A Summary of the Military and Political Career of Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco

  

Capitán de fragata (Commander) Luis Carrero Blanco as the face of an original 1937 Spanish Civil War ration coupon.

Luis Carrero Blanco was a close associate of Generalissimo Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War which lasted from1936 to 1939. Franco, the leader of the Nationalist side became the undisputed head of state after victory over the Republican side and continued to lead Spain until his death in 1975.

Military education:

. 1918 - Naval Infantry School

. 1924 - Submarine School Course

. 1932 - Naval School, Paris

Military ranks (select):

. 1926 - Lieutenant 

. 1935 - Commander

. 1945 - Captain

. 1957 - Rear Admiral

. 1963 - Vice Admiral
. 1966 - Admiral

He held the following military positions:

. Ship Captain

. Submarine Commander
. Professor at the Naval College, Madrid
. Commander of the Cruiser Division of the Spanish Navy 
. Chief of Operations of the Navy High Command
. Chief of the General Staff

Carrero Blanco became an important functionary in Francoist Spain. He held the following appointments:

. 1940 - Under Secretary to the Presidency

. 1943 - Vice President of the Cortes

. 1967 - Deputy Premier

. 1973 - Prime Minister of Spain

Carrero Blanco authored at least three books:

. Spain and the Sea (1941)
. The Art of Naval Warfare (1943)

. The Victory of Christ of Lepanto (1947)

He was assassinated in a bomb attack by ETA, the Basque separatist group, on December 20, 1973.

© Adeyinka Makinde (2024).

Adeyinka Makinde is a writer based in London, England.

French Navy Tribute Recalls A Dramatic Connection Between Charles de Gaulle And Notre Dame Cathedral

FS Charles de Gaulle displays Notre Dame Cathedral on its deck (Source of photo: Chef d'état-major de la Marine on "X", formerly "Twitter").

A photograph released by the office of the French Chief of Naval Staff on Saturday, December 7, 2024, commemorated the re-opening of the refurbished Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, which was gutted by a fire in 2019.

The overhead shot of the aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle, the flagship of the French Navy, depicts the revered Cathedral using 922 members of its crew to reconstruct its façade.

Notre Dame Cathedral was of course the site of an assassination attempt on General Charles de Gaulle in August 26^th, 1944. De Gaulle was in Paris to attend a thanksgiving service to celebrate the Liberation of the city.

As "Le General" strode into the Cathedral at the head of a procession of French soldiers and members of the resistance who had marched from the Arc de Triomphe, shots rang out from the dark corners of the Cathedral’s roof.

But as people threw themselves downwards to take cover, an unperturbed de Gaulle continued walking at his full height towards the altar and remained untouched by the hail of gunfire.

The echo of bullets exchanged between the snipers and the French security team of gendarmes and soldiers soon died down and was replaced by the sound of the congregation singing the Latin Christian hymn “Te Deum”.

© Adeyinka Makinde (2024).

Adeyinka Makinde is a writer based in London, England.