Peter Richards (Royal Navy officer)

Summary

Admiral Sir Peter Richards KCB (1787 – 16 March 1869) was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Third Sea Lord.

Admiral

Sir Peter Richards
Signing of the Treaty of Nanking (1842). Richards is seated in the front row (second from right) between Maj. George Malcolm and Lt. Col. Francis Spencer Hawkins.
Born1787
Died16 March 1869
AllegianceUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Navy
Years of service1798–1865
RankAdmiral
Commands heldHMS Asia
HMS Volage
HMS Cornwallis
HMS Hibernia
HMS Royal Sovereign
HMS Cumberland
HMS Boscawen
Battles/warsFirst Opium War
Crimean War
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath

Naval career edit

 
Grave of Sir Peter Richards at St Andrew's Church, Ham

Richards joined the Royal Navy in 1798.[1] Promoted to captain in 1828, Richards was given command of HMS Asia and HMS Volage before commanding HMS Cornwallis in the First Opium War.[1] He later commanded HMS Hibernia, HMS Royal Sovereign, HMS Cumberland and HMS Boscawen.[1]

As a rear-admiral he was appointed Third Sea Lord in 1854 and served in that role during the Crimean War.[1] He was promoted vice-admiral on the Reserved List in April, 1862.[2]

St. Peter's Memorial Mission Chapel at Saltash Passage near St Budeaux in Cornwall was built in his memory but damaged in World War II and then demolished in 1956.[3][4]

He is buried at St Andrew's Church, Ham, Surrey.[5]

See also edit

  • O'Byrne, William Richard (1849). "Richards, Peter" . A Naval Biographical Dictionary . John Murray – via Wikisource.

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d William Loney RN
  2. ^ "No. 22627". The London Gazette. 20 May 1862. p. 2615.
  3. ^ The Phillimore Papers National Archives
  4. ^ Moseley, Brian (June 2011). "Mission Chapel of Saint Peter". The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History. Plymouth Data. Archived from the original on 4 March 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  5. ^ "Sir Peter Richards, K.C.B., R.N." (PDF). Commodore Trust. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
Military offices
Preceded by Third Sea Lord
1854–1857
Succeeded by