Admiral Edmund Lyons, 1st Baron Lyons, (21 November 179023 November 1858) was a British Admiral of the Royal Navy, and diplomat, who ensured Britain's victory in the Crimean War, during which he was Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet, by his contribution at the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855) with both the Royal Navy and the British Army.
As a consequence of his 'intelligence and great ability', 'quiet humour', 'frankness and urbanity', and 'vigilance and practical skill', Lyons was appointed to ambassadorial positions in Sweden, and in Switzerland, and to the court of King Otto of Greece.
Lyons (whose brother Vice-Admiral John Lyons He was the fourth son of Captain John Lyons, an owner of extensive sugar plantations in Antigua, whose British residence was at St. Austen's, Lymington, Hampshire, and Catherine (née Walrond), daughter of Maine Swete Walrond, 5th Marquis de Vallado. Maine Walrond Lyons, (1798–1827), a lieutenant in the Royal Navy who was killed at Battle of Navarino; and Humphrey Lyons (1802–1873), a lieutenant-general in the Indian (Bombay) Army.
Naval and diplomatic service
Lyons first went to sea on board HMS Terrible in 1798, when he was eight years old. He then returned to England to attend Hyde Abbey School near Winchester, which he attended until 1803, when he joined the Royal Navy and the crew of the frigate HMS Active, with which he remained for four years. and promoted. Lyons then served as a flag-lieutenant, to Rear-Admiral Drury, aboard HMS Minden (74 guns).
Lyons destroys Fort Marrack
In 1811, a planned British attack on the fortified port of Fort Marrack, in the Sunda Strait of Batavia, Dutch East Indies, was postponed after the Royal Navy received intelligence that Dutch reinforcements had arrived. Lyons with only 34 men attacked the fort anyway and destroyed its 180-strong garrison and 54 guns. and then, in 1833, from Trieste to Athens. and was on 14 January 1850 promoted to Rear-Admiral of the Blue in the Royal Navy, and was in 1851 appointed minister at Stockholm, at which his wife died.
Lyons continued to work productively with Raglan to improve supply arrangements in the Bosphorus and at Balaklava. Lyons secured another diplomatic triumph when he secured, in May 1855, French consent to capture of Kerch and occupation of the Sea of Azov: this operation destroyed the logistic support of the Russian army in the Crimea and enabled the allied victory.
Lyons's contribution to the Crimean War was imperative to the allied success. He transported the British Army to the Crimea and he ensured its supplies and support by the military on land, where he led assaults, including the Kerch operation, and where his friendship with Lord Raglan enabled the coordination of the Royal Navy with the British Army and Navy. He was promoted to Vice-Admiral on 19 March 1857 and held the temporary rank of Admiral from December 1857 until his death. which remains there. The Edmund River and Lyons River in Australia are named after him.
Lyons's 'intelligence and great ability' However, Edmund Lyons was described by a Foreign Secretary, George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon as 'irritable and one of the vainest men I ever knew'.