John Durnford Explained

Honorific Prefix:Admiral
Sir John Durnford
Birth Date:6 February 1849
Allegiance: United Kingdom
Rank:Admiral
Commands:HMS Vernon
Cape of Good Hope Station
Royal Naval College, Greenwich
Battles:Third Anglo-Burmese War
Awards:Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Distinguished Service Order

Admiral Sir John Durnford (6 February 1849 – 13 June 1914) was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope Station.

Naval career

Educated at Eton College and the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, Durnford joined the Royal Navy in 1862 and served in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of 1885 to 1886 for which he was mentioned in dispatches and awarded the DSO.[1] Promoted to captain in 1888, he commanded the torpedo school HMS Vernon from 1895 to 1899.[1] In October 1899 he was appointed in command of the pre-dreadnought battleship HMS Jupiter, serving in the Channel Fleet, and in December the following year he was appointed to Algiers for the Medway steam reserve.[2]

Durnford became Junior Naval Lord in February 1901 and was promoted to rear-admiral on 1 January 1902. He served as Commander-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope Station from 1904 to 1907.[1] He was President of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich from 1908 to 1911 and retired in 1913.[1]

He lived at Elmshurst in Fareham.[3]

Family

In 1881 he married Mary Louisa Eleanor Kirwan; they had one son and three daughters.[1]

External links

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Notes and References

  1. Web site: Anglo-Boer War . 24 October 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20101031100447/http://www.angloboerwar.com/home . 31 October 2010 . dead .
  2. Web site: Royal Navy senior appointments . 13 July 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120315105247/http://www.gulabin.com/armynavy/pdf/Senior%20Royal%20Navy%20Appointments%201900-.pdf . 15 March 2012 .
  3. Obituary: Admiral Sir John Durnford, The Times, 15 June 1914