Mmmmm……Custard Cream’s! I’m not worthy (But I’ll have one anyway!)
I’m pleased that you found the info interesting Koromo.
With regard to Rear Admiral Price’s death, I have to say that from what I’ve read about the circumstances I do think that it’s probable that he did commit suicide. His death is mentioned in some of the books that I have about the Crimean War and there are several reports in the Times (although I couldn’t find the report of 30th August 1854).
The following is from the the book “The Crimean War - The truth behind the myth" by Clive Ponting - P234/5)
Just prior to the declaration of war in the Crimea the British and French Pacific fleets were at Callao in Peru under their commanders Rear Admirals David Price and Auguste Febvrier-Despointes. On April 15th , six days after the British and French ships arrived at the port, the Russian frigate Aurora sailed into the harbour. She had left Kronstadt in September 1853 and was sailing via Rio de Janeiro to reinforce the ships in the north Pacific. The Aurora left on 26th April and news of the outbreak of war arrived on the 7th of May. It was another ten days before the allied warships sailed and travelled via the Marquesas Islands before reaching Honolulu on 17th of July. Here they discovered that the Aurora had left a month earlier.Demonstarting no sense of urgency, the fleet stayed for more than a week, enjoying a series of receptions and dinners with the local ruler. On 25th of July an allied force of nine warships finally left, sailing north-west towards Alaska before changing course for Kamchatka. They arrived at Avacha Bay on the 28th of August before moving towards Petropavlovsk.
Here the allied commanders found that their prolonged voyage across the Pacific had given the Russians plenty of time to prepare their defences. Aurora had arrived on 14th of July (before the allied ships had even reached Honolulu) and half of it’s guns had been unloaded and placed in six shore batteries. An armed transport ship was blocking the passage into the harbour and reinforcements, which had arrived on the 8th of August, had increased the Russian garrison to about 1,000 men.
On the 29th of August there was a desultory exchange of gunfire before the allied ships retreated out of range. The allied commanders decided on a major bombardment of Petropavlovsk the next day, aimed at knocking out two-thirds of the shore batteries. The attack began at 6 a.m. but achieved little. Rear Admiral Price, took lunch at 11 a.m. and retired to his cabin on the President. Shortly after noon he shot himself and died about five hours later. Febvrier-Despointes took command, stopped the bombardment and decided to to try a landing the next day. On 31st August a party of British and French marines and sailors landed and captured one of the batteries. The Russians successfully counter-attacked and the troops were forced to re-embark. A major assault was launched on the 4th of September when 700 men landed in two separate parties. They climbed a hill, where they were ambushed and driven back by the Russians. As they retreated many fell over the cliffs in their panic and others were drowned as they tried to clamber onto the small boats moored just offshore. Overall the Russians lost 115 men (only 40 died on the 4th September attack) whereas the allies lost 209 killed and more than 150 wounded (over half of the force!) during this disastrous operation, the attack on Petropavlovsk was abandoned and the allied ships set sail back across the Pacific, the British went to Vancouver, the French to San Francisco.
Rear Admiral Price was a popular commander, a report in the Times of Nov 23rd 1854 concludes :-
Admiral Price died on the 30th of August as the fleet was preparing for action, the ships immediately anchored on the announcement of this melancholy event, and hostilities were defered till the next day when they fought, with his body on board the President.On the first of September he was buried on shore, at a place called Tarienski, situated some miles from Petropavlovsk on the opposite side of the bay. The Admiral’s death threw a gloom over the whole fleet, for he was universally beloved.
A tragic story for all concerned.
Regards,
Mick