James Goodrich (Royal Navy officer)

Admiral Sir James Edward Clifford Goodrich KCVO (28 June 1851 – 1 September 1925) was the last Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Station.

Sir James Goodrich
Born28 June 1851
Died1 September 1925 (1925-10) (aged 74)
AllegianceUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Navy
RankAdmiral
Commands heldHMS London
Pacific Station
Battles/warsWorld War I
AwardsKnight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order

Goorich was appointed a lieutenant in the Royal Navy in 1872,[1] and promoted to captain in 1895.[2] On 7 June 1902 he was appointed in command of the new battleship HMS London, which was commissioned for service in the Mediterranean Fleet,[3] and left Portsmouth in early July for Gibraltar.[4] Briefly returning to home waters in August, London served as flagship for the Coronation Review for King Edward VII at Spithead on 16 August 1902, before she was back with the Mediterranean Fleet.[5] He then served as Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Station from his appointment in 1903 to its closure in 1905.[6] Improved communications, the signing of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance and the need to concentrate warships in British waters to counter the developing German High Seas Fleet, meant that the station was closed down at sunset on 1 March 1905.[7] After being promoted to rear admiral in October 1905,[2] he was appointed admiral superintendent of the Gibraltar Dockyard in 1906.[8] His final promotion was to Admiral in 1913[9] on his retirement,[10] although he was recalled to serve as a captain in the Royal Naval Reserve during World War I.[11]

He died in 1925 and a memorial to him stands in St Cyr's Churchyard in Stinchcombe in Gloucestershire.[12]

Family

He married Adeline Rose Helbert who helped with the founding of West Downs School.[13]

References
  1. "No. 23893". The London Gazette. 6 September 1872. p. 3923.
  2. Royal Navy Flag Officers 1904-1945
  3. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36758. London. 3 May 1902. p. 14.
  4. "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36815. London. 9 July 1902. p. 5.
  5. "No. 27560". The London Gazette. 2 June 1903. p. 3525.
  6. "Canadian Navy Maritime Forces Pacific". Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
  7. "History of CFB Esquimalt and Naden". Archived from the original on 14 January 2010. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  8. Obituary of Sir Edward Chichester The Times, 18 September 1906
  9. "No. 28725". The London Gazette. 3 June 1913. p. 3913.
  10. "No. 28726". The London Gazette. 6 June 1913. p. 3992.
  11. "No. 29050". The London Gazette. 26 January 1915. p. 797.
  12. "Some memorial inscriptions". Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
  13. West Downs School History
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