Ralph Hennessy was born on September 5, 1918, in Edinburgh, Scotland. His father Colonel Patrick Hennessy, a decorated officer in the Canadian Army, was transferred back to Winnipeg in 1920 after serving in the First World War. (Colonel Patrick Hennessy would be killed in action during the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong in December 1941.) Hennessy was the first to join the Royal Canadian Navy at the age of 18, breaking his family’s four generation chain of serving in the Army.
From 1936 to 1939 Hennessy trained as an Officer Cadet with the Royal Canadian Navy, at this time he was involved in the Non-Intervention Patrols during the Spanish Civil War. With the outbreak of the Second World War, Hennessey was promoted to Sub-Lieutenant and was a part of the commissioning crew of HMCS Assiniboine. In 1942, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for the Assiniboine’s sinking of the German U-boat 210. Hennessy held various titles within the Navy: Commander First Canadian Escort Squadron, Deputy Naval Member of the Canadian Joint Liaison Staff and Chairman NATO Military Agency for Standardization, Director Naval Training, Deputy Chief Personnel and Commodore Personnel Atlantic Coast.
In 1966, during the controversial unification period of the Canadian military, Hennessey was promoted to Vice Admiral, serving as Comptroller-General of the Canadian Forces and as Principal Naval Advisor. In 1969, he became Chief of Personnel in CFHQ. He served in this position until he retired in 1970.
The Vice Admiral Ralph Lucien Hennessy bust was completed by Christian Corbet in 2015. Christian began working with the Royal Canadian Navy in 2010, which was Canada’s Naval Centennial. He offered to donate a sculpted bust of Admiral Sir Charles Kingsmill, known as the Father of the Royal Canadian Navy. The Royal Canadian Navy’s appreciation of this gift inspired Christian to donate a second bust in 2011. This one was of Chief Petty Officer Max Bernays, a Canadian navy hero from the Second World War
Other works by Christian Corbet include: Commander Adelaide Sinclair Bust, Rear-Admiral Leonard Warren Murray Bust, Midshipman William A. Palmer Bust, and Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve Bust.
