Lord John Hay (Royal Navy admiral of the fleet)
| Lord John Hay | |
|---|---|
A Vanity Fair caricature of Admiral of the Fleet Lord John Hay
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| Born |
23 August 1827 Geneva, Switzerland |
| Died | 4 May 1916 (aged 88) Fulmer, Buckinghamshire |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/branch | Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1840–1892 |
| Rank | Admiral of the Fleet |
| Commands held |
Plymouth Command First Naval Lord Mediterranean Fleet Channel Squadron HMS Hotspur HMS Odin HMS Forth HMS Wasp |
| Battles/wars |
First Opium War Crimean War Second Opium War |
| Awards |
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Order of the Medjidie, 4th Class (Ottoman Empire) |
Admiral of the Fleet Lord John Hay, GCB (23 August 1827 – 4 May 1916) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. After seeing action in 1842 during the First Opium War, he went ashore with the Naval Brigade and took part in the defence of Eupatoria in November 1854 and the Siege of Sevastopol in Spring 1855 during the Crimean War. He also took part in the Battle of Taku Forts in August 1860 during the Second Opium War. As a politician, he became Member of Parliament for Wick and later for Ripon. He was sent to the Mediterranean in July 1878 to take control of Cyprus and to occupy it in accordance with decisions reached at the Congress of Berlin. In a highly political appointment, he was made First Naval Lord in March 1886 when the Marquis of Ripon became First Lord of the Admiralty but had to stand down just five months later when William Gladstone's Liberal Government fell from power in August 1886.
Born in Geneva, Switzerland, the fourth son of George Hay, 8th Marquess of Tweeddale and Lady Susan Montagu (daughter of the William Montagu, 5th Duke of Manchester), Hay joined the Royal Navy in 1840. He was posted to the sixth-rate HMS Vestal on the China Station in 1842 and saw action during the First Opium War. Promoted to lieutenant on 19 December 1846, he joined the steam frigate HMS Spiteful at Woolwich that month before transferring to the second-rate HMS Powerful in the Mediterranean Fleet in April 1848. He was promoted to commander on 28 August 1851 and given command of the sloop HMS Wasp in the Mediterranean Fleet in August 1852; he went ashore with the Naval Brigade and took part in the defence of Eupatoria in November 1854 and the Siege of Sevastopol in Spring 1855 during the Crimean War. He was wounded in the latter engagement and was appointed to the French Legion of Honour, 5th Class and the Turkish Order of the Medjidie, 4th class for his services in the Crimea.
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