Ramsay was born in 1883 the son of Brigadier General W. A. Ramsay. In 1898 he entered the Royal Navy. Ramsay commanded M.25 and HMS Broke in the Dover Patrol, 1915-1919. He then accompanied Lord Jellicoe on his mission to India and the Dominions, 1919-20 He commanded HMS Weymouth, 1924-25, and HMS Danae, 1925-27. He served on the Staff of the Royal Naval War College, 1927-29 and in 1929 he married Helen Menzies and they later had two sons. Ramsay commanded HMS Kent, 1929-1931 and as Chief of Staff to Admiral Sir Arthur Waistell Commander in Chief of the China Squadron. He served on the Staff of the Imperial Defence College, 1931-33 and then commanded HMS Royal Sovereign, 1933-1935. In 1935 Ramsay was promoted to Rear Admiral and Chief of Staff to the Commander of the Home Fleet, Sir Roger Backhouse, the appointment lasted four months. He remained on the Active List until 1938 when he was placed on the Retired List where he remained until 1944. Later that year he was promoted to Vice Admiral after the Munich Crisis. Ramsay spent the years 1939-1942 as Flag Officer commanding Dover. In 1940 he was responsible for the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk in Operation Dynamo. In 1942 Ramsay was appointed Deputy Naval Commander-in-Chief to work with Eisenhower in the invasion of North Africa (Operation Torch) and in 1943 he was Naval Commander for Montgomery in the invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky). In 1944 Ramsay was the Allied Naval Commander-in-Chief Expeditionary Force for the D-Day landings in Normandy (Operation Neptune- the naval side of Operation Overlord) and he was promoted to Admiral. Ramsay died on 2nd January 1945 when the plane he was travelling in crashed in France.