John Norris (Royal Navy officer)
Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Norris was a Royal Navy officer and Whig politician. After serving as a junior officer during the Nine Years' War and the Williamite War in Ireland, he was given command of a squadron sent to North America to protect British settlements on the banks of Hudson Bay in 1697. Although he developed a plan to recapture some territories in Newfoundland and Labrador taken by French forces the previous winter, he was prevented from implementing that plan when the local council overruled him.
John Norris by Godfrey Kneller in 1711
John Norris by George Knapton circa 1735
Norris's home, Hemsted Park in Kent (now occupied by Benenden School)
The Battle of Barfleur at which Norris saw action in command of a fire ship during the Nine Years' War
Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy)
Admiral of the Fleet is a five-star naval officer rank and the highest rank of the Royal Navy, formally established in 1688. The five-star NATO rank code is OF-10, equivalent to a field marshal in the British Army or a Marshal of the Royal Air Force. Apart from honorary appointments, no new admirals of the fleet have been named since 1995, and no honorary appointments have been made since 2014.
King George VI and Admiral Bruce Fraser aboard HMS Duke of York at Scapa Flow, August 1943
Image: George Legge, 1st Baron Dartmouth by John Riley
Image: Gibson, Edward Russell
Image: George Rooke 2