Cyprian Bridge

Admiral Sir Cyprian Arthur George Bridge (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, Bridge 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, Bridge 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 H

MS 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.