Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many 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. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

Sir Edmund Samuel Poë, (11 September 1849 – 1 April 1921) was an Irish

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, East Indies station.

Early life

Poë was born on September 11, 1849, in Ireland. His father was William Thomas Poe, a barrister. One of his older brothers was the soldier and politician Sir William Hutcheson Poë. Another older brother, George Leslie Poë, became a Royal Navy Captain.

Naval career

Educated at the Burney's Royal Naval Academy,

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hampshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 70,131 and the district had a pop ...

, Poë joined the

in 1862.Medals
Dix Noonan Webb. In April 1864, he was appointed to HMS ''Bombay'' as a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest Military rank#Subordinate/student officer, rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Royal Cana ...

, and was serving on board when the ship caught fire and sank off Montevideo in December 1864 with the loss of 92 crew. In May 1875, while serving as a lieutenant on HMS ''Newcastle'', Poë jumped overboard to rescue a man who had fallen into the sea. For this he was awarded the bronze medal of the

Royal Humane Society The Royal Humane Society is a British charity which promotes lifesaving intervention. It was founded in 1774 as the ''Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned'', for the purpose of rendering first aid in cases of near drowning. Hi ...

; he rescued another man who'd fallen into the sea in October 1876. He was made Naval Advisor to the Inspector-General of Fortifications in 1889 and Commander of the Training Squadron in 1897. Promoted to Commodore 2nd Class by 1899 he commanded the Cruiser Squadron until 1900.

In September 1901 he was promoted to

Rear-Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

. He went on to be Second in command of the

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 1903 and

Rear-Admiral Commanding 1st Cruiser Squadron The First Cruiser Squadron was a Royal Navy squadron of cruisers that saw service as part of the Grand Fleet during World War I, then later as part of the Mediterranean during the Interwar period and World War II. It was first established in 19 ...

in 1904. He was appointed Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station in 1905, Commander-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope Station in 1907 and Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet in 1910. Finally was appointed First and Principal Aide-de-Camp to the King in 1912 and retired on September 11, 1914.

Family

In 1877, he married Frances Catherine Sheil.Family Search
/ref> They had two sons and a daughter.

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Poe, Edmund 1849 births 1921 deaths Irish knights Irish officers in the Royal Navy Royal Navy admirals Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath