Jules François Émile Krantz (29 December 1821 in

Givet Givet () (german: Gibet Walloon: ''Djivet'') is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France surrounded on three sides by the Belgian border. It lies on the river Meuse where Emperor Charles V built the fortress of Charlemont. It ...

– 25 February 1914 near

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 ...

) was a French

naval officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. In Vietnamese royal records, he was referred as ''Ca Răng'' (哥𪘵).

Life

He left the École navale in 1837, initially serving off the west African coast and then in the Mediterranean and Brazil. He was professor of navigation on board the ''Borda'' (1852). He commanded the ''Ténare'' 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 ...

, taking part in the attacks on

Sebastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

and the Kinbourn peninsula. He was then sent to Vietnam (1858–59) and the China Sea and Japan (1862–64, where he took part in the bombardment of Pei-Ho). He was then commander of the gunnery-school ship ''Louis XIV'' at Cherbourg (1869). He commanded the naval division on the China Sea in 1873 and became military governor of Cochinchine from 16 March to 30 November 1874. He took part in the Franco-Prussian War, commanding the marines at fort d'Ivry. In 1877 he was promoted to vice admiral, followed by becoming maritime prefect of

in October 1879. He later became chief of staff becoming Minister for the Navy and the Colonies from 5 January 1888 to 22 February 1889, then naval minister from 19 March 1889 to 17 March 1890.

Sources

*Étienne Taillemite, ''Dictionnaire des marins français'', éditions Tallandier, 2002, 573 p. () {{DEFAULTSORT:Krantz, Jules 1821 births 1914 deaths People from Givet French Navy admirals French Naval Ministers Governors of Cochinchina French military personnel of the Crimean War Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint-Charles