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Edmund LayonsBritish admiral and diplomat, participant in the Crimean War.
Date of Birth: 21.11.1790
Country:  Great Britain |
Content:
Biography of Edmund Lyons
Early Life and Naval CareerEdmund Lyons was a British admiral and diplomat, and a participant in the Crimean War. He was born on November 21, 1790. After attending school at Hyde Abbey, he joined the navy at the age of ten and a half as a volunteer of the first class. He began his service in the Mediterranean Sea on the yacht "Royal Charlotte" and later served on the frigates "Medway" and "Active". He participated as a midshipman in Sir John Duckworth's expedition to the Dardanelles. In 1807, he was appointed to the 68-gun ship "Monmouth" and served in the East Indies for seven years, becoming a lieutenant in 1809. Lyons gained a reputation as a brave and capable naval officer during his time in the East Indies.
Diplomatic Service
After returning to England in 1814, Lyons spent the next 14 years on shore, using his time for self-education. In 1828, he commanded the 46-gun frigate "Blond" in the Mediterranean Expedition. In the summer of 1829, he transported the British envoy Sir Robert Bridger to Constantinople, becoming the first British warship to enter the Black Sea. Lyons had the opportunity to visit Sevastopol during this time. He later commanded the frigate "Madagascar" and was present during the bombardment of the fortress of Saint-Jean d'Acre by Ibrahim Pasha. In early 1833, he transported King Otto from Trieste to Greece. When Lyons returned to England in 1835, the "Madagascar" was decommissioned, temporarily interrupting his naval career.
From 1835 to 1839, Lyons served as an assistant minister (ambassador) at the Athens court, and then was appointed as the British envoy to the Swiss Republic and later to Stockholm until November 1853. Marx noted that in Athens, Sir Lyons showed himself to be an opponent of the French and was removed at the recommendation of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe. The character and natural qualities of the naval commander were shaped by the naval wars of the Republic and the Empire, but he avoided one-sidedness and always sought to educate himself whenever he had time ashore. His experience in diplomatic service played a role in his activities as an admiral, especially during the Crimean War.
Crimean War and Later Career
When war became inevitable, Lyons was promoted to Rear-Admiral and appointed as the chief assistant of the Mediterranean fleet. His superior was Sir James Whitley Dondas, a British admiral who had participated in the blockade of Alexandria (1800), the defense of Stralsund and the capture of Copenhagen (1807). In 1841 and from 1846, Dondas served as the First Lord of the Admiralty, and in 1851, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the British fleet in the Mediterranean Sea. After the Sinop Battle, Dondas and Gamlen's squadrons entered the Black Sea on December 23, 1853, covering the movement of Turkish ships carrying troops to the Caucasus. Their orders were to neutralize the Russian fleet in the Black Sea. On December 28, the allied squadrons approached Trabzon. The movement of the squadrons prompted the Russian command to withdraw troops from the Caucasian coastal line and send cruising ships to Sevastopol.
Although there was no war with Russia, Dondas was instructed to push the Russian ships into a port. Understandably, the squadrons sent to the stormy winter Black Sea returned to the Bosporus after 20 days, leaving patrol boats near Sevastopol. On March 15, 1854, the allies declared war on Russia. On April 8, the combined fleet of Vice-Admirals F.A. Gamlen and J. Dondas approached Odessa. On April 10, a line-of-battle ship and nine frigates approached and opened fire from a distance of 7-8 cable lengths, but were repelled by the fire from the batteries. After a failed attempt to land a landing force, the allies retreated to Sevastopol on April 12.
In the spring of 1854, when Gamlen's squadron bombarded Sevastopol from a distance for four days, Rear-Admiral Lyons cruised along the coast of the Caucasus with his squadron. He unloaded 57,000 rounds of ammunition in Gelendzhik, inspected the abandoned Russian fortifications, and then went to Balchik. Lyons was supposed to negotiate with Shamil and other Circassians, but he had no weapons for the mountain people, as the weapons were being transported by the Turkish squadron, which was also heading to the Caucasus. According to the English newspapers, Lyons with his squadron cruised near Anapa in the summer of 1854 to support the French squadron of Bruat with a landing force of 7,000 men.
When the allied fleets entered the Black Sea, Lyons, along with French Admiral Bruat, advocated the landing in Crimea, while Commander-in-Chief Dondas believed that the poor soil and lack of water made the expedition impossible. Nevertheless, in August, the allies prepared for the landing. An expeditionary force of 62,000 troops was landed south of Eupatoria from September 2 to 6, and on September 7, they moved towards Sevastopol. In the Battle of the Alma on September 8, the allies achieved victory with the naval fire support from Lyons' ships. However, the allies suffered significant losses and their advance was slowed, allowing the Russian forces to retreat and the defenders of Sevastopol to strengthen the city's defenses. The British and French forces had to begin a siege. On September 28, Lyons' squadron took position in Balaklava Bay, where it was convenient to unload artillery, while the army approached the area overland.
In October 1854, when the siege of Sevastopol was ongoing, Lyons led the bombardment on board his ship "Agamemnon" and showed great determination.
