David Price (Royal Navy officer)
David Powell Price | |
---|---|
Born | 1790 Cilicum, Wales, Great Britain |
Died | 31 August 1854 (aged 63–64) Off Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Kamchatka, Russia |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ | Royal Navy |
Years of service | 1801–1854 |
Rank | Rear Admiral |
Commands held | Commander-in-Chief, Pacific HMS Portland HMS Volcano |
Battles/wars | War of the Second Coalition |
Awards | Order of the Redeemer (Greece) Sabre from Muhammad Ali of Egypt |
Rear Admiral David Powell Price (1790 – 31 August 1854) was a Royal Navy officer of the 19th century, who served as Commander-in-Chief, Pacific from 1853. He was also known for being a primary commander during the Siege of Petropavlovsk within the Crimean War before allegedly committing suicide before the bombardments of the fort.
Joining the navy on
His next appointment was to the 74-gun
In 1844[4] he married Elizabeth Taylor, daughter of John Taylor and niece of Admiral William Taylor, and in 1846 was promoted to superintendent of Sheerness Dockyard,[1] remaining there until promotion to rear admiral on 6 November 1850 and then to the post of the Royal Navy's Commander-in-Chief, Pacific, in August 1853.[3] Arriving there just before the declaration of the Crimean War, he proved tactful, courteous but indecisive and difficult in his dealings with working with his French colleague Auguste Febvrier Despointes. The French and British fleets slowly advanced across the Pacific, spending a long time at the Marquesas Islands and Honolulu (where the English and French squadrons met in July 1854 and worked to reduce American influence). On 25 July 1854 the combined force sailed to meet two Russian frigates reported to be in the area, finding them dismantled at Petropavlovsk. An attack on them was planned for 31 August 1854 but on that morning Admiral Price was killed by a discharge of his own pistol. Command transferred to Sir Frederick Nicolson, who postponed the attack until 4 September, on which day the Russians decisively beat it back.[1]
N.N.Muravyov wrote at his letter to the admiral-general of the Russian fleet, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich about the battle in Petropavlovsk:
... the English Admiral Price was killed in front of the Petropavlovsk port on his frigate and was buried in the Tarino Bay... Zavoiko in vain believed the captive's story that Admiral Price had allegedly shot himself. It was unheard of for a chief to shoot himself at the very beginning of a battle he hoped to win! Admiral Price could not accidentally shoot himself with his pistol. For what need did he take it in his hands, being on a frigate a mile from our battery?..
See also
- O'Byrne, William Richard (1849). John Murray – via Wikisource. . .
References
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/22747. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) The first edition of this text is available at Wikisource: . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 46. 1896. p. 326.
- ^ Marshall, John (1830). . Royal Naval Biography. Vol. sup, part 4. London: Longman and company. pp. 31–38.
- ^ a b c "William Loney RN". pdavis.nl.
- ^ Ancestry.co.uk