Cyprian Bridge
Encyclopedia
Admiral Sir Cyprian Arthur George Bridge GCB
(13 March 1839 – 16 August 1924) was a British
Royal Navy
officer towards the end of the era of Pax Britannica. He was Commander-in-chief
of both the Australian Squadron and the China Squadron.
of St. John's. His maternal grandfather was John Dunscombe, an aide-de-camp
to the governor of Newfoundland. From 1851 Bridge attended school at Walthamstow House in England
.
, to whom his father had been chaplain
. He passed the navy entrance examination in 1853, and was appointed to the paddle
sloop
HMS Medea and later to the third-rate
ship of the line
HMS Cumberland
, flagship
of the North American Station.
During the Crimean War, he served as a naval cadet in the White Sea
. In Autumn 1854, a squadron
of three warships led by the sloop HMS Miranda
shelled and destroyed Kola
. An attempt to storm Arkhangelsk
proved abortive, as was the siege of Petropavlovsk in Kamchatka. While the Anglo-French naval squadron successfully shelled the town, a landing of 800 sailors and marines was repulsed.
After he passed for midshipman
he was appointed to the corvette
HMS Pelorus
in the East Indies
. Prior to that ship's engagements in the First Taranaki War, he had been promoted in 1859, joining HMS Algiers in the Mediterranean as lieutenant
. He subsequently served on board HMS Hawke
on the Irish station, and HMS Fawn
in the West Indies from 1864 to 1867.
Bridge transferred to HMS Excellent to qualify in gunnery. Admiral Sir Alfred Ryder then invited him to act as his flag lieutenant in the Channel Fleet
. In 1869 he was promoted to commander, serving two years with the broadside ironclad HMS Caledonia
in the Mediterranean. He served for one year each on the gunnery ship HMS Cambridge
and then HMS Implacable
, followed by Ryder's flagship in the China Station
, the battleship
HMS Audacious
.
In 1877 he was promoted to captain
. He took half pay and spent time writing on the German Navy
, publishing in the Journal of the Royal United Services Institution
. During 1878 and 1879 he served on Admiralty
and War Office
committees on heavy guns, armour plate and projectiles.
He was appointed deputy commissioner for the Western Pacific
, with command of the Osprey class sloop
HMS Espiegle
in Australia
. Subsequently he was appointed to command the modern battleship HMS Colossus
. He was director of the newly established Naval Intelligence Department
at the Admiralty (1889–1894) and helped found the Navy Records Society
.
In November 1894 Bridge was promoted rear-admiral and became Commander-in-Chief of the Australian squadron aboard the cruiser
HMS Orlando
. In 1898 he was promoted vice-admiral and in 1901 became Commander-in-Chief of the China Station
. In 1903 he was promoted admiral
. He retired from the Navy in March 1904.
. He was Admiralty Representative on the Royal Patriotic Fund Corporation
from 1906 to 1912. In 1916 he was part of the Mesopotamia Commission of Inquiry
.
Cyprian Bridge Island
is named after his uncle.
He built Coombe Pines in Kingston Hill, Surrey
, where he died in 1924.
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Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
(13 March 1839 – 16 August 1924) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
officer towards the end of the era of Pax Britannica. He was Commander-in-chief
Commander-in-Chief
A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...
of both the Australian Squadron and the China Squadron.
Early life
Bridge's father was Thomas Hobday Bridge, later ArchdeaconArchdeacon
An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in Anglicanism, Syrian Malabar Nasrani, Chaldean Catholic, and some other Christian denominations, above that of most clergy and below a bishop. In the High Middle Ages it was the most senior diocesan position below a bishop in the Roman Catholic Church...
of St. John's. His maternal grandfather was John Dunscombe, an aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
to the governor of Newfoundland. From 1851 Bridge attended school at Walthamstow House in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Naval career
Bridge was nominated for the navy by Admiral CochraneThomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald
Admiral Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, 1st Marquess of Maranhão, GCB, ODM , styled Lord Cochrane between 1778 and 1831, was a senior British naval flag officer and radical politician....
, to whom his father had been chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
. He passed the navy entrance examination in 1853, and was appointed to the paddle
Paddle steamer
A paddle steamer is a steamship or riverboat, powered by a steam engine, using paddle wheels to propel it through the water. In antiquity, Paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans...
sloop
Sloop
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
HMS Medea and later to the third-rate
Third-rate
In the British Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks . Years of experience proved that the third rate ships embodied the best compromise between sailing ability , firepower, and cost...
ship of the line
Ship of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...
