Armand Joseph Bruat ( Colmar, 26 May 1796 – '' Montebello'', off Toulon, 19 November 1855) was a French

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

Biography

Bruat joined the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

in 1811, at the height of the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

. His early career included far-ranging sea duties: in 1815, he served in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

. From 1817 to 1820 he was with French forces in the

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

. Then, until 1824, he was stationed first in

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

and then the Pacific. As a Lieutenant, Bruat took part in the 1827 Battle of Navarino as maneuver officer on ''Breslaw''. In 1830, he received command of the

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the l ...

''Silène'' and cruised off Algiers, taking a number of prizes. As ''Silène'' followed the ''Aventure'' commanded by Félix-Ariel d'Assigny (1794–1846), she was wrecked and the crew was captured during the shipwreck of Dellys, 110 men being massacred. While captive, Bruat managed to transmit observations on the state of the defences of Algier to admiral Duperré. After the Invasion of Algiers, Bruat was promoted to captain and awarded commanded the '' Iéna'', off Portugal. He then served on ''Triton'', before supervising naval constructions in Toulon from 1841. In 1843, he was made the Governor of the Marquesas Islands. During this time, he was also France's agent at the court of Queen Pomare of

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

, where he was able to convince her to acknowledge a French

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over ...

over her realm. PereLachaise amiral Bruat

In 1849, Bruat became Governor-General of the Antilles and in 1852 was promoted to vice admiral. In 1854, during the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

, he was named Commander of the French Fleet in the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

. He died at sea from

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

, near Toulon, on his flagship, the '' Montebello'', on 19 November 1855.

Honours

* Grand officer of the Legion of HonourMinistry of Culture
/ref> * Namesake of Cape Bruat, a former name of Musu Dan in North Korea

Sources and references

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruat, Armand Joseph 1796 births 1855 deaths People from Colmar Military personnel from Haut-Rhin Admirals of France French military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars French military personnel of the Crimean War Governors of French Polynesia Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre Governors general of the French Antilles Deaths from cholera