CAPTAIN Mike Everett, who was born in New Milton and served in nuclear submarines during the Cold War, has died aged 79.

The son of a Rear-Admiral, he was educated at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth and awarded the Sword of Honour in 1947. He learned to sail dinghies in the tidal streams off Lymington, developing a lifelong love of sailing.

In 1956 he joined the submarine service and served in the submarine Teredo based in Malta. He was also first lieutenant of Acheron, based in Singapore, and became Officers’ Training Officer at Gosport in 1963. After completing the “perisher” command course for all submarine captains, he commanded Totem.

This was followed by a brief spell in general service and in 1967, Capt Everett supervised the final stage of the building of the new submarine Onyx.

In 1969, he was sent on exchange to the US Navy submarine base in Connecticut, where he helped to develop nuclear submarine tactics. He brought his newly-acquired knowledge home, serving at the naval base in Faslane, first as commander in charge of the Submarine Tactical Weapons Group and then commanding the nuclear-powered missile-firing submarine Renown.

As commander of Renown’s Port crew, his work was highly secret and he was the consummate expert in his field. He was promoted to captain in 1981 and was involved in refining the penetrability of the Polaris missile in response to improved Soviet defences around Moscow.

He was naval assistant to the Chief Strategic Systems Executive in 1981-82 and Captain Underwater Weapons Acceptance at Portland from 1982 to 1984.

From 1984 to 1986 he held a multi-role appointment as captain of HMS Dolphin, Captain 1st Submarine Squadron and of the Navy’s submarine school.

His final appointment was as Commodore Admiralty Interview Board before he retired in 1989.

Away from his distinguished Naval career, Capt Everett also had a keen interest in scouting and studied Baden Powell’s books and letters. In 1996, he was appointed county commissioner for Hampshire Scouts and he led several youth initiatives, including one in which the Hampshire Business Trust aimed to develop links between scouts and the business community. In 1996 he was awarded the Silver Wolf, the highest award made by the Scout Association.

He was also a committed Anglican and a lay assistant at St Thomas and All Saints, Lymington.

He married Bronwen Lloyd in 1957 and they had one daughter.