Richard Vesey Hamilton

Sir Richard Hamilton
Admiral Sir Richard Vesey Hamilton
Born	(1829-05-28)28 May 1829 Sandwich, Kent
Died	17 September 1912(1912-09-17) (aged 83) Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1843–1894
Rank	Admiral
Commands held	Royal Naval College, Greenwich First Naval Lord China Station Coast of Ireland Station Steam Reserve at Devonport HMS Achilles HMS Sphinx HMS Vesuvius HMS Haughty
Battles/wars	Second Opium War
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Relations	J. W. Hamilton (brother)

Admiral Sir Richard Vesey Hamilton, GCB (28 May 1829 – 17 September 1912) was a Royal Navy officer. As a junior officer he twice volunteered to take part in missions to search for Sir John Franklin's ill-fated expedition to find the Northwest Passage. He also took part in the Battle of Fatshan Creek in June 1857 during the Second Opium War. Later in his career he became Commander-in-Chief, China Station and took his fleet into Vladivostok harbour in 1886 and gave the Russians a surprise. He became First Naval Lord in July 1889 and in that role he was primarily concerned with implementing the recommendations contained in a report on the disposition of the ships of the Royal Navy many of which were unarmoured and together incapable of meeting the combined threat from any two of the other naval powers ("the Two-power Standard"): these recommendations had been enshrined in the Naval Defence Act 1889. He finished his career as President of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich.

Born the son of the Revd John Vesey Hamilton and his wife Frances Agnes Hamilton (née Malone), Hamilton was educated at the Royal Naval School in Camberwell and joined the Royal Navy in July 1843. He was posted to the sloop HMS Virago in the Mediterranean Fleet. He volunteered to become a mate in the barque HMS Assistance which was despatched in 1850, under the command of Captain Erasmus Ommanney, on a mission to search for Sir John Franklin's ill-fated expedition to find the Northwest Passage. Promoted to lieutenant on 11 October 1851, he volunteered for a second mission this time in the barque HMS Resolute which was despatched in 1852, under the command of Captain Henry Kellett, in search of Franklin. Resolute became stuck in the ice in the spring of 1854 and Kellett and his crew were ordered to abandon ship.