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51-578: Admiral Sir George Back FRS (6 November 1796 – 23 June 1878) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer of the Canadian Arctic , naturalist and artist. He was born in Stockport . As a boy, he went to sea as a volunteer in the frigate HMS  Arethusa in 1808 and took part in the destruction of batteries on the Spanish coast. In the following year, he was involved in combat in

102-436: A Horatio Hornblower novel written by C. S. Forester , features several actions by British bomb vessels. The text includes a highly detailed account of the procedures used to load the mortars and aim, which involved anchoring fore-and-aft, receiving range corrections from another vessel, precisely adjusting the aim using an anchor cable attached to a windlass, and by using fine adjustments in the amount of gun powder to correct

153-407: A personal flag . An admiral of the fleet flies a Union Flag at the masthead, while an admiral flies a St George's cross (red cross on white). Vice admirals and rear admirals fly a St George's cross with one or two red discs in the hoist, respectively. The rank of admiral itself is shown in its sleeve lace by a broad band with three narrower bands. In 2001 the number of stars on the shoulder board

204-583: A French invasion plan in the Mediterranean. Like the Hornblower books, The Ramage Touch describes in great detail the technical aspects of employing a bomb vessel during the Napoleonic era. In H.M.S. Cockerell by Dewey Lambdin (published 1995), First Lieutenant Alan Lewrie is set ashore by his vindictive captain, for 'land service' during the siege of Toulon. There Admiral Goodall gives him

255-526: A boat, used to bombard a target during a riverine operation. In a fictionalized account, war correspondent, author, and yachtsman G. A. Henty describes in vivid detail the deployment of ten bomb-ketches by the Spanish besiegers during the final period of the siege of Gibraltar. In The Ramage Touch by Dudley Pope (published 1979), Captain Lord Ramage and the crew of the frigate Calypso capture two bomb ketches, which they subsequently use to thwart

306-535: A clear area for their forwards fire. As a result, by the 1800s British bomb vessels were designed as full-rigged ships with three masts, and two mortars, one between each neighboring pair of masts. The full rig also meant that bomb vessels could be used as escort sloops between bombardment missions; in 1805 the Acheron bomb along with the Arrow sloop were both lost in a defence of their convoy. Bomb vessels often had

357-427: A few hundred miles eastward from Point Barrow and the area around King William Island which was completely misunderstood. He set out on 7 June 1834, passed Artillery Lake and Clinton-Colden Lake and reached the river on 28 June. He ran east down a river in the barren grounds with 83 rapids but only one portage. On 23 July he reached salt water at Chantrey Inlet . He explored the inlet, saw King William Island to

408-712: A permanent official staff, even if a permanent naval force was not yet considered necessary. Leybourne's immediate purview was subsequently divided into the roles of Admiral of the West and Admiral of the South while Botetourt's became the Admiral of the North ; the first and last merged as the Admiral of the North and West in 1364; and from 1408–1414 they were all reunited as the High Admiral of England, Ireland, and Aquitaine ,

459-409: A tender to carry ammunition as well as the ordnance officers in charge of firing the mortars. However, as naval warfare became more advanced, bomb ships were also accompanied by frigates to protect them from direct assault by faster, smaller vessels. Bomb vessels were traditionally named after volcanoes , or given other names suggestive of explosive qualities. Some were also given names associated with

510-586: Is air chief marshal . The title admiral was not used in Europe until the mid-13th century and did not reach England before the end of that century. Similarly, although some royal vessels are attested under King John , the English long depended upon levies of their subjects' vessels for any major naval expeditions. Nonetheless, historians have sometimes extended the concept of an English navy and its supposed admirals and lord high admirals back as far as Alfred

561-559: Is the cul-de-sac of the Gulf of Boothia . To reach the Back River he would have had to drag his boats 250 mi (400 km) west-northwest. He was given command of the converted bomb vessel HMS  Terror with a crew of 60 and provisions for 18 months. He left in June 1836, which was late in the season. Because of contrary winds they had to be towed by steamship all the way to

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612-604: The Admiralty during the search for Franklin's lost expedition , and as vice-president of the Royal Geographical Society , having received its gold and silver medal. Although nominally retired, Back remained on the Admiralty List and, based on seniority, he was promoted to vice-admiral in 1863 and finally admiral in 1867. In 1846, Back married Theodosia Elizabeth Hammond, a widow. He is buried in

663-532: The Arctic and Antarctic regions, where pack ice and icebergs were a constant menace. Most famously, these ships included HMS  Erebus and HMS  Terror . In this case, the volcanoes – Mount Erebus and Mount Terror on Ross Island in Antarctica – were named after the ships, instead of vice versa. Although horizontal fire naval guns propelling explosive shells had entered all major navies by

