Geoffrey Thomas Phipps Hornby

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Sir Geoffrey Hornby, after 1885

Sir Geoffrey Thomas Phipps Hornby (born February 20, 1825 in Winwick , Lancashire , † March 3, 1895 in London ) was a British admiral .

Life

Hornby joined the British Navy as a midshipman in 1837 . In 1845 he became a lieutenant, served as a flag lieutenant under his father Vice-Admiral Phipps Hornby , who made him Commander (1850) and in 1852 he was promoted to captain. In 1840 he took part in the bombardment of Acre and then persecuted slave traders off East Africa for two years. He had his first own command in the so-called pig conflict with the USA over the San Juan Islands in 1859, where he showed diplomatic skills. In 1865 he became a Commodore and patrolled slave traders off West Africa. In 1869/70 he was the commander of a flying squadronon a circumnavigation of the world that served as naval training. He was until 1869 Rear Admiral (Rear Admiral), 1871 was to 1874 Commander-in-Chief of the Channel Fleet, 1874 Second Sea Lord and in 1875 Vice Admiral . When the Russo-Turkish War broke out in 1877, Hornby was commander of the British fleet in the Mediterranean and stationed not far from Constantinople . Here, too, he was able to defuse the situation through diplomatic skills. From 1882 to 1885 he was Commander in Chief in Portsmouth .

In 1888 he became Admiral of the Fleet and from 1886 Aide-de-camp of Queen Victoria in naval matters. In this function he also accompanied Wilhelm II on his visits to England in 1889 and 1890.

Although he had hardly any combat missions and was particularly good at diplomatic skills, he was considered one of the most capable officers in the Royal Navy during the transition from sailing ship to steamship. Admiral Fisher , who served under him in the Mediterranean, called him the best admiral since Nelson .

He received for his military services he was beaten on August 12, 1878 to Knight Commander and on December 19, 1885 to the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath .

literature

  • Alastair Wilson, Joseph Callo: Who's who in naval history . Routledge 2004
  • Hornby, Sir Geoffrey Thomas Phipps . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 13 : Harmony - Hurstmonceaux . London 1910, p. 708 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ “The finest admiral afloat since Nelson”, e.g. B. Wilson, Callo Who's who in naval history , 2004
  2. ↑ Knights and Dames at Leigh Rayment's Peerage
personal data
SURNAME Hornby, Geoffrey Thomas Phipps
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British admiral
DATE OF BIRTH February 20, 1825
PLACE OF BIRTH Winwick (Cheshire) , Lancashire
DATE OF DEATH March 3, 1895
Place of death London