The Silent Admiral: An overview of the life of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Frederick W Richards

Lord Goschen, the British Statesman and First Lord of the Admiralty from 1895-1900, once expressed regret that, “the very name of the man to whom the Navy, and through the Navy, the nation owed more to any man then living was so little-known outside of the service he adorned.” Since that very statement some 125 years or so ago very little remains known about the life and naval service of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Frederick William Richards. One of the greatest naval administrators in the history of our Royal Navy, he was at the time of his death in 1912 considered by his peers and by his collea…