Admiral of the Fleet Sir (George) Rodney Mundy, (19 April 1805 – 23 December 1884) 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 ...
officer. As a
commander, he persuaded the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
to surrender
Antwerp during the
Belgian Revolution and then acted as a mediator during negotiations between the Dutch and the
Belgians
Belgians ( nl, Belgen; french: Belges; german: Belgier) are people identified with the Kingdom of Belgium, a federal state in Western Europe. As Belgium is a multinational state, this connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultur ...
to end hostilities. As a
captain, he was deployed to the
East Indies Station
The East Indies Station was a formation and command of the British Royal Navy. Created in 1744 by the Admiralty, it was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies.
Even in official documents, the term ''East Indies Station'' was ...
and was asked to keep the
Sultan of Brunei in line until the British Government made a final decision on whether to take the island of
Labuan
Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan ( ms, Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan), is a Federal Territory of Malaysia. Its territory includes and six smaller islands, off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capita ...
: he took the Sultan's son-in-law,
Pengiran Mumin, to witness the island's accession to the
British Crown in December 1846. He was then deployed to the seas of
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
, where he secured
Björkö Sound in operations against
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
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 ...
.
Mundy became Second-in-Command of the
Mediterranean Fleet and, in May 1860, in the
Expedition of the Thousand
The Expedition of the Thousand ( it, Spedizione dei Mille) was an event of the Italian Risorgimento that took place in 1860. A corps of volunteers led by Giuseppe Garibaldi sailed from Quarto, near Genoa (now Quarto dei Mille) and landed in Mars ...
, was present in
Palermo,
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
when
Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Italian general and politician, led his volunteers into the city. Mundy went on to be Commander-in-Chief,
North America and West Indies Station
The North America and West Indies Station was a formation or command of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed in North American waters from 1745 to 1956. The North American Station was separate from the Jamaica Station until 1830 when the ...
and then
Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth
The Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, was a senior commander of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years. The commanders-in-chief were based at premises in High Street, Portsmouth from the 1790s until the end of Sir Thomas Williams's tenure, his succes ...
.
Early career
Born the son of General
Godfrey Basil Mundy and Sarah Bridges (daughter of
George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney), Mundy joined the
Royal Naval College, Portsmouth as a
cadet in February 1818.
He was appointed as a volunteer to the
fifth-rate
In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a fifth rate was the second-smallest class of warships in a hierarchical system of six " ratings" based on size and firepower.
Rating
The rating system in the Royal ...
HMS ''Phaeton'' on the
North America and West Indies Station
The North America and West Indies Station was a formation or command of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed in North American waters from 1745 to 1956. The North American Station was separate from the Jamaica Station until 1830 when the ...
in December 1819 and, having been promoted to
midshipman, he transferred to the
frigate HMS ''Euryalus'' in the
Mediterranean Fleet in 1822.
[Heathcote, p. 191] After a brief tour in the
third-rate
In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Years of experience proved that the third r ...
HMS ''Rochfort'' also in the Mediterranean Fleet, he transferred to the
South American Station in April 1824 and then served successively in the fifth-rate
HMS ''Blanche'', the
sloop HMS ''Jaseur'', the third-rate
HMS ''Wellesley'' and finally the
second-rate
In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a second-rate was a ship of the line which by the start of the 18th century mounted 90 to 98 guns on three gun decks; earlier 17th-century second rates had fewer gun ...
HMS ''Cambridge''.
[ Promoted to ]lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...
on 4 February 1826, he joined the sloop HMS ''Eclair'' on the South American Station in July 1826.[ He then transferred to the sixth-rate HMS ''Challenger'' in February 1828 off Lisbon before moving to the fifth-rate HMS ''Pyramus'' also off Lisbon only a few months later.][
Promoted to commander on 25 August 1828, Mundy joined the third-rate HMS ''Donegal'' and served as a liaison officer tasked to persuade the ]Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
to surrender Antwerp during the Belgian Revolution. He then acted as a mediator during negotiations between the Dutch and the Belgians
Belgians ( nl, Belgen; french: Belges; german: Belgier) are people identified with the Kingdom of Belgium, a federal state in Western Europe. As Belgium is a multinational state, this connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultur ...
