Admiral of the Fleet Sir Algernon McLennan Lyons (30 August 1833 – 9 February 1908) was a senior

Royal 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 ...

officer who served as

First and Principal Naval Aide-de-Camp Below is a list of First and Principal Naval Aides-de-Camp, an office established by William IV of the United Kingdom in 1830: First and Principal Naval Aides-de-Camp *1830-1846: Lord Amelius Beauclerk *1846-1866: Sir William Parker, Bt. *18 ...

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

. Lyons also served as Commander-in-Chief,

Pacific Station The Pacific Station was created in 1837 as one of the geographical military formations into which the Royal Navy divided its worldwide responsibilities. The South America Station was split into the Pacific Station and the South East Coast of A ...

, 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 th ...

, and then

Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth The Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth, was a senior commander of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years. Plymouth Command was a name given to the units, establishments, and staff operating under the admiral's command. Between 1845 and 1896, this offic ...

. He was the nephew of the eminent Admiral

Edmund Lyons, 1st Baron Lyons Admiral (Royal Navy), Admiral Edmund Lyons, 1st Baron Lyons, (21 November 179023 November 1858) was an eminent British Admiral of the Royal Navy, and diplomat, who ensured Britain's victory in the Crimean War, during which he was Mediterranean F ...

, who served as Commander-in-Chief of the

Mediterranean Fleet The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between t ...

, under whom he served for a time, and the cousin of

Richard Lyons, 1st Viscount Lyons Richard Bickerton Pemell Lyons, 1st Earl Lyons (26 April 1817 – 5 December 1887) was a British diplomat, who was the favourite diplomat of Queen Victoria, during the four great crises of the second half of the 19th century: Italian unificat ...

, and Richard Lyons Pearson, Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.

Family

Lyons was born at Bombay on 30 August 1833. He was the second son of Lieutenant General Humphrey Lyons (1833–1908) and his first wife, Eliza, daughter of Henry Bennett. Lyons's uncle was

, via whom he was the cousin of

. He was also the cousin of Richard Lyons Pearson, Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. Lyons's grandfather was Captain John Lyons of Antigua. Lyons was privately educated in Twickenham, Middlesex. He joined the

in 1847.

Naval career

Lyons was appointed 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 ''Cambrian'' on the

East Indies and China Station The Commander-in-Chief, East Indies and China was a formation of the Royal Navy from 1831 to 1865. Its naval area of responsibility was the Indian Ocean and the coasts of China and its navigable rivers. The Commander-in-Chief was appointed in 18 ...

and then transferred to 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 guns ...

HMS ''Albion'', flagship of his uncle, Sir Edmund Lyons, who was Second-in-Command of the

, in 1853.Heathcote, p. 159 Lyons was promoted to

mate Mate may refer to: Science * Mate, one of a pair of animals involved in: ** Mate choice, intersexual selection ** Mating * Multi-antimicrobial extrusion protein, or MATE, an efflux transporter family of proteins Person or title * Friendship * ...

in October 1853 and transferred to the paddle frigate HMS ''Firebrand'', which was engaged in the blockade of the

Danube Delta The Danube Delta ( ro, Delta Dunării, ; uk, Дельта Дунаю, Deľta Dunaju, ) is the second largest river delta in Europe, after the Volga Delta, and is the best preserved on the continent. The greater part of the Danube Delta lies i ...

, which was being held by the Russians at the start of 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 t ...

. Lyons was 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 26 June 1854.

Lyons’s Rampage at the Danube

During the blockade of the mouth of the Danube, Captain Parker, Lyons's commanding officer, decided to attack the guardhouses and signal stations higher up the River, for these were responsible for the supply and communication of the Russian enemy. On 8 July, Captain Parker proceeded up the Danube, the banks of which were lined by Cossacks, who opened fire. When he reached the first Russian fort, defended by a stockade and a battery, Captain Parker was shot and killed by a Cossack. When Parker was killed, Lyons took control of the British boats and proceeded to destroy not only the first Russian signal station, but the next four signal stations up the River, causing the Russians to flee. For this, he was

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

. Lyons then became commander of HMS Firebrand for the bombardment of Sevastopol in October 1854, which was led by his uncle, Admiral Edmund Lyons, 1st Baron Lyons. When the British flagship, HMS ''Albion'', was set on fire by the Russians, Lyons attached it, whilst burning, to his own ship and towed it to safety.

Kerch and Kinburn

In December 1854, Lyons's uncle

, became Commander in Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet and appointed Lyons as his Flag-Lieutenant. Lyons commanded the

first-rate In the rating system of the British Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a first rate was the designation for the largest ships of the line. Originating in the Jacobean era with the designation of Ships Royal capable of carrying a ...

HMS ''Royal Albert'', in December 1854 during the operations at

Kerch Kerch ( uk, Керч; russian: Керчь, ; Old East Slavic: Кърчевъ; Ancient Greek: , ''Pantikápaion''; Medieval Greek: ''Bosporos''; crh, , ; tr, Kerç) is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of ...

in October 1854 and at the Battle of Kinburn in October 1855.Heathcote, p. 160 He was promoted to

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain ...

on 9 August.

American Civil War

Lyons became commanding officer of the

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular ...

HMS ''Racer'' on the

in May 1860. In HMS ''Racer'' he had the difficult task of protecting British merchant vessels seeking to evade the blockade being imposed by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

on Confederate ports.

Pacific Station

Lyons was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on 1 December 1862. He became commanding officer of the corvette HMS ''Charybdis'' on the

in January 1867 and commanding officer of the frigate in a detached squadron in October 1872. He was appointed Commodore-in-Charge at Jamaica in 1875. In April 1878 he became commanding officer of the armoured turret ship HMS ''Monarch'' in the

in April 1878. He was deployed to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth ( Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

during his tour in HMS ''Monarch''.

Admiral

Lyons was promoted to

rear-admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star " admiral" rank. It is often regar ...

on 26 September 1878. He became Commander-in-Chief,

, with his flag in the armoured ship HMS ''Swiftsure'', in December 1881. On 27 October 1884, he was promoted to vice-admiral. He became Commander-in-Chief of the

in September 1886: in this position, his flagship was the

central battery ship The central battery ship, also known as a centre battery ship in the United Kingdom and as a casemate ship in European continental navies, was a development of the (high- freeboard) broadside ironclad of the 1860s, given a substantial boost due ...

HMS ''Bellerophon'', in September 1886. HMS Bellerophon (1865)

Lyons was promoted to admiral on 15 December 1888 and appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1889.

Admiral of the Fleet

He was appointed

, in June 1892. He became a

Knight Grand Cross 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 ...

in June 1897 and was promoted Admiral of the Fleet on 23 August 1897. In February 1895, he was appointed

. He was a Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace for Glamorgan. He retired on 30 August 1903.

Marriage

Lyons married Louisa Jane Penrice (bapt. 1853), daughter and heir of Thomas Penrice, at Pennard Church in Kilvrough on 3 September 1879: they had two sons and two daughters. Their residence was

Kilvrough Manor Kilvrough Manor is a large country house near Swansea. It is a Grade II* listed building. Its park is listed on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales. History The house was built for Rowland Dawkin, ...

in Glamorgan, where he died on 9 February 1908.

References

Sources

* * * * * *
William Loney
Career History , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Lyons, Sir Algernon 1833 births 1908 deaths Royal Navy personnel of the Crimean War Royal Navy admirals of the fleet Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Deputy Lieutenants of Glamorgan Welsh justices of the peace