John Edmund Commerell

Sir John Commerell
Sir John Commerell
Born	(1829-01-13)13 January 1829 Grosvenor Square, London
Died	21 May 1901(1901-05-21) (aged 72) Rutland Gate, London
Buried at	Cheriton Road Cemetery, Folkestone
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1842–1899
Rank	Admiral of the Fleet
Commands held	Portsmouth Command North America and West Indies Station Cape of Good Hope Station HMS Monarch HMS Terrible HMS Scorpion HMS Magicienne HMS Fury HMS Snake HMS Weser
Battles/wars	First Opium War Uruguayan Civil War Crimean War Second Opium War Third Anglo-Ashanti War
Awards	Victoria Cross Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Order of the Red Eagle (Prussia) Knight of the Legion of Honour (France) Order of the Medjidie, First Class (Ottoman Empire)
Other work	Member of Parliament

Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Edmund Commerell, VC, GCB (13 January 1829 – 21 May 1901) was a Royal Navy officer. As a junior officer, he was present at the Battle of Vuelta de Obligado in November 1845 during the Uruguayan Civil War. He also took part in operations in Sea of Azov during the Crimean War and went ashore with the quartermaster and a seaman, to destroy large quantities of enemy forage on the shore. After a difficult and dangerous journey they reached their objective – a magazine of corn – and managed to ignite the stacks, but the guards were alerted and immediately opened fire and gave chase. The men had difficulty in escaping, but they finally reached their ship and the lookouts later reported that the forage store had burned to the ground. He and his colleague, Quartermaster William Thomas Rickard, were awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Commerell went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope Station, Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies Station and then Commander-in-Chief, Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth. He was also a Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1888.

Born the son of John Williams Commerell and Sophia Commerell (née Bosanquet), Commerell was educated at Clifton College and joined the Royal Navy in March 1842. He was appointed to the third-rate HMS Cornwallis and saw action in China in August 1842 during the First Opium War. He then transferred to the paddle frigate HMS Firebrand on the South America Station and was present at the Battle of Vuelta de Obligado in November 1845 during the Uruguayan Civil War. At Punta Obligado he helped cut the chain that defended the Paraná River. He transferred to the sloop HMS Comus at Woolwich in May 1848 and, having been promoted to lieutenant on 13 December 1848, transferred to the paddle frigate HMS Dragon in the Mediterranean Fleet in April 1849 and to the screw frigate HMS Dauntless at Devonport in August 1850.