the Middle East as part of the UK National Contingent Headquarters during the conflict in 2003.
Advanced Command and Staff Course followed and he graduated in 2004 with an MA in Defence Studies. After spells in Fleet Headquarters, where he was promoted to Commander, he assumed command of HMS Chatham on 7 January 2009.
On taking charge of HMS Chatham, which is affectionately known as the ‘Up and at ’em’, Commander Huntington said: “I am both delighted and extremely proud to take command of such a fine Ship. HMS Chatham has a distinguished history and a reputation built on success in recent operations around the globe.”
Commander Huntington devotes most of his free time to his young family and, during rare periods of solitude, enjoys a range of sporting and outdoor pursuits; particularly fell walking, diving and sailing.
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