Baldwin Wake Walker
Encyclopedia
Admiral Sir Baldwin Wake Walker, 1st Baronet KCB
(6 January 1802 – 12 February 1876) was Surveyor of the Navy
from 1848 to 1861. and was responsible for the Royal Navy's
warship construction programme during the 1850s naval arms race and at the time of the introduction of the Ironclad warship
; it was his decision to build HMS Warrior
. He was created 1st Baronet Wake Walker, of Oakley House in 1856.
and Frances, daughter of Captain Drury Wake.
in April, 1820. He served 2 years on the Jamaica
station, then for 3 years on the coast of South America and the west coast of Africa.
In 1827 he entered service in the Mediterranean aboard HMS Rattlesnake
and was first lieutenant of the bomb vessel
HMS Aetna at the attack on Morea Castle during the Morea expedition
. For this service he received the crosses of the Légion d'honneur
and of the Greek Order of the Redeemer
.
He saw further service in the Mediterranean aboard the ships Asia
, Britannia
and HMS Barham
, being promoted to Commander
in 1834. In that rank he served in HMS Vanguard
from 1836 – 1838.
Walker married Mary Catherine Sinclair Worth, daughter of Captain John Worth and Catherine Sinclair, on September 9 1834.
In 1838 Walker was given special permission of the Admiralty to accept a command in the Turkish Navy, in which he was known as Walker Bey and later as Yavir Pasha. In July 1840 Ahmet Fevzi Paşa, the Capitán-Pasha (the chief admiral of the Turkish fleet), took the fleet to Alexandria
and delivered it to Muhammad Ali of Egypt
, who then refused to part with it. Walker summoned the Turkish Captains to a Council of War, and proposed a night landing where he would surround the palace, carry off Muhammad Ali, and despatch him to Constantinople
. This operation was cancelled due to Muhammad Ali letting the ships go.
While serving with the Turkish Navy he commanded the Turkish squadron at the bombardment of Acre
in November 1840, for which service he was became a Knight Commander of the Bath on January 12, 1841; he also received the second class of the Austrian Order of the Iron Crown
, the Russian Order of St. Anna
, and the Prussia
n Order of the Red Eagle
.
Following his return to England in 1845 he commanded HMS Queen
as flag-captain to Sir John West at Devonport
, and from 1846 – 1847, the frigate
HMS Constance
in the Pacific.
From 1848 – 1861, he was Surveyor of the Navy
(the post being known as Controller of the Navy from 1859). He was created a baronet on July 18, 1856, gaining the title 1st Baronet Wake Walker, of Oakley House, appointed Rear Admiral of the Blue
in 1858, and Rear Admiral of the White in 1861, in which year he was also appointed Commander-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope and West Coast of Africa Station
. He returned to England in 1864, being promoted to Vice Admiral in 1865 and being appointed Commander-in-Chief, The Nore in 1866. He was promoted to Admiral in 1870.
, HMS Mersey
, and HMS Orlando
which were known simply as "Walker's Big Frigates". These large vessels were designed to compete with the United States Navy which had decided to build five steam frigates and one steam corvette. The ships had only a short service history as they were both too large for wooden ships and expensive to operate, as they required large crews. It is reported that due to the stresses caused by their powerful engines, Orlando and Mersey were both broken up after less than 20 years service.
When in 1858 the French started building La Gloire, the first armoured iron-hulled ship, the Admiralty was asked what it was doing to match this "new engine of war". Walker replied that he believed iron hulls would never replace wooden ships. After strong representations by Walker and Henry Corry, the Parliamentary under-secretary to the Admiralty, the Board of Admiralty was moved on 22 November 1858 to call for designs for a wooden-hulled, armour-plated warship, whose dimensions were approximately equal to those of La Gloire. Eventually it was decided to construct an iron-hulled ship instead, and HMS Warrior
was the result.
, Norfolk
. He was succeeded as Baronet by his eldest son Baldwin Wake Walker (born 1846–1905). His grandson
Sir Frederic Wake-Walker also achieved flag rank and served in both World Wars, playing a leading role in the evacuation of Dunkirk
and the hunt for the battleship Bismarck
.
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
(6 January 1802 – 12 February 1876) was Surveyor of the Navy
Surveyor of the Navy
The Surveyor to the Navy was a civilian officer in the Royal Navy. He was a member of the Navy Board from the inauguration of that body in 1546, and held overall responsibility for the design of British warships, although until 1745 the actual design work for warships built at each Royal Dockyard...
from 1848 to 1861. and was responsible for the Royal Navy's
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
warship construction programme during the 1850s naval arms race and at the time of the introduction of the Ironclad warship
Ironclad warship
An ironclad was a steam-propelled warship in the early part of the second half of the 19th century, protected by iron or steel armor plates. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. The first ironclad battleship, La Gloire,...
; it was his decision to build HMS Warrior
HMS Warrior (1860)
HMS Warrior was the first iron-hulled, armour-plated warship, built for the Royal Navy in response to the first ironclad warship, the French Gloire, launched a year earlier....
