Everything about Richard Saunders Dundas totally explained
Vice Admiral Sir Richard Saunders Dundas,
KCB (
11 April 1802 –
3 June 1861) was a British naval officer and was the
British First Sea Lord from 1857 to 1858 and again from 1859 until 1861.
Early Life
The son of
Robert Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville, he was born on 11 April 1802 and educated at
Harrow School and became a
captain in the
Royal Navy in 1824. He commanded
HMS Volage on the South American Station, 1825, and
HMS Warspite in Australia, 1827. From 1828-1830 he was secretary to his father, who was serving a second term as
First Sea Lord. He later served in the Mediterranean, South Africa and the East Indies, including the
First Opium War, for his services in which he was awarded a
Companion of the Bath in 1841: ships he commanded at this time were
HMS Belvidera and
HMS Melville. He was then again (1845-6) Secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty, this time
Lord Haddington, and from 1848 served in the Mediterranean as Captain of
HMS Powerful. He became a
Rear Admiral in July 1853.
Sea Lord
He was
Third Naval Lord in 1853. On 19 February 1855 he was appointed to the command of the Fleet in the
Baltic Sea in succession to Sir
Charles Napier. Relations between Napier and the Admiralty had been strained to say the least, and in Dundas they were appointing one of their own, with the requisite diplomatic and management skills. As Napier had before him, Dundas enforced a blockade of Russian ports and his ships raided along the coast of
Finland, co-operating also with a French Fleet under Admiral Penaud. Dundas knew he was expected to attack the fortress of
Sveaborg, which Napier had declined to do, and duly did so in August. Although he inflicted heavy casualties and some material damage, the fortifications were virtually unaffected and the Anglo-French fleet exhausted its entire ammunition in the attempt. Nevertheless this was judged a success, and Dundas would have continued to command the fleet in 1856 had peace not been negotiated.
He was promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in 1856 and was made a grand officer of the
Legion of Honour and a
Vice Admiral in 1858. He served as
First Sea Lord from 1857 until 1858 until he was briefly replaced. He served again as First Sea Lord from 1859 until his death. He died, unmarried, of a heart attack at 13 New Street, Spring Gardens, London, on
3 June 1861.
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