At dawn on October 5, 1854, following the start of the bombardment of the land fortifications of Sevastopol, the allied fleet also began its naval bombardment. To reduce the targets, the upper part of the ships' masts were removed; steam-powered ships moved on their own, while sailing ships were towed by steamships moored to the side that was not under fire. The ships approached at a significant speed to make it difficult for the enemy to aim. Around noon, they lined up in front of the shore batteries.
The British squadron took position against the Russian fortifications from the Konstantinovskaya Battery to the Volokhova Tower. They had 546 guns against 31 Russian guns (not counting the remote 28 guns of batteries No. 7 and No. 8). Five ships bombarded the Konstantinovskaya Battery from the flank, with 280 guns on one side against 17 Russian guns. Three ships bombarded the Volokhova Tower and Kartashevskiy Battery, while the ship "London" from their group fired at the Konstantinovskaya Battery from the rear. Admiral Lyons, aboard the "Agamemnon," came closest to the shore, and his artillery could engage the Kartashevskiy Battery and the rear of the Konstantinovskaya Battery, while only the guns of batteries No. 7, 8, and 10 fired at him from a distance of 2000 meters. Lyon observed the explosion and, with the "Agamemnon," left the line, circled the squadron, emerged from the smoke screen, and opened fire on the Konstantinovskaya Battery with one side and on Battery No. 10 with the other side. However, after a few minutes, he was damaged by crossfire and disappeared behind a smoke screen. A fire broke out on his ship.
The firing ceased by 6:30 pm. The allies fired 50,000 rounds, but did not achieve success. The Russian coastal batteries fired only 16,000 rounds. In the end, the allies essentially remained inactive for a year and did not attempt to bombard Sevastopol from the sea again.
During the siege, Lyons had to show firmness. When, after the Battle of Balaclava, Dondas ordered the loading of the naval brigade and some guns onto ships to hastily abandon Balaclava, it was Lyons who convinced his superior that Kamysheva Bay was too small for the allied fleet and losing Balaclava would lead to the need to leave Crimea within a week. Lyons' proposal to hold onto Balaclava was accepted, and he was granted the title of Lord for his merits.
After Lord Dondas was recalled from the Black Sea, the command passed to Lyons. As Sevastopol continued to hold out, the fleet had to demonstrate its activity. In order to destroy the supply of provisions gathered by the Russians in the Azov Sea ports for their army, the allied command decided to undertake an expedition to the Kerch Strait and the Sea of Azov. The expedition, consisting of 16,000 allied troops, was led by General Brown. The fleets were commanded by Edmund Lyons (six line-of-battle ships, 27 smaller vessels) and Armand Joseph Bruat (three ships, 21 smaller vessels). On May 10, in order to mislead the enemy, the squadrons set off in the direction of Odessa, then turned and arrived at Cape Ak-Burun on May 11. Their first target was Kerch, which was defended by 20 guns. There were four transports, three steamers, and several barges in the harbor. The Russian troops withdrew as the allies approached. The allied landing force occupied Kerch and Enikale without resistance. Before leaving, the Russians destroyed the food supplies, spiked the guns, and burned the steamers. The allies plundered the city and headed to the Sea of Azov.
And further, the allies acted like colonizers. On May 15, they attacked the defenseless Berdyansk, burned ships, warehouses, and two private houses. On May 14, 13 steamers bombarded the small fortress of Arabat for three hours, but return fire damaged two ships, and they retreated. On May 17, 15 steamers approached Genichesk, and Lyons demanded that the ships and warehouses in the strait be surrendered to him. After refusal, the allies bombarded the city, destroyed the supplies collected there, and burned 48 ships in the Genichesk Strait. On May 22, the allies bombarded Taganrog, which refused to surrender. The city had no artillery, but the local garrison company threw themselves into the sea. The bombardment caused serious damage to Taganrog, as well as Mariupol and Yeysk. On June 3, the squadron returned to Sevastopol, leaving a garrison in Kerch.
After the Russian troops left the southern side of Sevastopol, on September 12, 1855, the allies reached Taman. A squadron of 15 ships landed a 6,000-strong landing force, which was supposed to act in conjunction with Shamil. The troops occupied the old fortress of Fanagoria and tried to advance towards Yekaterinodar together with the mountain tribes, but they encountered resistance from Russian troops and evacuated on September 20.
In early October, an 80-ensign squadron approached Kinburn. Against 13 guns, the allies concentrated 1,500 guns. The garrison of the fortress (1,500 men) defended itself for three days, and only on October 5, the fortress fell after the armored ships suppressed the batteries. However, the allies did not dare to enter the Dnieper-Bug Liman to capture Kherson, Nikolaev, and Ochakov, as they encountered mines laid in 1854. The military actions on the Black Sea came to an end.
The activities of the allies in the Black Sea were still better, at least externally, than their failures in the Baltic Sea near Kronstadt, Vyborg, and Sveaborg. Since there were no better candidates, Sir Lyons was put on a pedestal. In 1856, he was elevated to the peerage.
Lord Lyons passed away in 1858. The author of the article in "The Times," extolling the admiral, believed that only his age of 65 prevented him from doing more during the Crimean War.
