Richard Peirse (Royal Navy officer)

Sir Richard Henry Peirse

Sir Richard H. Peirse c. 1915
Born (1860-09-04)4 September 1860
York, England
Died 10 July 1940(1940-07-10) (aged 79)
Allegiance  United Kingdom
Service/branch  Royal Navy
Years of service 1873–1919
Rank Admiral
Commands held Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station
HMS Commonwealth
HMS Bedford
HMS Dido
Battles/wars Second Boer War
First World War
Awards Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Member of the Royal Victorian Order
Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour (France)
Order of the Nile, First Class (Egypt)
Relations Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Peirse (son)
Air Vice Marshal Sir Richard Peirse (grandson)
Other work Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Somerset (1929)[1]

Admiral Sir Richard Henry Peirse KCB, KBE, MVO, DL (4 September 1860 – 10 July 1940)[2] was a senior Royal Navy officer during World War I.

Peirse joined the Royal Navy in 1873[2] and, in 1885, developed a new naval director[3] which was to become the fire-control system used in all ships with large guns.[4] Promoted to captain in 1900,[5] he commanded HMS Dido during the Second Boer War.[6]

Promoted to Rear Admiral in February 1909[7] he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station in 1913.[8] Then promoted to vice admiral in October 1914,[7][9] he served in the First World War taking part in the attack on Smyrna in 1915,[10] where he outgunned the Turkish Fleet.[11] He continued in his role on the East Indies Station until December 1915.[12][13] He was promoted to admiral in March 1918.[14]

After the war he became Naval Member of the Central Committee of the Board of Invention and Research[15] and retired from the Navy in January 1919.[16]

He lived in Upper Norwood in London[17] and there is a memorial to him in Bedale Parish Church in North Yorkshire.[18]

Awards and decorations

References

  1. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 33548. p. 6991. 1 November 1929. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  2. 1 2 "Enrolment record for Richard Henry Peirse". The National Archives. 15 July 1873. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  3. ↑ Fifty Years in the Royal Navy by Admiral Sir Percy Scott Bt.
  4. ↑ Famous Conways
  5. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27211. p. 4433. 17 July 1900. Retrieved 29 August 2010.
  6. ↑ Edinburgh Gazette
  7. 1 2 Royal Navy Flag Officers 1904 – 1975
  8. ↑ HMS Swiftsure The Straits Times, 24 May 1913, Page 10
  9. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 28984. p. 9690. 24 November 1914. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  10. ↑ Attack on Smyrna The Hobart Mercury, 8 March 1915
  11. ↑ Turks' Fire powerless; Ottoman Guns Outranged by English; Landing Party Suffers Losses New York Times, 7 March 1915
  12. ↑ One hundred years of Admirals
  13. ↑ Royal Navy Flag Officers 1914–1918
  14. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 30599. p. 3756. 26 March 1918. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  15. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 30730. p. 6686. 7 June 1918. Retrieved 29 August 2010.
  16. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 31162. p. 1798. 4 February 1919. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  17. ↑ National Archives
  18. ↑ North Yorkshire County Council Archives
  19. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 28842. p. 4876. 22 June 1914. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  20. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 30730. p. 6686. 4 June 1918. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  21. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 27604. p. 6149. 9 October 1903. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  22. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 30756. p. 7305. 21 June 1918. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  23. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 30979. p. 12697. 25 October 1918. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
Military offices
Preceded by
Sir Alexander Bethell		 Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station
1913–1915 		Succeeded by
Sir Rosslyn Wemyss
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