Vice-Admiral James Berkeley, 3rd Earl of Berkeley ( – 17 August 1736) was an English Royal Navy officer and peer who served as First Lord of the Admiralty from 1717 to 1727. The son of Charles Berkeley, 2nd Earl of Berkeley, he was known by the courtesy title of Viscount Dursley prior to succeeding as Earl of Berkeley in 1710.
Viscount Dursley received his commission as a lieutenant in the Royal Navy on 10 March 1699 and was promoted to captain on 2 April 1701. He was also a Member of Parliament (MP) for Gloucester 1701–1702. With the death of Sir Clowdisley Shovell, a promotion of flag-officers was made. Rear Admiral Robert Fairfax, was to be commissioned as a Vice Admiral of the Blue (it was signed by the Lord High Admiral and gazetted) but was then cancelled, and Dursley, who was his junior and because of the political influence of his family, made Vice Admiral of the Blue in his stead with seniority of 10 January 1708. Dursley was then promoted to Vice Admiral of the White in late 1708. In April 1709 he recaptured HMS Bristol, which had been taken by the French a short time earlier, but she sank shortly afterwards. Dursley was promoted to Vice Admiral of the Red in December 1709.
With the death of his father on 24 September 1710, Dursley succeeded to his titles and became the 3rd Earl of Berkeley.
| orders = The Most Noble Order of the Garter - Knight Companion (KG).
References
- Ships of the RN
|-