Rear Admiral Evert Groenewald is a retired South African Navy officer, who served as Chief of Naval Operations before his retirement in 1999. He joined the Navy in 1963 at the South African Naval College and later obtained a BMil (BSc) at the South African Military Academy He commanded the submarines SAS Emily Hobhouse and SAS Johanna van der Merwe He served as Chief of Naval Staff Intelligence as a Commodore and on 1 May 1996 was promoted to rear admiral and appointed Chief of Naval Operations.