Cyprian Bridge Admiral Sir Cyprian Arthur George Bridge GCB ( 13 March 1839 – 16 August 1924 ) was a British Royal Navy officer towards the end of the era of " Pax Britannica . " He was Commander - in - chief of both the Australian Squadron and the China Squadron . Early life . Bridge ' s father was Thomas Hobday Bridge , later Archdeacon of St . John ' s . His maternal grandfather was John Dunscombe , an aide - de - camp to the governor of Newfoundland . From 1851 Bridge attended school at Walthamstow House in England . Naval career . Bridge was nominated for the navy by Admiral Cochrane , to whom his father had been chaplain . He passed the navy entrance examination in 1853 , and was appointed to the paddle sloop HMS " Medea " and later to the third - rate ship of the line HMS " Cumberland " , flagship of the North American Station . During the Crimean War , he served as a naval cadet in the White Sea . In Autumn 1854 , a squadron of three warships led by the sloop HMS " Miranda " shelled and destroyed Kola . An attempt to storm Arkhangelsk proved abortive , as was the siege of Petropavlovsk in Kamchatka . While the Anglo - French naval squadron successfully shelled the town , a landing of 800 sailors and marines was repulsed . After he passed for midshipman he was appointed to the corvette HMS " Pelorus " in the East Indies . Prior to that ship ' s engagements in the First Taranaki War , he had been promoted in 1859 , joining HMS " Algiers " in the Mediterranean as lieutenant . He subsequently served on board HMS " Hawke " on the Irish station , and HMS " Fawn " in the West Indies from 1864 to 1867 . Bridge transferred to HMS " Excellent " to qualify in gunnery . Admiral Sir Alfred Ryder then invited him to act as his flag lieutenant in the Channel Fleet . In 1869 he was promoted to commander , serving two years with the broadside ironclad HMS " Caledonia " in the Mediterranean . He served for one year each on the gunnery ship HMS " Cambridge " and then HMS " Implacable " , followed by Ryder ' s flagship in the China Station , the battleship HMS " Audacious " . In 1877 he was promoted to captain . He took half pay and spent time writing on the German Navy , publishing in the " Journal of the Royal United Services Institution " . During 1878 and 1879 he served on Admiralty and War Office committees on heavy guns , armour plate and projectiles . He was appointed deputy commissioner for the Western Pacific , with command of the Osprey class sloop HMS " Espiegle " in Australia . Subsequently he was appointed to command the modern battleship HMS " Colossus " . He was director of the newly established Naval Intelligence Department at the Admiralty ( 1889 – 1894 ) and helped found the Navy Records Society . In November 1894 Bridge was promoted rear - admiral and became Commander - in - Chief of the Australian squadron aboard the cruiser HMS " Orlando " . In 1898 he was promoted vice - admiral . He was appointed Commander - in - Chief of the China Station in 1901 , arriving in Yokohama in early June where he hoisted his flag in the battleship HMS " Glory " . In 1903 he was promoted admiral . He retired from the Navy in March 1904 . Post naval career . Bridge was an assessor on the North Sea Enquiry Commission investigation into the 1904 Dogger Bank incident . He was Admiralty Representative on the Royal Patriotic Fund Corporation from 1906 to 1912 . In 1916 he was part of the Mesopotamia Commission of Inquiry . Family . Bridge ' s grandfather and great uncles had all served in the Navy . His father did not due to poor eyesight . Bridge married but had no children . Cyprian Bridge Island is named after his uncle . He built Coombe Pines in Kingston Hill , Surrey , where he died in 1924 .