Vitorino Salazar

Lord Admiral Vitorino Salazar is an Imperial naval officer of the reserve who formerly served as the First Lord of the Departmento Admiralitatis in the final years of the 41st Millennium. As the highest ranking of the several Naval Lords, Salazar oversaw the entire Imperial Admiralty. Considered to be a brilliant tactician, his favorite tactic was to use clustered groups of smaller gunships to target and destroy enemy capital ships. He stepped down in 999.M41 in the aftermath of the 12th Black Crusade as the resurrected Primarch Guilliman made a personnel shuffle in the Imperial command.

Biography
Vitorino Salazar was born on Terra and became a thirtieth generation officer in the Imperial Navy. He first served aboard the Firestorm-class frigate Stormhawk as an ensign and missile specialist, which was part of Battlefleet Solar. The only combat Salazar saw during that time was when his unit, the 76th Frigate Squadron, was loaned out to other battlefleets in support of their operations. For his service during the Battle of Altyr V he was awarded the Crux Merito de Navali. After a number of years of serving aboard the Stormhawk, Salazar made the rank of commander and was given his first command: the defense monitor Juggernaut. It was stationed at Heraklion Fortress on the edge of the lawless Caligari Sector. There, he first perfected his tactics, though not as the commanding officer of the Juggernaut but as a tactical advisor to the stationed fleet's commander. He recommended using small squadrons of powerful escort vessels, especially Viper-class destroyers, to target and destroy enemy capital ships, and in coordination with the rest of the fleet. This proved to be successful for the commanding admiral and so Salazar was promoted, eventual becoming a commodore-captain.

His ascendance through the ranks of the Imperial Navy quickened after that and he soon gained a staff position on Terra as a tactical officer in the Admiralty War Staff. From there, Salazar became a rear admiral, vice admiral, and eventually a full admiral, at which point he served as the Chief of the Admiralty War Staff. Although he was primarily a field commander the Terran officer also had administrative ability. His combined skills made him considered to be a candidate for the prestigious office of the First Lord of the Departmento Admiralitatis, for which he was selected for in 987.M41 and promoted to Lord Admiral. His tenure as the First Lord ended up being mostly unremarkable, but Salazar performed his tasks competently enough to remain in the post. By the time of the 12th Black Crusade and the return of Primarch Guiliman, Salazar had realized that for such times a younger and more energetic man was needed in the position, so he voluntarily stepped down.

However, due to his abilities, Salazar was kept in reserve status and held the rank of Admiral in the Imperial auxiliary fleet.