Vice Admiral Sir Henry Mackay Burrell, KBE, CB (13 August 1904 – 9 February 1988) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

During World War II, he filled a key liaison post with the US Navy, and later saw action as commander of the destroyer HMAS Norman, earning a mention in despatches.

Promoted captain in 1946, Burrell played a major role in the formation of the RAN's Fleet Air Arm, before commanding the flagship HMAS Australia in 1948–49.

[1][2] Henry's father, who had emigrated from England, joined the Australian Imperial Force aged 55 during World War I, seeing active service in Egypt.

[2] Henry attended Parramatta High School before entering the Royal Australian Naval College, Jervis Bay, on 1 January 1918,[3][4] aged 13.

[10] A reorganisation of the headquarters in May 1940 saw him promoted to commander and given the new role of Director of Operations, overseeing troop convoys and their air cover, local defence, and staffing issues.

[5] He also warned the Australian government that Britain and the US would adopt a "Germany-first" strategy in the event of war with Japan, and that the US was prepared to weaken its Pacific fleet to help secure the Atlantic.

[1][13] Posted to Britain, Burrell was appointed commanding officer of the newly commissioned N-class destroyer HMAS Norman on 15 September 1941.

After returning to Britain, she steamed to the Indian Ocean to join Admiral Sir James Somerville's Eastern Fleet at Addu Atoll, Maldives, on 26 February 1942.

[15] Transferred back to the Indian Ocean, Burrell led Norman in the second campaign of the Battle of Madagascar in September, and was mentioned in despatches on 19 February 1943 for his "bravery and resource" during the operation.

[20] On a mission to one such camp at Sendai, Burrell located crewmen from the light cruiser HMAS Perth, which had been sunk in the early hours of 1 March 1942 during the Battle of Sunda Strait; 320 of her complement of 680 survived the sinking, 105 dying in captivity.

As DCNS, Burrell played a major role in establishing the Navy's Fleet Air Arm and preparing for the introduction of carrier-based aircraft.

[1][3] He took command of the light aircraft carrier HMAS Vengeance on 2 December 1952, less than three weeks after she was commissioned into the RAN after transfer from the Royal Navy.

Vengeance was involved in a collision with HMAS Bataan near the Cocos Islands on 5 April 1954, while acting as part of the escort for the Royal Yacht of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip during their inaugural tour of Australia, but continued on duty.

[28] As CNS, Vice Admiral Burrell had to contend with a threat by Defence Minister Athol Townley to disband the Navy's fixed-wing Fleet Air Arm capability by 1963, but gained approval for a major vessel re-equipment drive that was to include new submarines, destroyers, minesweepers, and auxiliaries.

[29] This led among other things to the procurement of British Oberon-class submarines, selected by Burrell when his original preference for an Australian-built craft proved too expensive, as well as Ton-class minesweepers and the Navy's first purpose-designed hydrographic survey ship, HMAS Moresby.

Most significant was the purchase of three Charles F. Adams-class guided-missile destroyers,[5] a decision of "ingenuity and forethought" on the part of Burrell and Navy Minister John Gorton, according to historian Tom Frame.

[31] The purchase of the destroyers signalled a shift in reliance for equipment from Britain to the United States that was contrary to prevailing Australian defence policy at the time, particularly in what historian Jeffrey Grey described as "the most British of the Australian services, the RAN", and provoked pressure from the Royal Navy and UK shipbuilders, which had lobbied for purchase of their County-class destroyer.

[33] On a mission overseas to discuss trends and acquisitions in January 1960, he was rebuffed by Britain's Chief of the Defence Staff, Admiral of the Fleet Lord Louis Mountbatten, who mistakenly thought him responsible for the imminent dissolution of the RAN's Fleet Air Arm, but warmly welcomed by the US Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Arleigh Burke.