the royal navy

[mokiturbo]

a persons name for senior service (6,6)

[Quizmonster]

Possibly, Andrew Miller. The Royal Navy got the nickname �the Andrew' after a man called Andrew Miller who was an officer of the Press Gang which conscripted men - usually against their will - into naval service. Between 1790 and 1815, he pressed so many men into this sort of service that sailors claimed he actually "owned" the Royal Navy!

[wonderval]

thank you quiz monkey

[seachurch]

Ludovic Kennedy,the well known broadcaster who served in the R.N, (Bismarck) when asked by Anthony Powell about this replied that he had never heard of this name for the RN

[Quizmonster]

Well, Seachurch, Ludovic Kennedy may never have heard the Royal Navy called 'the Andrew', but The Oxford English Dictionary's scholars certainly have!
Here's a quote they offer from 1916: "...terms heard every day in Andrew, as the bluejacket calls the Navy." (That was published in Carry on! by someone using the pen-name Taffrail, a pretty clear naval reference.) Indeed, as far back as the 1500s a warship was often called an Andrew, so the connection is quite ancient.
Kennedy clearly wasn't really paying attention!