Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

Edmond Hyde Parker, CB (30 January 1868 – 19 August 1951) 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.

Life and career

The son of Sir William Parker, 9th Baronet, Parker came from a family with strong naval connections over five generations. His grandfather was Vice-Admiral Hyde Parker,

First Naval Lord First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

from 1852 to 1854; his great-grandfather was Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, and his great-great-grandfather was Vice-Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, 5th Baronet. An uncle,

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Hyde Parker (1824–1854) was killed storming Russian batteries in the Sulina Channel during 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 ...

. Parker entered HMS ''Britannia'' in July 1881, was promoted to lieutenant in 1891, and to commander in 1901. He commanded the torpedo boat destroyer HMS ''Ardent'' from 1897 to 1899, coming under regular fire from insurgents on shore when she was serving off the coast of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

. Promoted to captain in 1906, he briefly commanded the battleship HMS ''Empress of India'' in 1907, before being appointed in command of the cruiser of HMS ''Niobe'', the flagship of Rear-Admiral Harry S. F. Niblett, Rear-Admiral Commanding, Devonport Division,

Home Fleet The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet. Before the First ...

. In 1910, he was appointed to command the protected cruiser HMS ''Minerva'', and in 1913 to the command of the first-class protected cruiser HMS ''Endymion''. After paying off ''Endymion'' in November 1914, Parker was appointed Captain of the

Royal Naval College, Dartmouth Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

in December 1914. In February 1915 he was given command of the battleship HMS ''Superb'' in the Grand Fleet, participating in the

Battle of Jutland The Battle of Jutland (german: Skagerrakschlacht, the Battle of the Skagerrak) was a naval battle fought between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy ...

in 1906: ''Superb'' scored several hits against the crippled light cruiser SMS ''Wiesbaden'', and received no damage. Parker was appointed an aide-de-camp to the King in August 1917, promoted to rear-admiral on 23 October 1917,{{London Gazette, issue=30369 , page=11474 , date=6 November 1917 and appointed a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

(CB) in 1918. After the war, Hyde served as Director of Naval Mobilisation from 1918 to 1919. He was promoted to vice-admiral on 25 March 1923, and was placed on the retired list on the following day. Four years later he was advanced to the rank of

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

on the retired list on 1 August 1927.

References

1868 births 1951 deaths Royal Navy admirals Royal Navy admirals of World War I Companions of the Order of the Bath Younger sons of baronets