John Egerton Broome was born in Seattle, United States, 23 February 1901, the son of Louis Egerton Broome and Clara Kathleen (Aimée) Lake. He was educated at Oakwood School, Surrey; the Royal Naval College, Osborne, 1914-15; the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, 1915-17; and Trinity Hall, Cambridge, 1922-3. He married Sybil Nicholas in 1928 (divorced 1954), with whom he had one son and one daughter, and Joan Featherstonhaugh Crisp in 1954 (died 1996).

He served as a Midshipman in HMS Colossus, 1917-18, and various other ships, 1918-22. He specialised in submarines and, except for two short periods in HMS Tiger and HMS Royal Oak, served in submarines based in Britain and on the China Station, 1924-38. He was promoted Commander and was an instructor at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, and at Royal Air Force Staff College, Andover, 1936-8. He commanded an escort destroyer, HMS Veteran, 1939-40; served on the staff of the Commander-in-Chief Western Approaches, based at Liverpool, 1940-1; and commanded HMS Keppel and 1st Escort Group, based at Londonderry, 1941-2. During this period he was the escort commander of Convoy PQ17, which sailed from Iceland to Russia and was scattered with heavy losses of men and merchant shipping, 29 June-4 July 1942.

He was promoted Captain and joined the staff of the United States Naval Command in Newfoundland [later part of Canada], 1942. He commanded escort aircraft carriers, HMS Avalon, 1942-3, and HMS Begum, 1943-4. He was commandant of HMS Vernon II, the shore establishment at Portsmouth, 1945, and captained HMS Ramillies, 1945-6.

He retired from the Royal Navy, 1947, and became editor of "Sketch Magazine", 1947-51. He died on 19 April 1985.

He was awarded the DSC, 1943.

His publications include: "Make a Signal" (1955); "Convoy is to Scatter" (1972); and "Make Another Signal" (1973). He was a talented illustrator who contributed to magazines and books. He also acted as naval adviser to a number of film projects, including "The Cruel Sea", and wrote scripts for film and television.