714-576: The Bay of Biscay , until he was captured by the French. Back remained a prisoner at Verdun until the peace of early 1814; during this time he studied French and mathematics and practised his skills as an artist, which he later put to use in recording his travels through the Canadian Arctic . Following his release, Back served on HMS  Akbar and HMS  Bulwark as a midshipman before volunteering to serve under John Franklin in his first expedition to

765-506: The Hudson's Bay Company had built winter quarters at Fort Reliance at the eastern end of the lake. He located the river on 29 August and returned to the fort to winter. In March 1834 he received a packet of letters saying that Ross was back in England and telling him to explore the coast from Ross's King William Land to Franklin's Point Turnagain. This was the main unknown region, along with

816-785: The Kensal Green Cemetery , London. George Back was an accomplished artist. Historian Leslie H. Neatby wrote, “Back had neither the seriousness of disposition nor the intensity of purpose which are indispensable to the great captain. His virtues were of a different order. No other man has viewed the scenery of the Canadian North with so appreciative an eye, nor has been able to give such full and vigorous expression to that appreciation.” A watercolour of an iceberg, believed to have been painted by Back following his 1836–37 expedition, sold at auction on 13 September 2011 for $ 59,600, despite its being unsigned and undated. Experts at

867-538: The Orkney Islands . He reached Hudson Strait on the first of August. By the end of the month, Terror was beset by ice somewhere east of Frozen Strait . It remained icebound for 10 months: at one point Terror was pushed 40 ft (12 m) up the side of a cliff by the pressure of the ice. Several times preparations were made to abandon ship. Scurvy appeared in January and three men died of it. In

918-431: The underworld . Vessels of other types which were later converted to bomb ships generally retained their original names. Bomb vessels were highly specialized and expensive to fit out and maintain, and only marginally suited for their secondary role as cruisers . Because bomb vessels were built with extremely strong hulls to withstand the recoil of the mortars, several were converted in peacetime as ships for exploration of

969-680: The 1840s (see Paixhans gun ), there was still room for a specialized vessel on occasion. During the American Civil War, the Union fleet included armored gunboats armed with 13 inch mortars; the weapon weighed 17,250 lbs and its bedding another 4,500 lbs. They fired 204-lb shells, with a bursting charge of 7 lbs of gunpowder, and had a range of three miles. At this distance, the projectile spent 30 seconds in flight. They were used to attack several forts, for example Fort Pulaski , Georgia. Commodore Hornblower (published 1945),

1020-586: The Arctic in 1818. Back also served under Franklin in his two overland expeditions to survey the northern coast of North America , first on the Coppermine expedition —when Back was responsible for all the surveying and chart making—and then the Mackenzie River expedition in 1824–1826, during which time he was promoted first to lieutenant and then to commander in 1825. Lacking appointment to a ship, Back

1071-615: The Canadian Yellow Knife Tribe , eleven of which were personally signed by the artist, sold for £24,000 at auction on 16 June 2020. Recent Historical Admiral (Royal Navy) Admiral is a senior rank of the Royal Navy , which equates to the NATO rank code OF-9 , outranked only by the rank of admiral of the fleet . Royal Navy officers holding the ranks of rear admiral , vice admiral and admiral of

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1122-409: The French repeated their success at Genoa. The early French bomb vessels had two forward-pointing mortars fixed side-by-side on the foredeck. To aim these weapons, the entire ship was rotated by letting out or pulling in a spring anchor . The range was usually controlled by adjusting the gunpowder charge. The French later adopted the word bombarde for this vessel, but it should not be confused with

1173-451: The Great , counting several kings as themselves admirals, along with various dukes and earls who commanded fleets at prominent engagements such as Hubert de Burgh off Sandwich in 1217 . Other lists begin their count at King Henry   III 's appointment of Sir Richard de Lucy on 28 August 1223 or 29 August 1224. A similar commission was given to Sir Thomas Moulton in 1264, who held

1224-460: The case of Provo Wallis who served (including time being carried on the books while still a child) for 96 years. When he died in 1892 four admirals under him could immediately be promoted. By request of Queen Victoria , John Edmund Commerell became Admiral of the Fleet rather than Algernon Frederick Rous de Horsey , who as senior active admiral nearing the age limit would customarily have received

1275-701: The discretion of the Board of Admiralty . As there were invariably more admirals in service than there were postings, many admirals remained unemployed, especially in peacetime. The organisation of the fleet into coloured squadrons was finally abandoned in 1864. The Red Ensign was allocated to the Merchant Navy , the White Ensign became the flag of the Royal Navy, and the Blue Ensign was allocated to

1326-533: The end of the 17th century, based on the designs of Bernard Renau d'Eliçagaray, and used by the French Navy . They were first called galiote à bombe (a word derived from the Dutch galliot , denoting a short, beamy vessel well suited for the powerful downward recoil of its weapons). Five such vessels were used to shell Algiers in 1682 destroying the land forts, and killing some 700 defenders . Two years later

1377-452: The evening (of 29 July 1836) when the weather cleared ... we observed an enormous berg, the perpendicular face of which was not less than 300 feet high..." Back drew HMS Terror Thrown Up By Ice (1836) and the portrait A Buffalo Pound (1823), which was later reworked into an engraving. He painted the watercolour 'Winter View of Fort Franklin' (1825–26). A recent collection of twelve portrait studies of male and female characters mainly from

1428-534: The fleet are sometimes considered generically to be admirals. The rank of admiral is currently the highest rank to which a serving officer in the Royal Navy can be promoted, admiral of the fleet being in abeyance except for honorary promotions of retired officers and members of the royal family. The equivalent rank in the British Army and Royal Marines is general ; and in the Royal Air Force , it

1479-530: The fleet grew large enough to be organised into squadrons . The squadron's admiral flew a red ensign , the vice admirals white , and the rear admirals blue on the aft mast of his ship. As the squadrons grew, each was eventually commanded by an admiral (with vice admirals and rear admirals commanding sections) and the official ranks became admiral of the white and so forth, however each admiral's command flags were different and changed over time. The Royal Navy has had vice and rear admirals regularly appointed to

1530-414: The forces of firing the weapons to the hull. The interstices of the framework were used as storage areas for ammunition. Early bomb vessels were rigged as ketches with two masts . They were awkward vessels to handle , in part because bomb ketches typically had the masts stepped farther aft than would have been normal in other vessels of similar rig, in order to accommodate the mortars forward and provide

1581-480: The forerunner to the present Lord High Admiral . (During this process, the short-lived post of Admiral of the Narrow Seas was used in 1412 and 1413. It was subsequently revived from 1523 to 1688.) The first royal commission as Admiral to a naval officer was granted in 1303 to Gervase Alard . By 1344, it was only used as a rank at sea for a captain in charge of one or more fleets. In Elizabethan times

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1632-702: The formal title of Keeper of the Sea and the Sea Ports. On 8 March 1287, Sir William de Leybourne was specifically commissioned as the Admiral of the Seas of England ( Latin : Admirallus Maris Angliae ) and, in 1294, captain of all sailors and mariners of the king's dominions. Sir John de Botetourt served under him as warden at sea from the Thames to Scotland. This was part of an effort by Edward   I to establish

1683-509: The front rigging made of chain, to better withstand the muzzle blast of the mortars. Mortars were the only kind of naval armament to fire explosive shells rather than solid shot until the invention of the Paixhans gun . Since it was considered dangerous to have large stocks of shells on board the ships that were firing them, and because the reinforced mortar platforms occupied so much space below decks, bomb vessels were usually accompanied by

1734-610: The horizontal fire, stone throwing bombard of earlier centuries. The French design was copied by the Royal Navy , who continued to refine the class over the next century or more, after Huguenot exiles brought designs over to England and the United Provinces. The side-by-side, forward-pointing mortars were replaced in the British designs by mortars mounted on the centerline on revolving platforms. These platforms were supported by strong internal wooden framework to transmit

1785-411: The naval reserve and naval auxiliary vessels. The 18th- and 19th-century Royal Navy also maintained a positional rank known as port admiral . A port admiral was typically a veteran captain who served as the shore commander of a British naval port and was in charge of supplying, refitting, and maintaining the ships docked at harbour. The problem of promoting strictly by seniority was well illustrated by

1836-474: The north and then wisely turned back. He reached Fort Reliance on 27 September 1834 and England on 8 September 1835. The expedition's naturalist was Richard King , who contributed appendices on meteorology and botany to Back's account of the expedition; he also wrote his own two-volume account of the expedition. In 1836, Back was promoted to captain by an Order in Council , a rare honour. The goal this time

1887-492: The only case of a ship – save for the disastrous Franklin Expedition – being caught in offshore ice. Its survival is a tribute to the strength of bomb vessels in Arctic service. Poor health caused Back to retire from active service. He was made a Knight Bachelor on 18 March 1839, and maintained an interest in Arctic exploration for the rest of his life. In 1859, he was nominated a rear-admiral. Back served as an advisor to

1938-430: The post since at least the 16th century. When in command of the fleet, the admiral would be in either the lead or the middle portion of the fleet. When the admiral commanded from the middle portion of the fleet his deputy, the vice admiral , would be in the leading portion or van . Below him was another admiral at the rear of the fleet, called rear admiral . Promotion up the ladder was in accordance with seniority in

