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Vice Admiral David John Shackleton AO (born 2 March 1948) is a retired senior officer of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), who served as Chief of Navy from 1999 to 2002.

Early life

Shackleton was born in Leeds, United Kingdom, on 2 March 1948 to Ernest Shackleton and Elise Wilson. The family immigrated to Australia in 1959 and settled in Adelaide, where Shackleton was educated at Croydon High School.

Naval career

Shackleton joined the Navy in 1966 under Supplementary List (Executive) Scheme, and saw service in Vietnam while qualifying as a seaman officer. He was given command of the destroyer escort HMAS Derwent in 1988, was the Maritime commander for the opposing forces during Exercise Kangaroo 1989, and reached the rank of captain in 1989. He commanded the destroyer HMAS Brisbane from 1991 to 1992, and was promoted to commodore in 1993.

He is a graduate of the RAN Staff College and the Joint Services Staff College, and has earned a Master of Business Administration (executive) from Monash University. He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

He was promoted to rear admiral in 1998, and then vice admiral and Chief of Navy in 1999. He initiated various organisational changes across the Navy.

He was a senior Navy witness to the Senate Enquiry into the Children overboard affair. He was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2000, and Commander of the United States Legion of Merit in 2001. He retired from the RAN in 2002.

Post-naval career

Shackleton was appointed to the Defence SA Advisory Board in South Australia in 2007, the year of its establishment.

References

1. "Vice Admiral David Shackleton". ConnectWeb. Who's Who in Australia Online. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
2. ^ Vice Admiral David Shackleton, AO, RAN, Chief of Navy Australian Defence Magazine
3. ^ Techport Australia Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
4. 7.30 Report – 25 March 2002: Defence Dept secretary offered to resign
5. "It's an honour – Order of Australia". Archived from the original on 4 February 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2010.

v t e Chiefs of the Royal Australian Navy
Director, Commonwealth Naval Forces	Sir William Rooke Creswell
First Naval Members, Australian Commonwealth Naval Board	Sir William Rooke Creswell Sir Percy Grant Sir Allan Everett Percival Hall-Thompson William Napier Sir William Munro Kerr Sir George Hyde Sir Ragnar Colvin Sir Guy Royle Sir Louis Keppel Hamilton Sir John Augustine Collins Sir Roy Dowling Sir Henry Burrell Sir Hastings Harrington Sir Alan McNicoll Sir Victor Smith Sir Richard Peek Sir David Stevenson
Chiefs of the Naval Staff	Sir Anthony Synnot Sir James Willis David Leach Michael Hudson Ian MacDougall Rodney Taylor
Chiefs of Navy	Rodney Taylor Donald Chalmers David Shackleton Chris Ritchie Russ Shalders Russell Crane Raymond Griggs Timothy Barrett Michael Noonan Mark Hammond

• 1948 births
• Australian military personnel of the Vietnam War
• Commanders of the Legion of Merit
• Chiefs of Navy (Australia)
• English emigrants to Australia
• Fellows of the Australian Institute of Management
• Living people
• Monash University alumni
• Officers of the Order of Australia
• Military personnel from Leeds
• Royal Australian Navy admirals
• Fellows of the Australian Institute of Company Directors