HMS Cumberland
HMS Cumberland (1842)
HMS Cumberland was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 21 October 1842 at Chatham Dockyard.She carried a crew of 620 men. In March 1854 she sailed to the Baltic Sea as war with Russia was imminent . Cumberland was involved in the attack on Bomarsund, Finland in...
, flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
of the North American Station.
During the Crimean War, he served as a naval cadet in the White Sea
White Sea
The White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. The whole of the White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and considered to be part of...
. In Autumn 1854, a squadron
Squadron (naval)
A squadron, or naval squadron, is a unit of 3-4 major warships, transport ships, submarines, or sometimes small craft that may be part of a larger task force or a fleet...
of three warships led by the sloop HMS Miranda
HMS Miranda (1851)
HMS Miranda was a 14-gun wooden screw sloop of the Royal Navy, launched in 1851 and sold for breaking in 1869. Two of her crew were awarded the Victoria Cross for their bravery during the Crimean War.-Design:...
shelled and destroyed Kola
Kola (town)
Kola is a town and the administrative center of Kolsky District of Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kola and Tuloma Rivers, south of Murmansk and southwest of Severomorsk. It is the oldest town of the Kola Peninsula. Population: 11,060 ; -History:The district of Kolo...
. An attempt to storm Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk , formerly known as Archangel in English, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina River near its exit into the White Sea in the north of European Russia. The city spreads for over along the banks of the river...
proved abortive, as was the siege of Petropavlovsk in Kamchatka. While the Anglo-French naval squadron successfully shelled the town, a landing of 800 sailors and marines was repulsed.
After he passed for midshipman
Midshipman
A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...
he was appointed to the corvette
Corvette
A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...
HMS Pelorus
HMS Pelorus (1857)
HMS Pelorus was a 2,330 ton displacement, 21 gun corvette launched on 5 February 1857 from the Devonport dockyard. It was captained at first by Frederick Beauchamp Paget Seymour, then by Henry Boys, and later William Henry Haswell....
in the East Indies
East Indies
East Indies is a term used by Europeans from the 16th century onwards to identify what is now known as Indian subcontinent or South Asia, Southeastern Asia, and the islands of Oceania, including the Malay Archipelago and the Philippines...
. Prior to that ship's engagements in the First Taranaki War, he had been promoted in 1859, joining HMS Algiers in the Mediterranean as lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
. He subsequently served on board HMS Hawke
HMS Hawke (1820)
HMS Hawke was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Black Prince class of the Royal Navy, launched on 16 March 1820 at Woolwich Dockyard....
on the Irish station, and HMS Fawn
HMS Fawn
Six ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Fawn:*HMS Fawn , a 16-gun brig-sloop, originally the French ship Faune, she was captured in 1805 by Goliath in the English Channel...
in the West Indies from 1864 to 1867.
Bridge transferred to HMS Excellent to qualify in gunnery. Admiral Sir Alfred Ryder then invited him to act as his flag lieutenant in the Channel Fleet
Channel Fleet
The Channel Fleet was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1690 to 1909.-History:The Channel Fleet dates back at least to 1690 when its role was to defend England against the French threat under the leadership of Edward Russell, 1st Earl of...
. In 1869 he was promoted to commander, serving two years with the broadside ironclad HMS Caledonia
HMS Caledonia (1862)
HMS Caledonia was a broadside ironclad of the Prince Consort class.Originally laid down as two-decker steam ship of the line of the Bulwark class, HMS Caledonia, HMS Triumph and were converted on the building stocks to armoured frigates.The three ships of the Prince Consort class were intended to...
in the Mediterranean. He served for one year each on the gunnery ship HMS Cambridge
HMS Windsor Castle (1858)
HMS Windsor Castle was a triple-decker, 102-gun first-rate Royal Navy ship of the line. She was renamed HMS Cambridge in 1869, when she replaced a ship of the same name as gunnery ship off Plymouth.-Early life:...
and then HMS Implacable
HMS Implacable (1805)
HMS Implacable was a 74-gun third rate of the Royal Navy. She was originally the French Navy's Téméraire-class ship of the line Duguay-Trouin, launched in 1800....
, followed by Ryder's flagship in the China Station
China Station
The China Station was a historical formation of the British Royal Navy. It was formally the units and establishments responsible to the Commander-in-Chief, China....
, the battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
HMS Audacious
HMS Audacious (1869)
HMS Audacious was the lead ship of the s built for the Royal Navy in the late 1860s. They were designed as second-class ironclads suitable for use on foreign stations and the ship spent the bulk of her career on the China Station. She was decommissioned in 1894 and hulked in 1902 for use as a...
.
