Alan McNicoll

McNicoll was appointed executive officer of the light cruiser HMAS Hobart on 16 September 1945, a fortnight after the cessation of hostilities in the Pacific theatre.[8][9] From November 1945 until July 1947, Hobart spent nine months operating in Japanese waters over three distinct periods as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force. The ship was placed in reserve from December 1947,[25] and McNicoll briefly transferred to HMAS Penguin before assuming the post of Director of Plans and Operations at the Navy Office in Melbourne on 6 January 1948.[8][9][10] Advanced to captain in June 1949, he was posted two months later to HMAS Shoalhaven, a River-class frigate, as the ship's commanding officer, and was simultaneously placed in charge of the 1st Frigate Squadron. He was appointed an honorary aide-de-camp to the Governor-General of Australia in December for a period of three years. In January 1950, McNicoll transferred to command the destroyer HMAS Warramunga and was subsequently made Captain (D) in control of the 10th Destroyer Squadron.[5][8][9]

McNicoll with Captain Hutchison of the Royal Navy in October 1952. Both men were liaison officers to the British atomic tests on the Monte Bello Islands.

During McNicoll's tenure as commanding officer of Warramunga, the ship operated in Australian waters as part of the Australia Station, sailing to New Zealand for a visit during March 1950.[26] On the outbreak of the Korean War in June that year, Warramunga was selected as part of the Australian contribution to the conflict. Moreover, the ship was to be attached to a force of five Royal Navy destroyers led by a captain, making it expedient to have the Australian ship commanded by an officer of lower rank; McNicoll was consequently replaced by Commander Otto Becher on 28 July.[27] McNicoll was then posted to the Navy Office to assist in the introduction and co-ordination of National Service in the Australian military in response to the National Service Act 1951. He moved to the land base HMAS Lonsdale in October 1951, on being made Deputy Chief of Naval Staff.[9]

In 1952, McNicoll was appointed chairman of the planning committee for the British nuclear tests on the Montebello Islands, off the coast of Western Australia.[5][10] Later that year, he was made commanding officer of the heavy cruiser HMAS Australia, a post he held for the next two years.[9][10] As commander of Australia, McNicoll also served as Chief Staff Officer to the Flag Officer Commanding HM Australian Fleet.[8] HMAS Australia was near the end of its naval service and had been relegated to training duties from 1950. As such, the cruiser was primarily consigned to Australian waters, though a brief trip to New Zealand did occur in October 1953.[28] McNicoll was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1954 New Year Honours List for his involvement in the British atomic program;[5][10][29] he was presented with the decoration three months later by Queen Elizabeth II in a ceremony at Government House, Melbourne.[16]

The year of 1954 was to be HMAS Australia's last in service, with the ship conducting Royal and Vice Regal tasks as some of its final duties. In February and March, HMAS Australia served as part of the escort for the Royal Yacht Gothic during the Australian leg of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation tour.[28] The cruiser was presented with the Gloucester Cup on 25 March as the ship "considered to be foremost in general efficiency, cleanliness, seamanship and technical training" during the year of 1953.[28][30] As one of the ship's final duties with the Navy, Australia was tasked with transporting Field Marshal Sir William Slim, the Governor-General of Australia, along with his wife and their staff on a cruise around the Coral Sea, the Great Barrier Reef and the Whitsunday Passage. The voyage embarked on 4 May, and two days later Australia fired its 8-inch guns for the final time.[28] While in the Coral Sea, a Dutch naval ship was discovered to be incapacitated off the coast of Hollandia, Netherlands New Guinea, and was consequently towed by Australia to Cairns. McNicoll was later appointed a Commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau by the Dutch government for his rescue of the ship.[5][28][31]

The County-class cruiser, HMAS Australia. Captain Alan McNicoll served as Commanding Officer of Australia from 1952 to 1954.

