- Frederick Gray: "My God Jack. How deep is the water there?"
- First Sea Lord: "Not deep enough, I'm afraid!"
- ―At the briefing about the St. Georges
The First Sea Lord was the professional head of the Royal Navy.[1] The character appeared in the 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only, portrayed by Graham Crowden.
Biography[]
Sir Fredrick Gray addresses him as "Jack", so this is presumably his name.
In the Adriatic Sea, a disguised Maltese fishing ship, the St. Georges, trawls off the coast of Albania. Inside is a hidden control room for British SIGINT and defence. The spy ship is equipped with ATAC (Automatic Targeting and Attack Communicator), a valuable defensive and offensive device that the Soviet Union would like to obtain. When the ship's decoy fishing crew hauls in a net, it brings with it an old anti-warship mine which explodes, sinking the St. Georges. At MI6, M's temporary replacement, Chief-of-Staff Bill Tanner, is informed of the incident. When he asks how deep the water is off the coast of Albania, he is told it isn't "deep enough" by the First Sea Lord. Hoping to find the St. Georges and the ATAC discreetly, Tanner orders a British underwater archaeologist, Tim Havelock to find the St. Georges. Meanwhile, Tanner's KGB counterpart, Anatol Gogol, is told that the ATAC is in play, and instructs an unknown contact to procure it for him.
Behind the Scenes[]
According to the Royal Navy themselves, the First Sea Lord is the Chief of Naval Staff, answerable to the British Secretary of State. He is responsible for overseeing the armed service, that it is effective and well provided for. He is also on "the Defence Council and of the Chiefs of Staff Committee."[2]
Graham Crowden also played Auric Goldfinger and others in Omnibus: The British Hero.