Royal Navy obituary in the Times newspaper
Royal Navy obituary in the Times newspaper


Royal NavyObituaries

The following obituary for Robert Gordon Douglas appeared in the Times newspaper.

Obituary in the Times newspaper
DateObituary
14 January 1910

Admiral R.G. Douglas.

Admiral Robert Gordon Douglas, who died at his residence, Seafield, Walmer, on Wednesday, was a member of an old naval family. He had seen active service in the Baltic and in South America, and had on two occasions jumped overboard in an attempt to save life.
Born in 1829, he joined the Naval Service in 1844, and when a midshipman of the Grampus, on the Pacific station, performed his first act of gallantry, winning the commendation of the commander of the ship. He was made a mate five years later, and while serving in that capacity on board the Centaur, the flagship of Rear-Admiral Henderson on the south-east coast of America, he was with a naval brigade landed to protect British interests and property at Buenos Ayres. He received his commission as lieutenant in 1853, and during the war with Russia served in the Baltic Fleet as gunnery officer of the Orion. It was from this ship that he jumped overboard in a gale and heavy sea, and for the second time, at the risk of his life, endeavoured to save a drowning shipmate. He was promoted to commander in 1860 and to captain in 1866. He acted as assistant superintendent of Naval Reserves from 1881 to 1883, when he was advanced to flag rank. As a rear-admiral he was employed from 1884 to 1886 to put the North Sea Fisheries Convention into force, inquiring into the fisheries of the United Kingdom and providing for their protection. He was appointed admiral superintendent of Malta Dockyard in 1887, and in the following year was made a vice-admiral. In 1894 he retired from active service, and became an admiral in December of that year.
Admiral Douglas was an A.D.C. to Queen Victoria from 1880 to 1883, a younger Brother of the Trinity House, and in the Commission of the Peace for the Cinque Ports.


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