. He was created 1st Baronet Wake Walker, of Oakley House in 1856.
Early life
Baldwin Wake Walker was the eldest son of John Walker of WhitehavenWhitehaven
Whitehaven is a small town and port on the coast of Cumbria, England, which lies equidistant between the county's two largest settlements, Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness, and is served by the Cumbrian Coast Line and the A595 road...
and Frances, daughter of Captain Drury Wake.
Naval service
Walker entered the Royal Navy in 1812, and was made a LieutenantLieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
in April, 1820. He served 2 years on the Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
station, then for 3 years on the coast of South America and the west coast of Africa.
In 1827 he entered service in the Mediterranean aboard HMS Rattlesnake
HMS Rattlesnake (1822)
HMS Rattlesnake was an Atholl-class 28-gun sixth-rate corvette of the Royal Navy launched in 1822. She made a historic voyage of discovery to the Cape York and Torres Strait areas of northern Australia.-Construction:...
and was first lieutenant of the bomb vessel
Bomb vessel
A bomb vessel, bomb ship, bomb ketch, or simply bomb was a type of wooden sailing naval ship. Its primary armament was not cannon —although bomb vessels carried a few cannon for self-defence—but rather mortars mounted forward near the bow and elevated to a high angle, and projecting their fire in a...
HMS Aetna at the attack on Morea Castle during the Morea expedition
Morea expedition
The Morea expedition is the name given in France to the land intervention of the French Army in the Peloponnese, between 1828 and 1833, at the time of the Greek War of Independence....
. For this service he received the crosses of the Légion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
and of the Greek Order of the Redeemer
Order of the Redeemer
The Order of the Redeemer , also known as the Order of the Savior, is an order of Greece. The Order of the Redeemer is the oldest and highest decoration awarded by the modern Greek state.- History :...
.
He saw further service in the Mediterranean aboard the ships Asia
HMS Asia (1824)
HMS Asia was an 84-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 19 January 1824 at Bombay Dockyard.She was Codrington's flagship at the Battle of Navarino....
, Britannia
HMS Britannia (1820)
HMS Britannia was a 120-gun first-rate ship-of-the-line of the Royal Navy, laid down in 1813 and launched on 20 October 1820.Commissioned in 1823, she saw service in the Mediterranean from 1830-1 and in 1841...
and HMS Barham
HMS Barham (1811)
HMS Barham was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 8 July 1811 at Blackwall Yard.In 1826 Barham was reduced to a 50-gun ship, and she was broken up in 1839....
, being promoted to Commander
Commander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
in 1834. In that rank he served in HMS Vanguard
HMS Vanguard (1835)
The sixth HMS Vanguard, of the British Royal Navy was an 78-gun second-rate ship of the line, launched on 25 August 1835 at Pembroke Yard. She was the first of a new type of sailing battleship: a Symondite.-Construction:...
from 1836 – 1838.
Walker married Mary Catherine Sinclair Worth, daughter of Captain John Worth and Catherine Sinclair, on September 9 1834.
In 1838 Walker was given special permission of the Admiralty to accept a command in the Turkish Navy, in which he was known as Walker Bey and later as Yavir Pasha. In July 1840 Ahmet Fevzi Paşa, the Capitán-Pasha (the chief admiral of the Turkish fleet), took the fleet to Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
and delivered it to Muhammad Ali of Egypt
Muhammad Ali of Egypt
Muhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas'ud ibn Agha was a commander in the Ottoman army, who became Wāli, and self-declared Khedive of Egypt and Sudan...
, who then refused to part with it. Walker summoned the Turkish Captains to a Council of War, and proposed a night landing where he would surround the palace, carry off Muhammad Ali, and despatch him to Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
. This operation was cancelled due to Muhammad Ali letting the ships go.
While serving with the Turkish Navy he commanded the Turkish squadron at the bombardment of Acre
Acre, Israel
Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....
in November 1840, for which service he was became a Knight Commander of the Bath on January 12, 1841; he also received the second class of the Austrian Order of the Iron Crown
Order of the Iron Crown
The Imperial Order of the Iron Crown was established June 5, 1805 by Napoleon Bonaparte . It took its name from the ancient Iron Crown of Lombardy, a medieval jewel with an iron ring, forged from what was supposed to be a nail from the True Cross as a band on the inside. This crown also gave its...
, the Russian Order of St. Anna
Order of St. Anna
The Order of St. Anna ) is a Holstein and then Russian Imperial order of chivalry established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp on 14 February 1735, in honour of his wife Anna Petrovna, daughter of Peter the Great of Russia...
, and the Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n Order of the Red Eagle
Order of the Red Eagle
The Order of the Red Eagle was an order of chivalry of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was awarded to both military personnel and civilians, to recognize valor in combat, excellence in military leadership, long and faithful service to the kingdom, or other achievements...
.
