James Gordon (Royal Navy officer) James Gordon (Royal Navy officer) Admiral of the Fleet Sir James Alexander Gordon, GCB (6 October 1782 – 8 January 1869) was a Royal Navy officer. As a volunteer, he fought at the Battle of Groix, at the Battle of the Glorious First of June and at the Battle of Cape St Vincent during the French Revolutionary Wars and then, as a midshipman, served under Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson at the Battle of the Nile. Gordon became commanding officer of the 28-gun frigate which took part of a hard-fought action between three British ships and the combined forces of a
History of the Royal Naval Reserve fleet expanded in time of war. An Act of Parliament of 1835 had established The Register of Seamen to identify men for naval service in the event of war, but in 1854 just 400 volunteered for duty out of 250,000 on the Register. This meant the fleet of Charles Napier (Royal Navy officer) was seriously undermanned for the blockade of the Baltic ports during the Crimean War, and as an MP Napier campaigned for improvements in the treatment of sailors. This led to a Royal Commission on Manning the Navy in 1858 which resulted in a new Act of Parliament