Frederick Grey

Admiral Sir Frederick William Grey GCB (23 August 1805 – 2 May 1878) was a Royal Navy officer. As a captain he saw action in the First Opium War and was deployed as principal agent of transports during the Crimean War. He became First Naval Lord in the Second Palmerston ministry in June 1861 and subsequently published a pamphlet Admiralty Administration, 1861–1866 describing his reforms which included, inter alia, the notion that all senior naval promotions and appointments should be non-political and should be discussed and agreed by the Naval Members of the Admiralty Board on a collective basis before recommendations were made to the First Lord of the Admiralty.

Early career

Born the son of Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey (who served as prime minister in the 1830s), and Mary Elizabeth Ponsonby (daughter of William Ponsonby, 1st Baron Ponsonby), Grey joined the Royal Navy in January 1819. He initially joined the fifth-rate HMS Naiad in the Mediterranean Fleet as a midshipman and saw action against pirates off Cap Bon in Tunisia in 1824. Promoted to lieutenant on 7 April 1825, he transferred to the fifth-rate HMS Sybille in the Mediterranean Fleet that month and then to the sixth-rate HMS Volage on the South America Station in September 1825. Promoted to commander on 17 April 1827, he was posted to the sloop HMS Heron on the South America Station that same month.

Grey took command of the second-rate HMS Hannibal in March 1854 and conveyed 10,000 French troops to Åland off Finland before proceeding to the Bosphorus where he was deployed as principal agent of transports during the Crimean War. and having been advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 2 January 1857, Grey became Commander-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope & West Coast of Africa Station, hoisting his flag in the third-rate HMS Boscawen, in April 1857. Grey became First Naval Lord in the Second Palmerston ministry in June 1861. Having been promoted to full admiral on 24 April 1865 and advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 28 March 1865, he resigned his post when the second Russell ministry fell from power in July 1866.