McNicoll relinquished command of HMAS Australia in July 1954 before the cruiser was paid off and marked for disposal the following month, and he briefly returned to duties at the Navy Office.[9][28] In November, he embarked for London to attend the Imperial Defence College as part of the 1955 course intake, which signified that he had been marked for senior command.[5][9] McNicoll and his wife, Ruth, had separated in 1950 and their divorce, which cited adultery as the cause, was finalised in October 1956, while the former was still in London. On 17 May the following year, McNicoll wed Frances Mary Chadwick, a journalist, in the Hampstead register office.[4][5] Made acting rear admiral in January 1957, McNicoll was appointed as Head of the Australian Joint Service Staff in London.[5][9][10] He returned to Australia in February 1958 and was selected to serve as Deputy Secretary (Military) at the Department of Defence; McNicoll's rank was made substantive in July that year.[4][5][9]

On 8 January 1960, McNicoll was posted to the Naval Board in Canberra as Second Naval Member and Chief of Personnel.[8][9] As noted by historian Ian Pfennigwerth, McNicoll held this position at a time in which recruitment and retention in the Navy particularly lagged behind targets.[5] McNicoll was additionally appointed as a trustee of the RAN Relief Trust Fund during this period. Completing his term on the Naval Board, McNicoll was posted as Flag Officer Commanding HM Australian Fleet on 8 January 1962 and hoisted his standard aboard HMAS Melbourne, the flagship of the RAN.[4][9] The Australian government had designated the role of the RAN to be primarily one of anti-submarine warfare, a posture which McNicoll thought unwise. McNicoll argued that surface and air weapons posed a threat equal to that of submarines toward vessels in modern naval warfare. As such, he campaigned for a contemporary aircraft carrier to replace that of HMAS Melbourne. The Army and Air Force opposed McNicoll's stance, and the government ultimately concluded that there was no strategic requirement for a new carrier in light of agreements contained in the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization.[32] In any event, McNicoll experienced a particularly demanding tenure as Fleet Commander since the RAN was in the process of a complete overhaul of its order of battle and, as a consequence, he had to manage the introduction and deployment into service of six Ton-class minesweepers acquired from the Royal Navy, along with the first batch of Westland Wessex helicopters and modernised afloat support capabilities. Furthermore, McNicoll was charged with the responsibility of ensuring Australian naval commitments to the Far East Strategic Reserve were met.[5][33]

Rear Admiral Alan McNicoll c.1963

McNicoll's two-year term as Fleet Commander concluded on 6 January 1964, at which point he returned to the Naval Board as Fourth Naval Member and Chief of Supply. However, this post proved short-lived with his appointment as Flag Officer-in-Charge East Australia Area, headquartered at the land base HMAS Kuttabul in Sydney, from June that year.[5][8][9] In the 1965 New Year Honours, McNicoll was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath.[34]

On 24 February 1965, McNicoll was promoted vice admiral and made Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) in succession to Vice Admiral Sir Hastings Harrington.[5][8][9] By virtue of this position, McNicoll was head of the Naval Board and the functional commander of the RAN.[35] McNicoll's term as CNS was characterised by a period of heightened activity for the RAN in light of the Australian commitments to the Indonesia–Malaysia Konfrontasi and the Vietnam War. He furthermore had to oversee an extensive modernisation of the fleet, with the introduction into service of the Perth-class destroyers, Attack-class patrol boats, and the initial batch of Oberon-class submarines. The Fleet Air Arm was also re-equipped with American fixed wing aircraft.[5][10] Despite these acquisitions, the RAN possessed a rather thin and limited fleet during this period, which McNicoll blamed on past naval planning. He criticised the lack of foresight in earlier decisions that had led to "inconsistencies and inadequate estimating" in the future needs of the RAN, which had consequently left the fleet outdated and minimal.[36] In addition to the RAN's materiel issues, McNicoll faced significant problems with morale and recruitment. A series of mishaps and accidents over the previous decade led to what naval historian Tom Frame termed as "an appreciable erosion of public confidence in the navy's professional standards".[37] The situation intensified following the February 1964 collision between HMAS Melbourne and Voyager. The two subsequent Royal Commissions into the incident subjected the RAN to unprecedented scrutiny and damaged the public perception of its senior leadership.[5][38] McNicoll had to cope with the turmoil occasioned by these events and concerned himself with the restoration of morale in the Navy.[10][39]

