Gerard Noel

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Gerard Henry Uctred Noel, (5 March 1845 – 23 May 1918) was a Royal Navy officer. As a junior officer he commanded a naval brigade which took part in the capture of Kumasi in February 1874 during the Second Anglo-Ashanti War. Noel went on to be Second-in-Command of the Mediterranean Fleet: during this tour, following the murder of the British vice-consul in Heraklion and an attack on the Customs House there, Noel landed a force in Crete to court-martial the terrorists and generally restore order. After that he became Admiral Superintendent of Naval Reserves and was given the additional responsibility of Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet. He then became Commander-in-Chief, China Station: at the time relations between the United Kingdom and Russia were strained as the United Kingdom expressed its considerable dissatisfaction in relation to Russian aggression at the start of the Russo-Japanese War. His last appointment was as Commander-in-Chief, The Nore. Early career Born the son of the Reverend Augustus William Noel and Lucy Noel (née Tonge), Noel was educated at All Saints' School, Bloxham. He joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in the training ship HMS Illustrious at Portsmouth on 1 December 1858. He was appointed a midshipman in the second-rate HMS Hannibal in the Mediterranean Fleet in 1859 and transferred to the frigate HMS Shannon on the North America and West Indies Station in 1862. Promoted to sub-lieutenant on 7 March 1864, he transferred to the paddle sloop HMS Basilisk on the China Station in January 1865 and, having been promoted to lieutenant on 21 April 1866, he transferred again to the sloop HMS Rattler which was wrecked in September 1868. He attended the gunnery school HMS Excellent in 1870 and then became gunnery officer in the armoured ship HMS Minotaur, flagship of the Commander-in-Chief, Channel Squadron, in February 1871. He joined the corvette HMS Active on the West Coast of Africa Station in late 1873 and commanded a naval brigade which took part in the capture of Kumasi in February 1874 during the Second Anglo-Ashanti War. Promoted to commander on 31 March 1874, Noel became executive officer in the frigate HMS Immortalité at Portsmouth in 1874 and, having been awarded the gold medal of the Royal United Services Institute for his work on naval tactics in 1875, he became executive officer aboard the Royal Yacht HMY Victoria and Albert, also based at Portsmouth, in 1878.