Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...
David Powell Price (1790 – 31 August 1854) was a
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
officer of the 19th century, who served as
Commander-in-Chief, Pacific from 1853. He was also known for being a primary commander during the
Siege of Petropavlovsk
The siege of Petropavlovsk was a military operation in the Pacific theatre of the Crimean War. The Russian casualties are estimated at 115 soldiers and sailors killed and seriously wounded, whilst the British suffered 105 casualties and th ...
within the
Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...
before allegedly committing suicide after the battle.
Naval career
Joining the navy on in 1801, he fought at
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
that year and then in the
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
on when the
Peace of Amiens
The Treaty of Amiens (french: la paix d'Amiens, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition. It marked the end of the French Revolutionary Wars; after a short peace it se ...
broke down in 1803.
[ ] He then served in in 1805 and 1806 under its captain
Sir Samuel Hood
Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood (12 December 1724 – 27 January 1816) was an admiral in the Royal Navy. As a junior officer he saw action during the War of the Austrian Succession. While in temporary command of , he drove a French ship ashore i ...
, fighting in the battle off
Rochefort
Rochefort () may refer to:
Places France
* Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, in the Charente-Maritime department
** Arsenal de Rochefort, a former naval base and dockyard
* Rochefort, Savoie in the Savoie department
* Rochefort-du-Gard, in the Ga ...
on 25 September 1806 and in its capture of the 50-gun Russian battleship ''Sevolod'' on 26 August 1808.
[ He was then appointed acting lieutenant on ''Ardent'' in April 1809 and during summer 1809 was captured and released by the Danes twice during the ]Gunboat War
The Gunboat War (, ; 1807–1814) was a naval conflict between Denmark–Norway and the British during the Napoleonic Wars. The war's name is derived from the Danish tactic of employing small gunboats against the materially superior Royal Nav ...
. He was confirmed as lieutenant in September 1809, continuing in ''Ardent'' right up to February 1811. He was then transferred to the brig
A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...
off France's northern coast, managing to bring out an armed brig and three store ships on 19 August 1811 when ''Hawk'' drove a convoy and its escort on shore near Barfleur
Barfleur () is a commune and fishing village in Manche, Normandy, northwestern France.
History
During the Middle Ages, Barfleur was one of the chief ports of embarkation for England.
* 1066: A large medallion fixed to a rock in the harbour ...
,[ though in a later attempt to cut two more brigs out of Barfleur harbour he was severely wounded and unable to serve again for almost a year.
His next appointment was to the 74-gun off Cherbourg, then from September 1812 on off ]Toulon
Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...
(under Henry Bourchier, who had been his captain on ''Hawk''). In December 1812 he gained his first command, the bomb vessel
A bomb vessel, bomb ship, bomb ketch, or simply bomb was a type of wooden sailing naval ship. Its primary armament was not cannons ( long guns or carronades) – although bomb vessels carried a few cannons for self-defence – but mortars mounte ...
, with which he sailed for North America in summer 1814 and fought during the War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
on the Potomac, at Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
and near . He was wounded on 24 December 1814 near New Orleans and saw action the following month, bombarding a fort on the Mississippi as a diversion. At the cessation of hostilities he returned to England, where he was promoted to post rank on 13 June 1815.[ His next command was (1834–38)] in the Mediterranean (receiving the Order of the Redeemer
The Order of the Redeemer ( el, Τάγμα του Σωτήρος, translit=Tágma tou Sotíros), also known as the Order of the Saviour, is an order of merit of Greece. The Order of the Redeemer is the oldest and highest decoration awarded by the ...
for his services to the Greek government). From 1838 to 1844 he retired to Brecknockshire
, image_flag=
, HQ= Brecon
, Government= Brecknockshire County Council (1889-1974)
, Origin= Brycheiniog
, Status=
, Start= 1535
, End= ...
, serving as a Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...
there.[
In 1846 he married Elizabeth Taylor, daughter of John Taylor and niece of Admiral William Taylor, and was promoted to superintendent of ]Sheerness Dockyard
Sheerness Dockyard also known as the Sheerness Station was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the Sheerness peninsula, at the mouth of the River Medway in Kent. It was opened in the 1660s and closed in 1960.
Location
In the Age of Sail, the R ...
, remaining there until promotion to rear admiral
Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...
on 6 November 1850 and then to the post of the Royal Navy's Commander-in-Chief, Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
, in August 1853.[ Arriving there just before the declaration of the ]Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...
, he proved tactful, courteous but indecisive and difficult in his dealings with working with his French colleague Auguste Febvrier Despointes
Auguste Febvrier-Despointes (1796 – 5 March 1855) was a French counter admiral. He served as the first commandant of New Caledonia from 24 September 1853 to 1 January 1854.
Life
Despointes entered the French Navy school at Brest in September ...
. The French and British fleets slowly advanced across the Pacific, spending a long time at the Marquesas Islands
The Marquesas Islands (; french: Îles Marquises or ' or '; Marquesan: ' ( North Marquesan) and ' ( South Marquesan), both meaning "the land of men") are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in th ...
and Honolulu
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
(where the English and French squadrons met in July 1854 and worked to reduce American influence). On 25 July 1854 the combined force sailed to meet two Russian frigates reported to be in the area, finding them dismantled at Petropavlovsk. An attack on them was planned for 31 August 1854 but on that morning Admiral Price was killed by a discharge of his own pistol. Command transferred to Sir Frederick Nicolson, who postponed the attack until 4 September, on which day the Russians decisively beat it back.[
N.N.Muravyov wrote at his letter to the admiral-general of the Russian fleet, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich about the battle in Petropavlovsk: ]
''... the English Admiral Price was killed in front of the Petropavlovsk port on his frigate and was buried in the Tarino Bay... Zavoiko in vain believed the captive's story that Admiral Price had allegedly shot himself. It was unheard of for a chief to shoot himself at the very beginning of a battle he hoped to win! Admiral Price could not accidentally shoot himself with his pistol. For what need did he take it in his hands, being on a frigate a mile from our battery?..''
See also
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Price
1790 births
1854 deaths
Royal Navy personnel of the War of 1812
British naval commanders of the Napoleonic Wars
Royal Navy personnel of the Crimean War
Suicides by firearm in Russia