Vice-Admiral Sir William Nathan Wrighte Hewett, (12 August 1834 – 13 May 1888) 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 and a recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

forces. The

Hewett Treaty The Hewett Treaty, also called the Treaty of Adwa, was an agreement between Britain, Egypt and Ethiopia signed at Adwa on 3 June 1884. The treaty ended a long-simmering conflict between Egypt and Ethiopia, but indirectly started a new conflict bet ...

is named after him.

Early life and Crimean War

Hewett was born at

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

on 12 August 1834 to William Hewett, physician to

King William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...

. He entered the

in 1847, and served as a midshipman in the

Second Anglo-Burmese War The Second Anglo-Burmese War or the Second Burma War ( my, ဒုတိယ အင်္ဂလိပ် မြန်မာ စစ် ; 5 April 185220 January 1853) was the second of the Anglo-Burmese Wars, three wars fought between the Konbaung dy ...

. In 1854, while acting mate of , he was attached to the Naval Brigade during the Siege of Sevastopol 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 ...

. Hewett was in charge of the Right Lancaster Battery at Sevastopol on 26 October 1854. The battery was being threatened by the enemy and, through a misunderstanding, he was ordered to spike his gun and retreat. Disregarding the order, Hewett pulled down the parapet of the battery and with the assistance of some soldiers slewed his gun round and poured on the advancing enemy a most destructive and effectual fire. On 5 November, at the

Battle of Inkerman The Battle of Inkerman was fought during the Crimean War on 5 November 1854 between the allied armies of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Britain and Second French Empire, France against the Imperial Russian Empire, Russian Army. Th ...

, he again acted with great bravery. For these two actions, he was granted a field promotion to lieutenant and awarded the

, one of the first ever awarded. Hewett's promotion was made official after passing his examinations at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

; He was subsequently appointed to the royal yacht, from which he was promoted to commander on 13 September 1858.

Senior commands

Hewett's other commands included , and, following his promotion to captain on 24 November 1862, as flag-captain to Sir Henry Kellett. He was then captain of from 1872 to 1873. He was Commander-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope and West Coast of Africa, in charge of naval operations during the

Third Anglo-Ashanti War The Anglo-Ashanti wars were a series of five conflicts that took place between 1824 and 1900 between the Ashanti Empire—in the Akan interior of the Gold Coast—and the British Empire and its African allies. Though the Ashanti emerged victorio ...

, from 1873. For his services during this conflict, he was made a

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 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 ...

on 31 March 1874. He commanded from 1877 until he was drawn into service in the

Mahdist War The Mahdist War ( ar, الثورة المهدية, ath-Thawra al-Mahdiyya; 1881–1899) was a war between the Mahdist Sudanese of the religious leader Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah, who had proclaimed himself the "Mahdi" of Islam (the "Guided On ...

. In 1882 he was appointed

Commander-in-Chief, East Indies 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 ...

.William Loney RN
/ref> Following the British defeat at El Teb, Hewett commanded the naval brigade that landed at

Suakin Suakin or Sawakin ( ar, سواكن, Sawákin, Beja: ''Oosook'') is a port city in northeastern Sudan, on the west coast of the Red Sea. It was formerly the region's chief port, but is now secondary to Port Sudan, about north. Suakin used to b ...

on 6 February 1884, and was appointed governor of Sudan on 10 February by Baker Pasha. In April 1884, Hewett led a delegation to Emperor

Yohannes IV ''girmāwī''His Imperial Majesty, spoken= am , ጃንሆይ ''djānhoi''Your Imperial Majesty(lit. "O steemedroyal"), alternative= am , ጌቶቹ ''getochu''Our Lord (familiar)(lit. "Our master" (pl.)) yohanes Yohannes IV (Tigrinya: ዮሓ� ...

which negotiated, in exchange for free transit of guns and ammunition through

Massawa Massawa ( ; ti, ምጽዋዕ, məṣṣəwaʿ; gez, ምጽዋ; ar, مصوع; it, Massaua; pt, Maçuá) is a port city in the Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, located on the Red Sea at the northern end of the Gulf of Zula beside the Dahlak ...

, access through Ethiopian territory for the successful evacuation of the Egyptian garrisons that had been isolated in southern Sudan by the revolt of

Muhammad Ahmad Muhammad Ahmad ( ar, محمد أحمد ابن عبد الله; 12 August 1844 – 22 June 1885) was a Nubian Sufi religious leader of the Samaniyya order in Sudan who, as a youth, studied Sunni Islam. In 1881, he claimed to be the Mahdi, an ...

(also known as the Mahdi) against the Egyptian rulers. From May 1885 to July 1885 he was . Grave of Vice Admiral Sir William Nathan Wrighte Hewett VC

After his return from Ethiopia, Hewett was appointed

Junior Naval Lord Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

and, on 8 July 1884, was promoted to vice admiral. From March 1886 to April 1888 he was in command of the

Channel Fleet The Channel Fleet and originally known as the Channel Squadron was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1854 to 1909 and 1914 to 1915. History Throughout the course of Royal Navy's history the ...

; however, his delicate health worsened and he died shortly after his retirement. Hewett's Victoria Cross is displayed at the

National Maritime Museum The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the United ...

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

, London.Victoria Cross (MED1948)
/ref>

Notes

External links

''(Hampshire)'' * http://www.memorials.inportsmouth.co.uk/vc/hewett.htm , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hewett, William 1834 births 1888 deaths People from Brighton Royal Navy vice admirals British recipients of the Victoria Cross Crimean War recipients of the Victoria Cross Royal Navy personnel of the Crimean War British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Burmese War Royal Navy personnel of the Mahdist War Recipients of the Legion of Honour Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India Royal Navy recipients of the Victoria Cross British military personnel of the Abyssinian War Lords of the Admiralty