Following his return to England in 1845 he commanded HMS Queen
HMS Queen (1839)
HMS Queen was a 110-gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 15 May 1839 at Portsmouth. She was initially ordered in 1827 under the name Royal Frederick, but was renamed on 12 April 1839 while still on the stocks in honour of the recently enthroned Queen Victoria...
as flag-captain to Sir John West at Devonport
HMNB Devonport
Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England...
, and from 1846 – 1847, the frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
HMS Constance
HMS Constance (1846)
HMS Constance was a 50-gun fourth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy launched in 1846. She had a tonnage of 2,132 and was designed with a V-shaped by Sir William Symonds she was also one of the last class of frigates designed by him...
in the Pacific.
From 1848 – 1861, he was Surveyor of the Navy
Surveyor of the Navy
The Surveyor to the Navy was a civilian officer in the Royal Navy. He was a member of the Navy Board from the inauguration of that body in 1546, and held overall responsibility for the design of British warships, although until 1745 the actual design work for warships built at each Royal Dockyard...
(the post being known as Controller of the Navy from 1859). He was created a baronet on July 18, 1856, gaining the title 1st Baronet Wake Walker, of Oakley House, appointed Rear Admiral of the Blue
Admiral (United Kingdom)
Admiral is a senior rank of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, which equates to the NATO rank code OF-9, outranked only by the rank Admiral of the Fleet...
in 1858, and Rear Admiral of the White in 1861, in which year he was also appointed Commander-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope and West Coast of Africa Station
Cape of Good Hope Station
The Cape of Good Hope Station was one of the geographical divisions into which the British Royal Navy divided its worldwide responsibilities. It was formally the units and establishments responsible to the Commander-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope....
. He returned to England in 1864, being promoted to Vice Admiral in 1865 and being appointed Commander-in-Chief, The Nore in 1866. He was promoted to Admiral in 1870.
Surveyor of the Navy
In his capacity as Surveyor of the Navy, Walker specified the requirements that led to the design of the large wooden screw frigates HMS Diadem, HMS Doris, HMS Ariadne, HMS GalateaHMS Galatea (1859)
HMS Galatea was an Ariadne class 26-gun sixth rate wooden screw frigate launched in 1859 and broken up 1883. In 1866 she went on a world cruise, under the command of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh....
, HMS Mersey
HMS Mersey (1858)
The second HMS Mersey was commissioned in 1858, just six years after the first Mersey had been broken up. Her and her sister ship the Orlando were the longest wooden warships built for the Royal Navy. At 336 feet in length, HMS Mersey was nearly twice the size of HMS Victory, the flagship of...
, and HMS Orlando
HMS Orlando (1858)
HMS Orlando and her sister ship HMS Mersey were the longest wooden warships built for the Royal Navy. At 336 feet in length, HMS Orlando was nearly twice the size of HMS Victory, the flagship of Admiral Horatio Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar...
which were known simply as "Walker's Big Frigates". These large vessels were designed to compete with the United States Navy which had decided to build five steam frigates and one steam corvette. The ships had only a short service history as they were both too large for wooden ships and expensive to operate, as they required large crews. It is reported that due to the stresses caused by their powerful engines, Orlando and Mersey were both broken up after less than 20 years service.
When in 1858 the French started building La Gloire, the first armoured iron-hulled ship, the Admiralty was asked what it was doing to match this "new engine of war". Walker replied that he believed iron hulls would never replace wooden ships. After strong representations by Walker and Henry Corry, the Parliamentary under-secretary to the Admiralty, the Board of Admiralty was moved on 22 November 1858 to call for designs for a wooden-hulled, armour-plated warship, whose dimensions were approximately equal to those of La Gloire. Eventually it was decided to construct an iron-hulled ship instead, and HMS Warrior
HMS Warrior (1860)
HMS Warrior was the first iron-hulled, armour-plated warship, built for the Royal Navy in response to the first ironclad warship, the French Gloire, launched a year earlier....
was the result.
Later life
Baldwin Wake Walker died on 12 February 1876 at his house in DissDiss
Diss is a town in Norfolk, England close to the border with the neighbouring East Anglian county of Suffolk.The town lies in the valley of the River Waveney, around a mere that covers . The mere is up to deep, although there is another of mud, making it one of the deepest natural inland lakes...
, Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
. He was succeeded as Baronet by his eldest son Baldwin Wake Walker (born 1846–1905). His grandson
Grandson
Grandson has multiple meanings:*Grandson *Grandson, Switzerland, a municipality in Switzerland*Grandson , a district in Switzerland...
Sir Frederic Wake-Walker also achieved flag rank and served in both World Wars, playing a leading role in the evacuation of Dunkirk
Operation Dynamo
The Dunkirk evacuation, commonly known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, code-named Operation Dynamo by the British, was the evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, France, between 26 May and the early hours of 3 June 1940, because the British, French and Belgian troops were...
and the hunt for the battleship Bismarck
Operation Rheinübung
Operation Rheinübung was the sortie into the Atlantic by the new German battleship Bismarck and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen on 18–27 May 1941, during World War II...
.