Death of Captain Grenville Philip Johnson MBE RN
29 Apr 2026 - I regret to announce that MCDOA member Grenville crossed the bar at lunchtime yesterday with his family around him. He had been suffering from a debilitating cancer for the past couple of years but remained stoic throughout and his end was peaceful. He would have been 72 tomorrow and his death comes as a personal blow because he was the ‘baby’ on my Long MCD Officers’ Course at HMS VERNON (now Gunwharf Quays) exactly 50 years ago.
Grenville qualified as a Ships’ Diving Officer at HMS VERNON in August 1973 along with fellow future MCD officers Bertie Armstrong, the late Colin Dodd and Graham Sharp Paul before serving as the Diving Officer of the Tribal class frigate HMS MOHAWK.
He qualified as an MCD officer in 1976 and cut his teeth in HMS SHERATON before qualifying as a submariner and subsequently serving as the Torpedo Officer of HMS OTUS before transferring back to General Service. Our course members joked that he only had to gain his pilot’s wings to achieve a Special Service Pay hat-trick and I fully expected him to become the UK’s first astronaut!
In the late 1970s, Grenville served as assistant to the late Lt Cdr ‘Uncle Bill’ Filer GM MBE RN at DTU (Deep Trials Unit) Haslar, part of RNPL (Royal Naval Physiological Laboratory) attached to INM (Institute of Naval Medicine) at Alverstoke. He appears on the right in this photo on page 112 of Combat Frogmen: Military Diving from the Nineteenth Century to the Present Day by Michael Welham.
Grenville served in the Falklands in 1983 and, in 1984, he was the CO of HMS BOSSINGTON during Operation HARLING, the search for Russian-made ground influence mines laid by Libya’s Gaddafi in the Gulf of Suez, for which he was appointed an MBE in the 1985 Queen’s Birthday Honours.
Grenville went on to qualify as a PWO (Principal Warfare Officer) and serve as the PWO(U) of the Type 42 destroyer HMS MANCHESTER 1986-88. After serving as the 4th MCM Squadron’s SOO, he was appointed as the first CO of the Sandown class minehunter HMS INVERNESS which was transferred to the Estonian Navy in 2006 and renamed ENS SAKALA. He later served in Abu Dabi, UAE and ended his naval career working for MODSAP, the MOD’s Saudi Arabian Project, as a serving Captain before undertaking another tour in Abu Dhabi as a civilian contractor.
Former WO(MW) Tony Mulrain BEM worked with Grenville in both Saudi Arabia and the UAE and provided the group photo above. He had these words to say about him:
“Having had the pleasure of working with Grenville, both in Saudi Arabia and then again in Abu Dhabi, I can confirm it takes a special person to lead in those environments. The ability to understand the cultural, political and operational requirements is an art within itself. Grenville excelled at all the above whilst putting full trust in the individuals he commanded.
As he closed out his career in Abu Dhabi, there were enormous pressures on contract renewals and degradation of employment conditions. He was able to give firm advice to gain the best results for his team.
Of course none of the above would have been possible if Sandra was not at the ‘tiller’ directing operations at home and telling him ‘he was wrong at times...he just doesn’t know it yet’ 😆.
He was also a director of social events and was never far from enjoying life.
Sometimes you meet people in life that have a profound impact on your life, Grenville was one of those people for me.”
I have also received this tribute from MCDOA member Mike Loane:
I was privileged enough to have Grenville as my Boss twice; once in MODSAP 2006/7 and then from 2009 onwards in Abu Dhabi.
I want to spin you a quick dit about something that happened in AD that probably nobody knows about but is a true reflection of Grenville’s character as a decent human being. When he was selected for “non renewal of contract“ by the UAE government along with a few others (a completely random and emotionless process where names were chosen from a list to reduce manpower costs),
Grenville was given a nod by a good friend of his, an Emerati one star. If he were to give him the name of someone else on the list who had not been selected for the chop, the HR team would be told to swap the names and Grenville would have been safe until at least the next cull. Grenville declined, stating he did not feel that he needed that on his conscience.
He told me that just before he left UAE. He was a fantastic mentor to me and just the most decent human being.
Our Association dined Grenville out of the Royal Navy in the wardroom of HMS EXCELLENT in November 2006. He sat on the top table on the immediate right of our guest of honour, Admiral Sir James Burnell-Nugent KCB CB, the then Commander-in-Chief Fleet.
Grenville was a staunch supporter of Project Vernon, the successful campaign to erect a monument celebrating all personnel - past, present and future - involved in naval mine warfare, service diving and bomb & mine disposal. He was among our team that visited the the Morris Singer foundry at Lasham in Hampshire where our monument was cast in February/March 2020, and ran the invitation list for the abortive ceremony of its unveiling in March 2020 and the subsequent two-year Covid-delayed dedication in July 2022.
Most recently, Grenville, together with his wife Sandra and their elder son Philip, has made pilgrimages from Solihull to Portsmouth to see old friends while he was still able.
I will announce any funeral details as they become available. In the meantime, I’m sure all members of our community will join me in extending our sincere condolences to Grenville’s wife Sandra, their sons Phil & Chris, and their daughter Hayley.
From Capt David ‘Topsy’ Turner RNZN who transferred from the RN in 2004:
“Hi Rob,
Yvonne and I are deeply saddened to hear of Grenville’s passing. Our thoughts are with Sandra and family whom we first met when we were posted to the Hunter Project in Saudi Arabia.
Grenville and family had been at the Soha Oasis compound for a wee while before I turned up as the inaugural LTCDR MCD with Warrant Officer (Diver) Tony Devitt and Warrant Officer (Minewarfare) Robert ‘Dixie’ Dean (RIP Dixie) to join shortly afterwards. Grenville met us at the airport, whisked us through the formalities (diplomatic status with Blue Cards helped) and drove us to our new residence on the compound.
On entry to the what can only be called a mansion, he pulled out of his pocket a lemon, a lime and a bunch of car keys. The new Isuzu Trooper was in the garage and the gin was in the fridge. We didn’t know what to do first but Grenville being the kind-hearted and totally awesome human that he was decided we could fill our glasses before touring the house to see what was what!
We met Sandra the very next day and she and Yvonne (as fellow Brummies) became good friends. Grenville and Sandra were party people and the UK MOD Team (Navy) were made to feel a part of the extended family.
We were so glad to have caught up with them again in Abu Dhabi when I was on an operational posting to the Combined Maritime Forces Command in Bahrain. Once again we immediately felt like long lost friends; they were gracious hosts, generous bar tenders and awesome BBQ hands.
I echo all that Tony (Mulrain) said so very well (for which, thanks, Tony).
Five Bells, Grenville, and thank you for everything you did for me and our young family in Saudi Arabia. You will never be forgotten shipmate.”