Congratulations to ARNO Member Lieutenant Commander Les Chapman CMMAR FNI Royal Navy on his appointment.

Born in 1956 in Amherst, Novia Scotia, Canada, Les joined the Royal Canadian Navy in 1974 and served as an Officer Cadet on Destroyer Escorts and Mine Hunters before graduating from the Royal Military College of Canada as a Sub Lieutenant with a BChemEng (Nuc) in 1978. He volunteered for Submarines in Halifax, Nova Scotia gaining his Dolphins in 1980 and serving on HMCS Onondaga. He then went on exchange with the Royal Navy SUbmarine Service, serving in HMS Opossum and transferred to the Royal Navy in 1983, living in Portsmouth until 2014. He had a number of Command appointments including the Acceptance of HMS Vanguard, standing by build for HMS Victorious and conducting first firing patrol. He retired in 1997 after 24 years in the RCN and the RN.

Les joined the Honourable Company of Master Mariners in 2001 and was awarded his Chartered Master Mariner in October 2017. He has recently been appointed as Vice President of Tunbridge Wells Sea Cadets. He is also a Fellow of the Nautical Institute, a Younger Brother of Trinity House and Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Shipwrights, among other positions.