to end hostilities in May 1833.[ He became commanding officer of the sloop HMS ''Favourite'' in the Mediterranean Fleet in August 1833.][
Promoted to captain on 10 January 1837, he became commanding officer of the sixth-rate HMS ''Iris'' in the ]West Africa Squadron
The West Africa Squadron, also known as the Preventative Squadron, was a squadron of the British Royal Navy whose goal was to suppress the Atlantic slave trade by patrolling the coast of West Africa. Formed in 1808 after the British Parliam ...
in October 1842.[ He was then re-deployed with HMS ''Iris'' to the ]East Indies Station
The East Indies Station was a formation and command of the British Royal Navy. Created in 1744 by the Admiralty, it was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies.
Even in official documents, the term ''East Indies Station'' was ...
and was involved in operations under Admiral Sir Thomas Cochrane.[ Mundy was asked to keep the Sultan of Brunei in line until the British Government made a final decision on whether to take the island of ]Labuan
Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan ( ms, Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan), is a Federal Territory of Malaysia. Its territory includes and six smaller islands, off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capita ...
: he took the Sultan's son-in-law, Pengiran Mumin, to witness the island's accession to the British Crown on 24 December 1846.[Saunders, p. 78 & 123] Some sources state that during the signing of the treaty, the Sultan had been threatened by a British navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...
warship ready to fire on the Sultan's palace if he refused to sign the treaty while another source says the island was ceded to Britain as a reward for assistance in combating pirates.
Mundy became commanding officer of the second-rate HMS ''Nile'' in July 1854 and was deployed, in Spring 1855, to the Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...
and then, in September 1855, to the seas of Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
where he secured Björkö Sound in operations against Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
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 ...
.[
]
Senior command
Promoted to rear admiral on 30 July 1857, Mundy became Second-in-Command of the Mediterranean Fleet, with his flag in the second-rate HMS ''Hannibal'' in April 1859.[ He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath on 23 June 1859. In May 1860, in the ]Expedition of the Thousand
The Expedition of the Thousand ( it, Spedizione dei Mille) was an event of the Italian Risorgimento that took place in 1860. A corps of volunteers led by Giuseppe Garibaldi sailed from Quarto, near Genoa (now Quarto dei Mille) and landed in Mars ...
, he was involved in evacuating local citizens from the conflict.[ Garibaldi went on to depose Francis II, the tyrannical ruler of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in March 1861, and to achieve Italian unification.][ Garibaldi credited Mundy with bringing about the armistice between the warring parties and offered him his heartfelt gratitude "in the name of Palermo, of Sicily, of entire Italy."
Mundy went on to be Commander of detached squadron on the Syrian coast in 1861 and, having been advanced to ]Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as o ...
on 10 November 1862, he was promoted to vice-admiral on 15 December 1863. He then became Commander in-Chief, North America and West Indies Station
The North America and West Indies Station was a formation or command of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed in North American waters from 1745 to 1956. The North American Station was separate from the Jamaica Station until 1830 when the ...
, with his flag in the broadside ironclad
An ironclad is a steam-propelled warship protected by iron or steel armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. Th ...
HMS ''Royal Alfred'', in January 1867.[ Promoted to full admiral on 26 May 1869, he became ]Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth
The Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, was a senior commander of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years. The commanders-in-chief were based at premises in High Street, Portsmouth from the 1790s until the end of Sir Thomas Williams's tenure, his succes ...
in March 1872 and retired in April 1875.
Mundy was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 2 June 1877 and, having been promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 27 December 1877, he died at his home in Chesterfield Street
Chesterfield Street is a "virtually intact" Georgian street (except for No. 6, which is a reconstruction) in London's Mayfair district. Several of the buildings are Grade II listed on the National Heritage List for England.
Location
Chesterfield ...
, London on 23 December 1884.[
]
Family
Mundy never married and had no children.[
]
See also
*
References
Sources
*
*
*
Further reading
*
*
External links
William Loney
Career History
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mundy, Roger
1805 births
1884 deaths
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Royal Navy admirals of the fleet
Military personnel from London
Royal Navy personnel of the Crimean War