[2] He was promoted rear admiral in January 1941, appointed flag officer of minelayers and from March 1942 flag officer of the Destroyer Flotillas of the Home Fleet.

[2] From January 1943 he was flag officer of the 10th Cruiser Squadron and was promoted to vice admiral in that role on 9 December 1943.

Flying his flag in HMS Belfast, he saw action in the North Sea and in the Arctic Ocean off the coast of Norway in convoy escort duty, particularly on 26 December at the Battle of North Cape, where he played a major role in the sinking of the German battleship Scharnhorst[1] (in most accounts of the battle he is described as a rear admiral).

[2] He then served as the first director of the White Fish Authority, from its foundation in 1951 until his retirement in November 1954.

[1] He was the younger brother of Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Burnett.