Alfred Phillips Ryder

Sir Alfred Ryder
Sir Alfred Ryder
Born	(1820-06-27)27 June 1820
Died	30 April 1888(1888-04-30) (aged 67) Vauxhall steamboat pier, London
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1833–1882
Rank	Admiral of the Fleet
Commands held	HMS Vixen HMS Dauntless HMS Hero Coastguard China Station Portsmouth Command
Battles/wars	Crimean War
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Alfred Phillipps Ryder KCB (27 June 1820 – 30 April 1888) was a Royal Navy officer. As a junior officer he undertook the role of transporting Pedro de Sousa Holstein, 1st Duke of Palmela, the Portuguese ambassador, back home to Lisbon and then delivering the Percy Doyle, the British ambassador to the Republic of Mexico, to Mexico City. He then led a naval brigade dispatched to Nicaragua to deal with the unlawful detention of two British subjects. He pursued the Nicaraguan commander, a Colonel Salas, for 30 miles up the San Juan River and captured the fort at Serapique.

Ryder became commanding officer of the frigate HMS Dauntless in which he saw action in the Black Sea and then took part in the Battle of Kinburn during the Crimean War. He went on to be Controller of the Coastguard, Commander-in-Chief, China Station and then Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth. In retirement he was an active member of the Church of England Purity Society. He suffered from depression and died after falling into the River Thames at the Vauxhall steamboat pier.

Born the son of the Rt Rev Henry Ryder, Bishop of Lichfield and Sophia Ryder (née Phillipps), Ryder joined the Royal Navy in May 1833. After passing his exams at the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth in July 1839, he was promoted to lieutenant on 2 July 1841 and was appointed to the fifth-rate HMS Belvidera in the Mediterranean Fleet. Promoted to commander on 26 May 1847, he became commanding officer of the steam sloop HMS Vixen on the North America and West Indies Station. In that capacity, he first undertook the role of transporting Pedro de Sousa Holstein, 1st Duke of Palmela, the Portuguese ambassador, back home to Lisbon and then delivering the Percy Doyle, the British ambassador to the Republic of Mexico, to Mexico City. In 1948 he led a naval brigade dispatched to Nicaragua to deal with the unlawful detention of two British subjects. He pursued the Nicaraguan commander, a Colonel Salas, for 30 miles up the San Juan River and captured the fort at Serapique.