Admiral Courbet
| Amédée Courbet | |
|---|---|
Admiral Anatole-Amédée-Prosper Courbet (1828–85)
|
|
| Born |
26 June 1827 Abbeville, Picardy, France |
| Died |
11 June 1885 (aged 57) |
| Allegiance |
 France
|
| Service/branch |
 French Navy
|
| Years of service | 1849–1885 |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Commands held | Far East Squadron |
| Battles/wars |
Sino-French war Battle of Thuan An Son Tay Campaign Battle of Fuzhou Keelung Campaign Battle of Shipu Battle of Zhenhai Pescadores Campaign |
| Awards | Grand Officer of the Légion d'honneur Médaille militaire |
11 June 1885 (aged 57)
Makung, Penghu Islands, Qing Empire
Anatole-Amédée-Prosper Courbet (26 June 1827 – 11 June 1885) was a French admiral who won a series of important land and naval victories during the Tonkin campaign (1883–86) and the Sino-French War (August 1884–April 1885).
Courbet was born in Abbeville as the youngest of three children. His father died when he was nine years old. He was a Polytechnician.
From 1849 to 1853 Courbet served as a midshipman (aspirant) on the corvette Capricieuse (capitaine de vaisseau Roquemaurel). Capricieuse circumnavigated the globe during this period and cruised for several months along the China Coast, giving Courbet his first experience of the seas in which, thirty years later, he would win fame. After his return to France he was posted to the brick Olivier, attached to the Levant naval division. In December 1855, at Smyrna, he intervened to quell a mutiny aboard the Messageries impériales packet Tancrède, and was subsequently commended for his conduct by the navy ministry. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant de vaisseau in November 1856.
From 1864 to 1866 Courbet served on the two-deck broadside ironclad battleship Solferino as aide de camp and secretary to Admiral Bouët-Willaumez, commander of the escadre d’évolutions. He was promoted capitaine de frégate in August 1866 and posted to the ironclad frigate Savoie as chief of staff to Admiral de Dompierre d’Hornoy, commander of the North Sea and English Channel naval division. In March 1870 he was posted to the Antilles naval division as captain of the despatch vessel Talisman. This posting, which gave him no opportunity for action during the Franco-Prussian War, was his first independent command. He returned to France in May 1872.
In early 1873 Courbet returned to the Antilles as second officer on the frigate Minerve. He was promoted capitaine de vaisseau in August 1873. Between December 1874 and January 1877 he commanded the School of Underwater Defences (école des défenses sous-marines) at Boyardville (Ile d’Oléron). From 1877 to 1879 he was posted to the ironclad Richelieu, where he again served as chief of staff to Admiral de Dompierre d’Hornoy, now commander-in-chief of the escadre d’évolutions.
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