Admiral of the Fleet Sir (George) Rodney Mundy, (19 April 1805 – 23 December 1884) was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

officer. As a commander, he persuaded the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

to surrender Antwerp during the Belgian Revolution and then acted as a mediator during negotiations between the Dutch and the

Belgians Belgians ( nl, Belgen; french: Belges; german: Belgier) are people identified with the Kingdom of Belgium, a federal state in Western Europe. As Belgium is a multinational state, this connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultur ...

to end hostilities. As a captain, he was deployed to the

East Indies Station The East Indies Station was a formation and command of the British Royal Navy. Created in 1744 by the Admiralty, it was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies. Even in official documents, the term ''East Indies Station'' was ...

and was asked to keep the Sultan of Brunei in line until the British Government made a final decision on whether to take the island of

Labuan Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan ( ms, Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan), is a Federal Territory of Malaysia. Its territory includes and six smaller islands, off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capita ...

: he took the Sultan's son-in-law, Pengiran Mumin, to witness the island's accession to the British Crown in December 1846. He was then deployed to the seas of

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, where he secured Björkö Sound in operations against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

during the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

. Mundy became Second-in-Command of the Mediterranean Fleet and, in May 1860, in the

Expedition of the Thousand The Expedition of the Thousand ( it, Spedizione dei Mille) was an event of the Italian Risorgimento that took place in 1860. A corps of volunteers led by Giuseppe Garibaldi sailed from Quarto, near Genoa (now Quarto dei Mille) and landed in Mars ...

, was present in Palermo,

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

when Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Italian general and politician, led his volunteers into the city. Mundy went on to be Commander-in-Chief,

North America and West Indies Station The North America and West Indies Station was a formation or command of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed in North American waters from 1745 to 1956. The North American Station was separate from the Jamaica Station until 1830 when the ...

and then

Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth The Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, was a senior commander of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years. The commanders-in-chief were based at premises in High Street, Portsmouth from the 1790s until the end of Sir Thomas Williams's tenure, his succes ...

Early career

Born the son of General Godfrey Basil Mundy and Sarah Bridges (daughter of George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney), Mundy joined the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth as a cadet in February 1818. He was appointed as a volunteer to the

fifth-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a fifth rate was the second-smallest class of warships in a hierarchical system of six " ratings" based on size and firepower. Rating The rating system in the Royal ...

HMS ''Phaeton'' on the

in December 1819 and, having been promoted to midshipman, he transferred to the frigate HMS ''Euryalus'' in the Mediterranean Fleet in 1822.Heathcote, p. 191 After a brief tour in the

third-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Years of experience proved that the third r ...

HMS ''Rochfort'' also in the Mediterranean Fleet, he transferred to the South American Station in April 1824 and then served successively in the fifth-rate HMS ''Blanche'', the sloop HMS ''Jaseur'', the third-rate HMS ''Wellesley'' and finally the

second-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a second-rate was a ship of the line which by the start of the 18th century mounted 90 to 98 guns on three gun decks; earlier 17th-century second rates had fewer gun ...

HMS ''Cambridge''. Promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

on 4 February 1826, he joined the sloop HMS ''Eclair'' on the South American Station in July 1826. He then transferred to the sixth-rate HMS ''Challenger'' in February 1828 off Lisbon before moving to the fifth-rate HMS ''Pyramus'' also off Lisbon only a few months later. Promoted to commander on 25 August 1828, Mundy joined the third-rate HMS ''Donegal'' and served as a liaison officer tasked to persuade the

to surrender Antwerp during the Belgian Revolution. He then acted as a mediator during negotiations between the Dutch and the

to end hostilities in May 1833. He became commanding officer of the sloop HMS ''Favourite'' in the Mediterranean Fleet in August 1833. Promoted to captain on 10 January 1837, he became commanding officer of the sixth-rate HMS ''Iris'' in the

West Africa Squadron The West Africa Squadron, also known as the Preventative Squadron, was a squadron of the British Royal Navy whose goal was to suppress the Atlantic slave trade by patrolling the coast of West Africa. Formed in 1808 after the British Parliam ...

in October 1842. He was then re-deployed with HMS ''Iris'' to the

and was involved in operations under Admiral Sir Thomas Cochrane. Mundy was asked to keep the Sultan of Brunei in line until the British Government made a final decision on whether to take the island of

: he took the Sultan's son-in-law, Pengiran Mumin, to witness the island's accession to the British Crown on 24 December 1846.Saunders, p. 78 & 123 Some sources state that during the signing of the treaty, the Sultan had been threatened by a

British navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

warship ready to fire on the Sultan's palace if he refused to sign the treaty while another source says the island was ceded to Britain as a reward for assistance in combating pirates. Mundy became commanding officer of the second-rate HMS ''Nile'' in July 1854 and was deployed, in Spring 1855, to the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

and then, in September 1855, to the seas of

where he secured Björkö Sound in operations against

during the

Senior command

Promoted to rear admiral on 30 July 1857, Mundy became Second-in-Command of the Mediterranean Fleet, with his flag in the second-rate HMS ''Hannibal'' in April 1859. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath on 23 June 1859. In May 1860, in the

, he was involved in evacuating local citizens from the conflict. Garibaldi went on to depose Francis II, the tyrannical ruler of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in March 1861, and to achieve Italian unification. Garibaldi credited Mundy with bringing about the armistice between the warring parties and offered him his heartfelt gratitude "in the name of Palermo, of Sicily, of entire Italy." HMS Royal Albert - Grave, Royal Navy Burying Ground, Halifax, Nova Scotia

HMS Royal Albert - Grave, Royal Navy Burying Ground, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Mundy went on to be Commander of detached squadron on the Syrian coast in 1861 and, having been advanced to

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as o ...

on 10 November 1862, he was promoted to vice-admiral on 15 December 1863. He then became Commander in-Chief,

, with his flag in the

broadside ironclad An ironclad is a steam-propelled warship protected by iron or steel armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. Th ...

HMS ''Royal Alfred'', in January 1867. Promoted to full admiral on 26 May 1869, he became

in March 1872 and retired in April 1875. Mundy was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 2 June 1877 and, having been promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 27 December 1877, he died at his home in

Chesterfield Street Chesterfield Street is a "virtually intact" Georgian street (except for No. 6, which is a reconstruction) in London's Mayfair district. Several of the buildings are Grade II listed on the National Heritage List for England. Location Chesterfield ...

, London on 23 December 1884.

Family

Mundy never married and had no children.

References

Sources

* * *

External links

William Loney
Career History , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Mundy, Roger 1805 births 1884 deaths Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Royal Navy admirals of the fleet Military personnel from London Royal Navy personnel of the Crimean War