A ROYAL Navy officer, from Altrincham, who was promoted from the ranks, has been appointed the First Lieutenant at Britannia Royal Naval College.

Lt Cdr Steve Henaghen joined the Royal Navy in 1977 and served in every rank as a non-commissioned officer before being promoted to the Officer Corps in 2001.

In his new role Lt Cdr Henaghen is responsible for the day-to-day running of the Naval College in Dartmouth, where he undertook his own initial officer training on his promotion.

The 51-year-old - a former pupil at Wellington Road Boys Secondary School in Timperley - said: “I am delighted to be returning to the college as the first lieutenant and am looking forward to the professional challenges and job satisfaction of playing a part in the training and development of our future naval officers.”

Having originally joined the Royal Navy as a junior seaman operator, Lt Cdr Henaghen spent the first 22 years of his career as a gunnery specialist serving on board various ships. He saw active service during operations in the Gulf.

Since becoming an officer, Lt Cdr Henaghen has served on HMS Cumberland and was appointed HMS Bulwark’s first principal warfare officer as the ship came into service in 2004. Specialising in anti-air warfare and amphibious operations Lt Cdr Henaghen spent four years teaching at the Netherlands Belgian Operational School in Den Helder, North Holland. He returned to the UK in 2010 and was appointed to the staff of Flag Officer Sea Training responsible for training UK and NATO amphibious ships.

He said: “I look back with pride and a sense of accomplishment over the past 35 years. I have travelled to places I never thought I would visit, accomplished personal and professional challenges I never thought possible and owe a lot of these achievements to my naval training and the ethos the service still projects on a daily basis."

He currently lives in Plympton, Devon.