In 1877 he was promoted to captain
Captain (Royal Navy)
Captain is a senior officer rank of the Royal Navy. It ranks above Commander and below Commodore and has a NATO ranking code of OF-5. The rank is equivalent to a Colonel in the British Army or Royal Marines and to a Group Captain in the Royal Air Force. The rank of Group Captain is based on the...
. He took half pay and spent time writing on the German Navy
Kaiserliche Marine
The Imperial German Navy was the German Navy created at the time of the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the small Prussian Navy and Norddeutsche Bundesmarine, which primarily had the mission of coastal defense. Kaiser Wilhelm II greatly expanded...
, publishing in the Journal of the Royal United Services Institution
RUSI Journal
The RUSI Journal is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies.It describes itself asRUSI Journal is published six times a year...
. During 1878 and 1879 he served on Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
and War Office
War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
committees on heavy guns, armour plate and projectiles.
He was appointed deputy commissioner for the Western Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
, with command of the Osprey class sloop
Osprey class sloop
The Osprey class was a Royal Navy class of screw-driven sloops built between 1874 and 1877. Nine additional ships were built to a revised design, the . They were the first class of ship in the Royal Navy to use glass scuttles.-Design:...
HMS Espiegle
HMS Espiegle (1880)
HMS Espiegle was a Doterel-class sloop of the Royal Navy, built at the Devonport Dockyard and launched on 3 August 1880.-Design:The Doterel class was designed by Nathaniel Barnaby as a development of William Henry White's 1874 . The graceful clipper bow of the Opsreys was replaced by a vertical...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Subsequently he was appointed to command the modern battleship HMS Colossus
HMS Colossus (1882)
The second HMS Colossus was a Colossus class second-class British battleship, launched in 1882 and commissioned in 1886. She had a displacement of 9,520 tons, and an armament of 4 × 12-inch breechloaders, 5 × 6-inch guns and had a respectable speed of 15.5 knots. She served in the Mediterranean...
. He was director of the newly established Naval Intelligence Department
Naval Intelligence Division
The Naval Intelligence Division was the intelligence arm of the British Admiralty before the establishment of a unified Defence Staff in 1965. It dealt with matters concerning British naval plans, with the collection of naval intelligence...
at the Admiralty (1889–1894) and helped found the Navy Records Society
Navy Records Society
The Navy Records Society was established in 1893 as a scholarly society to publish historical documents that illustrated the history of the Royal Navy. Professor Sir John Knox Laughton and Admiral Sir Cyprian Bridge were the key leaders who organized the Society, basing it on the model of earlier...
.
In November 1894 Bridge was promoted rear-admiral and became Commander-in-Chief of the Australian squadron aboard the cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
HMS Orlando
HMS Orlando (1886)
HMS Orlando was the lead ship of the Orlando-class of first-class cruisers built in the yards of Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company, Jarrow and launched on 3 August 1886....
. In 1898 he was promoted vice-admiral and in 1901 became Commander-in-Chief of the China Station
China Station
The China Station was a historical formation of the British Royal Navy. It was formally the units and establishments responsible to the Commander-in-Chief, China....
. In 1903 he was promoted admiral
Admiral (United Kingdom)
Admiral is a senior rank of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, which equates to the NATO rank code OF-9, outranked only by the rank Admiral of the Fleet...
. He retired from the Navy in March 1904.
Post naval career
Bridge was an assessor on the North Sea Enquiry Commission investigation into the 1904 Dogger Bank incidentDogger Bank incident
The Dogger Bank incident occurred when the Russian Baltic Fleet mistook some British trawlers at Dogger Bank for an Imperial Japanese Navy force....
. He was Admiralty Representative on the Royal Patriotic Fund Corporation
Royal Patriotic Fund Corporation
The Royal Patriotic Fund Corporation was a charitable body set up by Royal Warrant in the United Kingdom during the Crimean War. It provided assistance to the widows, orphans and other dependants of members of the armed forces...
from 1906 to 1912. In 1916 he was part of the Mesopotamia Commission of Inquiry
Special Commissions (Dardanelles and Mesopotamia) Act 1916
The Special Commissions Act 1916 was set up to investigate the World War I operations in the Dardanelles Campaign and the Mesopotamian campaign....
.
Family
Bridge's grandfather and great uncles had all served in the Navy. His father did not due to poor eyesight. Bridge married but had no children.Cyprian Bridge Island
Cyprian Bridge Island
Cyprian Bridge Island is a small island located amongst the Solomon Islands. The island lies at a latitude of -6.85 and a longitude of 156.18333. It is an uninhabited volcanic island that lies between the islands of Fauro and Choiseul...
is named after his uncle.
He built Coombe Pines in Kingston Hill, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, where he died in 1924.
External links
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