1989-613: The prestigious London auction house Bonhams credited the watercolour to Back, claiming it had been presented by Back to his sister Katherine Pares, and thence descended through her family. The auction house opined that the scene surrounding the towering iceberg appears to match a description in Back's Narrative of an Expedition in H.M.S. Terror (1838) when the Terror was in the Davis Strait (between Canada and Greenland) that reads "in

2040-405: The promotion; John Baird became an Admiral; James Erskine a vice-admiral; and Harry Rawson a rear-admiral. Ironically, all these younger men would die at least a decade before de Horsey. In the time before squadron distinctions were removed or age limits instituted, the death of James Hawkins-Whitshed resulted in ten men moving up to higher ranks. In 1996, the rank of admiral of the fleet

2091-535: The range. However, Forester erred in describing the vessels as ketches, which by the early 19th century had been replaced by full-rigged ships, and in assigning the management of the mortars to Naval officers, rather than the Royal Marine Artillery which had been formed for this specific purpose. A later book, Hornblower in the West Indies , features a small portable "ship's mortar" mounted in

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2142-467: The rank of post-captain , and rank was held for life, so the only way to be promoted was for the person above on the list to die or resign. In 1747 the Admiralty restored an element of merit selection to this process by introducing the concept of yellow admirals (formally known as granting an officer the position of "Rear-Admiral without distinction of squadron"), being captains promoted to flag rank on

2193-480: The remaining ice to tip the ship on its side until the ice was hacked off. The vessel was in a sinking condition by the time he was able to beach the ship on the coast of Ireland at Lough Swilly . "There was not one on board who did not express astonishment that we had ever floated across the Atlantic." Although a number of Arctic explorers allowed their ships to be frozen in harbours for the winter, this seems to be

2244-415: The spring of 1837, an encounter with an iceberg further damaged the ship. Sometimes the pressure of the ice was enough to force turpentine out of the planks. The ship drifted with the ice south along Southampton Island and then east toward Hudson Strait. It was not until July that the ice retreated sufficiently to allow Terror to head for home. Soon a large mass of ice frozen to the vessel broke off causing

2295-462: The understanding that they would immediately retire on half-pay . This was the navy's first attempt at superannuating older officers. During the Interregnum , the rank of admiral was replaced by that of general at sea . In the 18th century, the original nine ranks began to be filled by more than one man per rank, although the rank of admiral of the red was always filled by only one man and

2346-650: Was Admiral of the White who then flew the Cross of St George . The next promotion step up from that was to Admiral of the Fleet. [REDACTED] Media related to Admirals of the United Kingdom at Wikimedia Commons Bomb vessel The first recorded deployment of bomb vessels by the English was for the siege of Calais in 1347 when Edward III deployed single-deck ships with bombardes and other artillery. The first specialised bomb vessels were built towards

2397-522: Was increased to four, reflecting the equivalence to the OF-9 four-star ranks of other countries. Prior to 1864 the Royal Navy was divided into coloured squadrons which determined his career path. The command flags flown by an Admiral changed a number of times during this period, there was no Admiral of the Red rank until that post was introduced in 1805 prior to this the highest rank an admiral could attain to

2448-662: Was known as Admiral of the Fleet . After the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 the rank of admiral of the red was introduced. The number of officers holding each rank steadily increased throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries. In 1769 there were 29 admirals of various grades; by the close of the Napoleonic Wars in 1816 there were 190 admirals in service. Thereafter the number of admirals was reduced and in 1853 there were 79 admirals. Although admirals were promoted according to strict seniority, appointments to command were made at

2499-467: Was put in abeyance in peacetime, except for members of the Royal family but was resurrected on an honorary basis in 2014 for the appointment of Lord Boyce . Admirals of the fleet continue to hold their rank on the active list for life. The current ranks are rear admiral, vice admiral, admiral and admiral of the fleet, also known as flag ranks because admirals, known as flag officers , are entitled to fly

2550-446: Was the northern end of Hudson Bay at either Repulse Bay (now Naujaat) or Wager Inlet . From there he would drag boats overland to seawater and sail the unknown coast west to the Back River and Franklin's Point Turnagain . These were the two easternmost known points on the north coast west of Hudson Bay. The area between them and between the Back River and Hudson Bay was unknown. In fact, 60 mi (97 km) northwest of Repulse Bay

2601-743: Was unemployed on the half-pay list, from 1827 to 1833. By 1832 nothing had been heard of the Arctic explorer John Ross since 1829, and plans were made to find him. Back proposed to take fur trade routes to Great Slave Lake and follow the Great Fish River northeast to Ross's probable location. No European had ever seen this river but it was known from Indian reports (it was later named the Back River ). He left England in February 1833, reached Great Slave Lake in August where George McLeod of

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