The tenure of Air Chief Marshal Sir Frederick Scherger as Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee was set to expire in May 1966, and a replacement had to be selected from the service chiefs.[40] The Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Sir John Wilton, had among defence and military circles been assumed to be the natural successor. However, mounting speculation arose from late 1965 over who was to be selected for the position as it became known Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies preferred McNicoll for the post, as did Secretary of the Department of Defence Sir Ted Hicks, who thought McNicoll more intelligent and objective than his army counterpart.[41] McNicoll lobbied ardently for the position, and was supported by his wife, Frances, who actively campaigned on her husband's behalf. By December 1965, Scherger's replacement had still not been decided upon and Menzies chose to delay the decision until the new year. However, Menzies retired in January 1966 and was succeeded by his deputy, Harold Holt. Holt and the newly appointed Minister for Defence, Allen Fairhall, preferred Wilton and ultimately selected him to succeed Scherger.[42] In any event, McNicoll was created a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1966 New Year Honours for his service as CNS.[43]

The White Ensign of the Royal Australian Navy, created in 1966 by the Naval Board under McNicoll

McNicoll was eager for a RAN contribution to the Vietnam War and, in July 1966, proposed that the four Australian minesweepers operating out of Singapore be deployed to Vietnamese waters since Konfrontasi was at an end and the vessels were no longer necessary in that area. The notion was rejected by Fairhall, however, who was conscious of an upcoming election and was adamant that nothing be decided until afterward.[44][45] The possibility of a naval contribution to Vietnam was raised again in December, and it was decided that the guided missile destroyer HMAS Hobart and a clearance diving team of six personnel be deployed as the Royal Australian Navy Force Vietnam.[46][47] Per an agreement between McNicoll and Admiral Roy L. Johnson, Commander of the United States Pacific Fleet, HMAS Hobart was to be attached to the United States Seventh Fleet and conduct shore bombardment operations.[47] The deployment of an Australian destroyer to Vietnam became permanent, with the ships operating on a six-month rotation.[48] To McNicoll's satisfaction, the RAN contribution to the theatre was further bolstered in 1967 with the formation of the RAN Helicopter Flight Vietnam and the dispatch of naval aviators to serve in an Army support role with No. 9 Squadron RAAF.[49][50]

The visible legacy of McNicoll's service as CNS is the Australian White Ensign.[5][8][10] The British White Ensign had been flown by Australian vessels since the formation of the RAN in 1911, but the Australian contribution to Vietnam—a conflict in which the United Kingdom was not involved—served to complicate the situation. Federal politician Sam Benson questioned the Australian use of the British ensign before parliament in October 1965, and McNicoll later raised the issue with the Naval Board. The Naval Board ultimately decided to recommend to the government that the RAN create its own unique white ensign. A design accompanied the recommendation, which described the ensign as a "white flag with the Union Flag in the upper canton at the hoist with six blue stars positioned as in the Australian flag".[51] The government approved the proposal, and the Australian White Ensign was formally introduced throughout the RAN on 1 March 1967.[51]

After 46 years of service, McNicoll retired from the RAN on 2 April 1968 and was succeeded as CNS by Vice Admiral Victor Smith.[8][9] In the lead-up to his retirement, McNicoll completed a farewell tour by visiting several ships and naval establishments throughout Australia. The trip culminated with a two-week visit to Vietnam, and McNicoll was present in Saigon when the city was attacked by Viet Cong forces as part of the Tet Offensive.[8][52][53] As a man who "liked action", McNicoll later stated that he received a "great thrill" during the assault as he awaited transportation back to Australia.[8]