James Hope

Admiral of the Fleet Sir James Hope, GCB (3 March 1808 – 9 June 1881) was a Royal Navy officer. As a captain he was present at the Battle of Vuelta de Obligado during the Uruguayan Civil War and then in the Baltic Sea during the Crimean War.

Hope became Commander-in-Chief, East Indies and China Station and, when the Chinese authorities refused to allow British and French ministers to travel to Peking, he was instructed to force the Hai River. He assembled a squadron of eleven gunboats and other vessels and, at the Second Battle of the Taku Forts, he led an assault on the forts at the mouth of the river in a resumption of the Second Opium War. However the forts had been strengthened and the squadron encountered firm resistance from the Chinese defenders: Hope was forced to retreat.

Two years later the Russians attempted to establish a year-round anchorage on the coast of the island of Tsushima, a Japanese territory located between Kyushu and Korea, in what became known as the Tsushima Incident. Hope arrived with two British warships and forced the Russian corvette Posadnik to withdraw. The following year he provided assistance to the Imperial Chinese Army in putting down the Taiping Rebellion. He went on to be Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies Station and then Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth.

Early career

Born the son of Rear-Admiral Sir George Johnstone Hope and Lady Jemima Hope Johnstone (daughter of James Hope-Johnstone, 3rd Earl of Hopetoun), Hope entered the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth as a cadet in August 1820. He was appointed to the fifth-rate HMS Forte on the North America and West Indies Station and then transferred to the fourth-rate HMS Cambrian in the Mediterranean Fleet. Promoted to lieutenant on 9 March 1827, he joined the fifth-rate HMS Maidstone on the East Indies Station in September 1827.

Hope went on to be commanding officer of the steam frigate HMS Terrible in the Mediterranean Fleet in November 1849 and then commanding officer of the second-rate HMS Majestic at Sheerness in February 1854. Hope became Commander-in-Chief, East Indies and China Station, with his flag in the frigate HMS Chesapeake in March 1859. However the forts had been strengthened and the squadron encountered firm resistance from the Chinese defenders: Hope was forced to retreat.

The dispute with the Chinese authorities was only resolved when the British Government sent an army, under Lieutenant General Sir James Hope Grant, to take the forts by overwhelming force: the Third Battle of the Taku Forts in August 1860 was an Anglo-French victory: Hope provided the covering fire for the disembarkation of the troops and was advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 9 November 1860. He was also awarded the French Legion of Honour, Second Class on 29 October 1861.

In March 1861 the Russians attempted to establish a year-round anchorage on the coast of the island of Tsushima, a Japanese territory located between Kyushu and Korea, in what became known as in the Tsushima Incident. Hope arrived with two British warships in August 1861 and forced the Russian corvette Posadnik to withdraw. In February 1862 accompanied by Alexander Michie, he provided assistance to the Imperial Chinese Army in putting down the Taiping Rebellion. The grave site of Sir James at the old Carriden Church with a warship's chain. Hope became Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies Station, with his flag in the first-rate HMS Duncan, in January 1864. He was promoted to vice admiral on 16 September 1864 and advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 28 March 1865. He went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth in February 1869 and, having been promoted to full admiral on 21 January 1870, he was appointed First and Principal Naval Aide-de-Camp to the Queen on 8 February 1873. He retired in March 1878 and, after being promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 15 June 1879, died at his home, Carriden House near Bo'ness, on 9 June 1881. There were no children from either marriage.