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 ...
Sir John Durnford, (6 February 1849 – 13 June 1914) was a
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
officer who went on to be
Commander-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope Station.
Naval career
Educated at
Eton College
Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...
and the
Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, Durnford joined the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
in 1862 and served in the
Third Anglo-Burmese War
The Third Anglo-Burmese War (), also known as the Third Burma War, took place during 7–29 November 1885, with sporadic resistance continuing into 1887. It was the final of three wars fought in the 19th century between the Burmese and the Br ...
of 1885 to 1886 for which he was
mentioned in dispatches
To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) 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 of t ...
and awarded the
DSO.
Promoted to
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
in 1888, he commanded the
torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...
school
HMS ''Vernon'' from 1895 to 1899.
[ In October 1899 he was appointed in command of the ]pre-dreadnought battleship
Pre-dreadnought battleships were sea-going battleships built from the mid- to late- 1880s to the early 1900s. Their designs were conceived before the appearance of in 1906 and their classification as "pre-dreadnought" is retrospectively appli ...
HMS ''Jupiter'', serving in the Channel Fleet
The Channel Fleet and originally known as the Channel Squadron was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1854 to 1909 and 1914 to 1915.
History
Throughout the course of Royal Navy's history th ...
, and in December the following year he was appointed to ''Algiers'' for the Medway steam reserve.
Durnford became Junior Naval Lord
Junior or Juniors may refer to:
Aircraft
* Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft
* PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft
* SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider
Arts and entertainment Characters
* Bowser Jr. ...
in February 1901 and was promoted to rear-admiral
Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral.
Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...
on 1 January 1902. He served as Commander-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope Station from 1904 to 1907.[ He was President of the ]Royal Naval College, Greenwich
The Royal Naval College, Greenwich, was a Royal Navy training establishment between 1873 and 1998, providing courses for naval officers. It was the home of the Royal Navy's staff college, which provided advanced training for officers. The equi ...
from 1908 to 1911 and retired in 1913.[
He lived at Elmshurst in ]Fareham
Fareham ( ) is a market town at the north-west tip of Portsmouth Harbour, between the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton in south east Hampshire, England. It gives its name to the Borough of Fareham. It was historically an important manufac ...
.[Obituary: Admiral Sir John Durnford, The Times, 15 June 1914]
Family
In 1881 he married Mary Louisa Eleanor Kirwan; they had one son and three daughters.[
]
References
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Durnford, John
1849 births
1914 deaths
People educated at Eton College
Royal Navy admirals
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
Lords of the Admiralty
Admiral presidents of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich
Graduates of Britannia Royal Naval College
British military personnel of the Third Anglo-Burmese War
19th-century Royal Navy personnel