Commodore Marcel Rosenburg

Marcel Rosenberg joined the Royal Navy in 1988 as an Apprentice. He served in HMS MANCHESTER (First Gulf War), HMS GLASGOW, HMS GRAFTON (Kosovo), and culminated his Rating career as a Warrant Officer in HMS WESTMINSTER and as a Fleet-Time Maintenance Period planner in HMNB Portsmouth.

Commissioned in 2003, he was DWEO in HMS PORTLAND, a Sea Rider to FOST, and a Requirements Manager in DE&S. He was awarded a 2SL commendation for his leadership of the military contingency that defended Walham sub-station in the Gloucester floods of 2007 (Op GIRAFFE 07). On promotion to Lieutenant Commander in 2010 he deployed to a Joint Operations tour as J6 Ops and IM/IX/IA in the Middle East, returning to the UK to join PJHQ J6 and become the first sailor to lead HERRICK Ops/Plans (Afghanistan). In 2013, as the WEO in HMS DARING for her global deployment, he supported the humanitarian aid mission to the Philippines following Typhoon Haiyan (Op PATWIN) and as Public Relations Officer secured the Desmond Wetton Media Award. This was followed by a brief period as the WEO in HMS DIAMOND.

Promoted to Commander in 2015 he led uniformed engineering support to ships in Portsmouth and deployed, as Commander Engineering to the Portsmouth Flotilla: designing and implementing the Delivery Duty Holder construct for Surface Ships. Following ACSC, he became the first Military Assistant to the CEO of the newly formed Submarine Delivery Agency. As the In-Service Manager for Surface Ships’ Combat Systems he received a MinDP Award for his support to the delivery of Open Architecture. He was the Assistant Chief Naval Engineer Officer from 2019 to 2023, leading the development of the Royal Navy Engineering Profession strategy for the next 20 years. In 2020 he became Chief of Staff / Scrum Master to DE&S Director Ships Support, leading Ship Support Transformation (Project RENOWN) and driving a cultural shift to focus on availability, he promoted to Captain in 2021 in this role. As the Combat Systems Design Authority and Surface Ships Combat Systems Group Team Leader he led a capability agenda through relational DevSecOps contracting.

In 2024, as Commodore, Marcel assumed command of His Majesty’s Naval Base Portsmouth as Naval Base Commander. An exciting return home for him, to the Naval Base where he joined his first Ship as an Apprentice and served ashore in every Rate and even a few Ranks.

Marcel has an MSc in Engineering and Management with Distinction and is a Chartered Engineer with the IET. He is the RN Race and Ethnicity Advocate providing support, mentorship, and a voice. As a Non-Executive Director to UK Maritime Solent he supports their mission to promote a thriving maritime sector within the central south coast of England, anchored around the Solent. As President of the Royal Marines Band Service Rugby his joy of the game can still be satiated, whilst he’s also a keen runner and an occasional sailor. He is married to Sarah, and they have a son (Isaac), a daughter (Lois) and a West Highland White Terrier (Luna).