Martin Fourichon

Léon Martin Fourichon (born January 10, 1809 in Saint-Malo , †  November 24, 1884 in Paris ) was a French admiral and Minister of the Navy .

Fourichon attended the naval school in Brest from 1824 , became a lieutenant at sea in 1833 and was already a corvette captain in 1843 . In 1848 he was promoted to frigate captain and appointed governor of Cayenne prisoner island . Eventually he became a rear admiral in 1853 .

In the following years Fourichon was chief of staff of the Brest fleet , then he worked as commander in chief of the station of the Pacific and later was chief of naval affairs in Algeria .

In 1859 Fourichon became vice admiral and at the same time chief of the French navy's Mediterranean fleet . He was then appointed to the Committee for Naval Affairs, where he took over the chairmanship in 1864.

At the outbreak of the Franco-German War in 1870 Fourichon was ordered on the North Sea certain fleet and ran with eight on August 9 ironclads of Cherbourg from. He tried to block the German North Sea coast off Heligoland , but held back from an attack on Wilhelmshaven . He also left the German tank fleet lying on the outer road of the Jadebusen alone. On September 12th he returned to Cherbourg without having achieved anything, and on the way learned of his appointment as Minister of Naval and Colonial Affairs by the French National Defense Government.

At the government delegation in Tours Fourichon took over the top management of military affairs, but had to forego any independent activity after Gambetta's arrival . In February 1871 Fourichon was elected to the National Assembly and belonged to the right-wing center there. In 1876 he was appointed to the Senate and on March 9, he was again entrusted with the management of the Ministry for the Navy and the Colonies in the Dufaure cabinet . On May 16, 1877, he resigned with the entire cabinet.

Martin Fourichon died in Paris on November 24, 1884.