Ian Pfennigwerth served for 35 years in the Royal Australian Navy. He spent his last ten years mainly in intelligence. He was Director of Naval Intelligence for three years and was the Defence Attache in Beijing for two. He retired in 2000 and followed his interest in Australian naval history. He completed a PhD in History at the University of Newcastle in 2005, with a thesis titled 'Reducing the Margin of Igrnorance : The Contribution of Intelligence to Royal Australian Navy Operations'. As well as the biography listed here, Ian Pfennigwerth has written The Australian Cruiser Perth 1939-1942 (2007), a history of that Australian warship.
