Admiral Sir Edmund Robert Fremantle GCB

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...

 CMG

Order of St Michael and St George

The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....

 (16 June 1836 – 10 February 1929) was a Royal Navy

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...

 officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth

Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth

The Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth was a senior commander of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years. Plymouth Command was a name given to the units, establishments, and staff operating under the admiral's command. In the nineteenth century the holder of the office was known as Commander-in-Chief,...

.

Naval career

Born a son of Thomas Fremantle, 1st Baron Cottesloe

Thomas Fremantle, 1st Baron Cottesloe

Thomas Francis Fremantle, 1st Baron Cottesloe PC, PC , JP , known as Sir Thomas Fremantle, Bt, between 1821 and 1874, was a British Tory politician.-Early life:...

, Fremantle joined the Royal Navy

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...

 in 1849. He served in the Second Anglo-Burmese War

Second Anglo-Burmese War

The Second Anglo-Burmese War was the second of the three wars fought between the Burmese and the British Empire during the 19th century, with the outcome of the gradual extinction of Burmese sovereignty and independence....

 in 1852 and the New Zealand land wars

New Zealand land wars

The New Zealand Wars, sometimes called the Land Wars and also once called the Māori Wars, were a series of armed conflicts that took place in New Zealand between 1845 and 1872...

 in 1864. Then in 1861 he became Commander in HMS Eclipse

HMS Eclipse (1860)

HMS Eclipse was a 4-gun Cormorant-class first class gunvessel launched on 18 September 1860 from the shipyard of J. Scott Russell & Co., Millwall.She was sent to Australia Station in 1863 under the command of Commander Richard Charles Mayne...

.

Promoted to Captain in 1867, he commanded HMS Barracouta

HMS Barracouta (1851)

HMS Barracouta was a paddle sloop, of the Royal Navy, built at the Pembroke Dockyard and launched on 31 March 1851.She commenced service in England before joining the East Indies Station in 1854. During the Crimean War she participated in the blockade of Petropavlovski...

, HMS Doris, HMS Lord Warden

HMS Lord Warden (1865)

HMS Lord Warden was the second and final ship to be completed of the Lord Clyde class.She was heavier than her sister, by about 360 tons; partly because she carried heavier machinery and was fitted with a poop, and partly because the wood used for the construction of Lord Clyde was, as it...

 and HMS Invincible

HMS Invincible (1869)

HMS Invincible was an Audacious-class ironclad battleship of the Royal Navy. She was built at the Napier shipyard and completed in 1870. Completed just 10 years after , she still carried sails as well as a steam engine.-Armament:...

. He was made Senior Naval Officer in Gibraltar

Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...

 in 1881 and then went on to command HMS Dreadnought

HMS Dreadnought (1875)

The fifth HMS Dreadnought of the British Royal Navy was a turret ironclad battleship built at Pembroke Dockyard, Wales.-Construction:Begun as Fury in 1870, the original design was recast for heavier armour and higher speed. The renamed ship was laid down in 1872 at Pembroke Dockyard and was...

. He was promoted Rear-Admiral in 1885 and was made Second-in-Command of the Channel Squadron

Channel Fleet

The Channel Fleet was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1690 to 1909.-History:The Channel Fleet dates back at least to 1690 when its role was to defend England against the French threat under the leadership of Edward Russell, 1st Earl of...

 in 1886 and Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station

East Indies Station

The East Indies Station was a formation of the British Royal Navy from 1865 to 1941.From 1831 to 1865 the East Indies and the China Station were a single command known as the East Indies and China Station...

 in 1888. Promoted to Vice-Admiral from 1890 he went on to be Commander-in-Chief, China Station

China Station

The China Station was a historical formation of the British Royal Navy. It was formally the units and establishments responsible to the Commander-in-Chief, China....

 in 1892 and Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth

Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth

The Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth was a senior commander of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years. Plymouth Command was a name given to the units, establishments, and staff operating under the admiral's command. In the nineteenth century the holder of the office was known as Commander-in-Chief,...

in 1896. He was promoted to Admiral later that year and retired in 1901.

He was described as "the Father of the British Navy" in Time Magazine.