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George Nares
Vice-Admiral Sir George Strong Nares[pronunciation?] KCB FRS (24 April 1831 – 15 January 1915) was a Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. He commanded the Challenger Expedition, and the British Arctic Expedition. He was highly thought of as a leader and scientific explorer. In later life he worked for the Board of Trade and as Acting Conservator of the River Mersey.
He was born on 24 April 1831, the third son and sixth child of Commander William Henry Nares, a British naval officer, and Elizabeth Rebecca Gould, at Llansenseld, near Abergavenny in Monmouthshire. He was baptised at the church of St Bridget, Llansanffraid on 22 May. He married Mary Grant, the eldest daughter of a Portsmouth banker, on 22 June 1858. They had four sons and six daughters. His two youngest sons, George Edward Nares and John Dodd Nares entered the Royal Navy.
He was educated at the Royal Naval School in New Cross in south London, and in 1845 joined the Royal Navy aboard HMS Canopus, an old battleship captured from the French. Following a posting to HMS Havannah on the Australian station in 1848, during which he served as both midshipman and mate, he returned in 1851 and passed his lieutenant's exam in 1852.
While returning to England in Havannah in 1851, Nares had met Commander George Henry Richards, a future Hydrographer of the Navy, who had suggested he apply to Sir Edward Belcher for a place on his search for Sir John Franklin. Nares was accepted as the second mate of Resolute, and thus gained valuable early experience of the Arctic during the 1852–1854 expedition.
In 1854 Nares received his promotion to lieutenant and specialised as a gunnery officer. He joined the new battleship Conqueror in 1854, including service in the Mediterranean during the Crimean War. During this time he was loaned to the Aetna-class ironclad floating battery Glatton under the command of Captain Arthur Cumming. Glatton arrived in the Black Sea too late to see action.
He served as a lieutenant in charge of training cadets in Illustrious, and from 1859, in her successor, Britannia. During this time he wrote the best-selling book The Naval Cadet's Guide, which was also republished under the title Seamanship, and was regarded as the best manual of its day. He was promoted to commander in 1862 and took command of the training ship Boscawen in September 1863.
His next ship was the aging 4-gun wooden paddle sloop Salamander, which he commanded from 1865. Although he had served in the steam-assisted Conqueror over ten years previously, this was his first paddle steamer, and in a further departure, she was employed in surveying duties on the east coast of Australia. His duties involved keeping the communications between Sydney and Cape York Peninsula in the furthest north point of Queensland open. On the long journeys between he conducted surveys of the Great Barrier Reef.
His next appointment was to the brand new Philomel-class gunvessel Newport, which he commissioned and took to the Mediterranean for survey work, including a survey of the Gulf of Suez, accessed by the newly opened Suez Canal. The Suez Canal opened in November 1869. On the morning of 17 November, a procession of ships entered the canal, officially headed by the French Imperial yacht Aigle however Newport passed through it first. On the night before the canal was due to open, Nares navigated his vessel, in total darkness and without lights, through the mass of waiting ships until it was in front of L'Aigle. When dawn broke the French were horrified to find that the Royal Navy was now first in line and that it would be impossible to pass them. Captain Nares received both an official reprimand and an unofficial vote of thanks from the Admiralty for his actions in promoting British interests and for demonstrating such superb seamanship.
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George Nares
Vice-Admiral Sir George Strong Nares[pronunciation?] KCB FRS (24 April 1831 – 15 January 1915) was a Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. He commanded the Challenger Expedition, and the British Arctic Expedition. He was highly thought of as a leader and scientific explorer. In later life he worked for the Board of Trade and as Acting Conservator of the River Mersey.
He was born on 24 April 1831, the third son and sixth child of Commander William Henry Nares, a British naval officer, and Elizabeth Rebecca Gould, at Llansenseld, near Abergavenny in Monmouthshire. He was baptised at the church of St Bridget, Llansanffraid on 22 May. He married Mary Grant, the eldest daughter of a Portsmouth banker, on 22 June 1858. They had four sons and six daughters. His two youngest sons, George Edward Nares and John Dodd Nares entered the Royal Navy.
He was educated at the Royal Naval School in New Cross in south London, and in 1845 joined the Royal Navy aboard HMS Canopus, an old battleship captured from the French. Following a posting to HMS Havannah on the Australian station in 1848, during which he served as both midshipman and mate, he returned in 1851 and passed his lieutenant's exam in 1852.
While returning to England in Havannah in 1851, Nares had met Commander George Henry Richards, a future Hydrographer of the Navy, who had suggested he apply to Sir Edward Belcher for a place on his search for Sir John Franklin. Nares was accepted as the second mate of Resolute, and thus gained valuable early experience of the Arctic during the 1852–1854 expedition.
In 1854 Nares received his promotion to lieutenant and specialised as a gunnery officer. He joined the new battleship Conqueror in 1854, including service in the Mediterranean during the Crimean War. During this time he was loaned to the Aetna-class ironclad floating battery Glatton under the command of Captain Arthur Cumming. Glatton arrived in the Black Sea too late to see action.
He served as a lieutenant in charge of training cadets in Illustrious, and from 1859, in her successor, Britannia. During this time he wrote the best-selling book The Naval Cadet's Guide, which was also republished under the title Seamanship, and was regarded as the best manual of its day. He was promoted to commander in 1862 and took command of the training ship Boscawen in September 1863.
His next ship was the aging 4-gun wooden paddle sloop Salamander, which he commanded from 1865. Although he had served in the steam-assisted Conqueror over ten years previously, this was his first paddle steamer, and in a further departure, she was employed in surveying duties on the east coast of Australia. His duties involved keeping the communications between Sydney and Cape York Peninsula in the furthest north point of Queensland open. On the long journeys between he conducted surveys of the Great Barrier Reef.
His next appointment was to the brand new Philomel-class gunvessel Newport, which he commissioned and took to the Mediterranean for survey work, including a survey of the Gulf of Suez, accessed by the newly opened Suez Canal. The Suez Canal opened in November 1869. On the morning of 17 November, a procession of ships entered the canal, officially headed by the French Imperial yacht Aigle however Newport passed through it first. On the night before the canal was due to open, Nares navigated his vessel, in total darkness and without lights, through the mass of waiting ships until it was in front of L'Aigle. When dawn broke the French were horrified to find that the Royal Navy was now first in line and that it would be impossible to pass them. Captain Nares received both an official reprimand and an unofficial vote of thanks from the Admiralty for his actions in promoting British interests and for demonstrating such superb seamanship.