Alfred Albert Gervais

Alfred Albert Gervais (born December 19, 1837 in Provins , †  1921 in Nice ) was a French admiral .

Life

Gervais joined the French navy in 1852 and participated in the bombardment of Bomarsund during the Crimean War . In 1860 he took part in the Second Opium War, became a lieutenant in the sea in 1862 and was then ordinance officer of the commanders of the East and West African squadrons between 1864 and 1870 .

Gervais excelled in defending Paris during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 . In 1871 he became a frigate captain , then led commands in Oceania and Cochinchina , and in 1878 became a naval attaché at the French embassy in London . In 1879 he was appointed captain , then in 1880 he joined the squadron of the Pacific Ocean as commander .

In 1882 Gervais was appointed a member of the Council for Naval Works and the Hydrographic Commission. In 1884 he returned to active service and became commander in the Mediterranean squadron. A short time later he was appointed to the Naval Council and, in 1886, under Minister Aube, he was Chief of the Naval Staff and Ministerial Director . After a brief command of the squadron in Brest , where he was promoted to rear admiral on September 9, 1887 , he returned to the Krantz Ministry as chief of staff .

In December 1889 Gervais was appointed commander in chief of the Nordic armored squadron. He then toured the Baltic Sea, received a great reception in Copenhagen and Stockholm and was also enthusiastically received on the occasion of the stay of the French ships in Kronstadt in 1891. The reception festivities had the character of a fraternization festival between Russians and French. After returning, Gervais went to Portsmouth at the invitation of Queen Victoria , where the French fleet was also given a brilliant reception. On February 10, 1892, Gervais was appointed Vice Admiral and came to the Navy Ministry as Chief of Staff . In 1894 he was appointed chief of the reserve squadron in the Mediterranean, from 1895 to 1896 he was appointed chief of the active Mediterranean fleet, the highest naval command in the French fleet.

After Gervais was appointed commanding admiral in the spring of 1896, he commanded the main training squadron in the Mediterranean between 1896 and 1900 and in 1901 the canal squadron that received the tsar in Dunkirk .

literature

• Gervais [2], 2) Alfred Albert . In: Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon . 6th edition. Volume 7, Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig / Vienna 1907, p.  668 .
• Gervais, Alfred Albert . In: Brockhaus Konversations-Lexikon 1894-1896, supplement volume 1897, p. 472.