Les Chapman

Biography

I qualified in Submarines and was awarded my Dolphins in HMCS Onondaga in 1980. In 1981, I went on exchange to the Royal Navy Submarine Service, serving in HMS Opossum during the Falklands War, and I transferred to the RN in 1983. The mid-1980s brought particularly memorable years chasing Soviet submarines during the Cold War.

I passed the Submarine Command Course (Perisher) in 1988. My most rewarding appointment in the Royal Navy was serving as the Executive Officer of HMS Victorious (Trident SSBN) during her build, first missile firing, and first operational patrol from 1993 to 1996.

My first civilian role was as Marine Operations Manager at the Port of Southampton from 1997 to 2000, overseeing 115 staff and managing Pilotage and Vessel Traffic Services. From 2000 to 2003, I served as the UK Government’s Export Promoter for the Ports Industry, later becoming the Government’s Maritime Security Expert following the events of 9/11.

From 2008 to 2014, I was COO of an international expert witness and accident investigation company with offices in London, Panama, Bahrain, Annapolis, and San Francisco. I briefly served as the Secretary of State’s Representative for Maritime Salvage and Intervention (SOSREP), reporting to the Secretaries of State for Transport and for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy.

After 2014, I chaired several maritime security and anti-piracy companies based in London with operational centres in Israel. One of my proudest achievements was serving as Master of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners in 2021–22. My greatest personal satisfaction has come from decades of voluntary service through Freemasonry, Livery Companies, Trusteeships, and Sea Cadets, from 1991 to the present day.

I was married to Susan, a former WRNS Officer, from 1989 until she died of cancer in 2013, shortly before our 25th anniversary. Our son, George, was 21 at the time and had just graduated with a BA in Accounting and Finance. He is now a Chartered Accountant, married to Sophie, and father to my granddaughter Isla (born October 2020), with another granddaughter due in early 2023.

I met Lydia, a property developer, on a blind date in 2017, and we married in 2019. Through her, I gained three stepchildren and four step-grandchildren. We live in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, just fifty minutes from London. When not tied up with commitments, we enjoy family, golf, bridge, good food (Lydia is an excellent chef), and wine.

I am currently Chair of Margaret Black. My volunteer roles include Director of the London Shipping Law Centre; Foundation Governor and Trustee of the George Green’s Trust; Trustee of the Tower Hill Trust; Trustee of the HCMM and Howard Leopold Davis Charity; Trustee of the Kent Mark Benevolent Fund; Immediate Past Master and committee member at HCMM; Past Chairman and Executive member of the Nautical Institute London Branch; Chairman of the South East Regional Grant Committee for Trinity House Maritime Charity; Trustee of the Greenwich Deptford and Rotherhithe Sea Cadets; member of the GDR Unit Management Committee; Vice President of the Tunbridge Wells Sea Cadets (TS Brilliant); Council Member of the Royal Society of St George; Treasurer of the City Naval Club; and member of fourteen Masonic Orders, holding various offices and serving as Visiting Officer in both the Metropolitan Grand Lodge and the West Kent Provincial Grand Lodge.

My current professional memberships include Fellowship of the Nautical Institute; membership in the Southampton Master Mariners’ Club; Liveryman status in the Honourable Company of Master Mariners, the Worshipful Company of Shipwrights, and the Worshipful Company of Arbitrators; Freeman of the City of London; and Younger Brother of Trinity House.