Frederick Richards Military person

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Frederick William Richards, GCB (30 November 1833 – 28 September 1912) was a Royal Navy officer. He commanded a paddle-sloop during the Second Opium War in 1860 and, as senior officer on the Cape of Good Hope and West Coast of Africa Station, he landed on the coast of East Africa with a small naval brigade which he led at the Battle of Gingindlovu and the Siege of Eshowe in April 1879 during the Anglo–Zulu War. He took part in the Battle of Laing's Nek in January 1881 during the First Boer War and, as Commander-in-Chief of the East Indies Station, he organized and equipped a naval brigade to support the British advance up the Irrawaddy River in November 1885 during the Third Anglo-Burmese War. He went on to be First Naval Lord and in that role led a huge shipbuilding and naval works programme undertaken in accordance with the provisions of the Naval Defence Act 1889. The programme was opposed by Prime Minister William Gladstone who was concerned about its vast cost and who resigned after a Cabinet defeat over it in March 1894. The programme continued under the Governments of Lord Rosebery and then Lord Salisbury and Richards remained in office driving the programme throughout the political turmoil.

Personal facts

Frederick Richards
Birth dateNovember 30, 1833
Birth place
Ireland , County Wexford
Date of deathSeptember 28, 1912
Place of death
Chipping Sodbury , Gloucestershire

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Military person

allegianceUnited Kingdom
award
Order of the Bath
military operations
First Boer War
Anglo-Zulu War
Second Opium War
Third Anglo-Burmese War
military branch
Royal Navy
military command
China Station
East Indies Station
HMS Devastation
Cape of Good Hope and West Coast of Africa Station
HMS Dart
HMS Jumna
HMS Vixen
service start1848
service end1899

Frederick Richards on Wikipedia

External resources

  1. http://dreadnoughtproject.org/tfs/index.php/Frederick_William_Richards
  2. http://www.pdavis.nl/ShowBiog.php?id=1423