Naval General Service Medal clasp Syria named RICHD WILLIAMS MATE & silver St Jean D'acre Medal not named.
Richard Williams born on 22 Feb 1807 and entered the Royal Navy 4th Nov 1824 and passed his examination in 1831. Appointed Midshipman on HMS Caledonia 2nd March 1831 to 31st March 1831. Made Mate on her on 1st April 1831 and stayed until 16th May 1831. Next HMS Talavera till 29th Oct 1834, then to HMS Hastings till 12th Jan 1838, then to Royal Adeladie till 3rd May 1839, next HMS Impregnable tiill 28th Feb 1840. He next joined HMS Thunderer where he earned his NGS Syria and St Jean D'Acre and due to good service in Syria was promoted t Lt on 4th Nov 1840. He stayed on her till 16th Feb 1843.
HMS Caledonia till 17th May 1843, HMS Caracoa till 31st March 1844, HMS Crescent till 19th April 1844, back to Caracoa till 14th April 1845, then HMS Alfred till 6th Aug 1845, HMS Albion till 22nd Jan 1848, HMS Cumberland till 6th Jan 1851, HMS Boscawen 25th July 1853, HMS Ajax till 6th Sept 1853, HMS terrible till 22nd Oct 1853 and back to HMS Ajax till 28th Feb 1854. Next HMS Conway till 13 Aug 1855.
He was made a Commander on 10th Oct 1855 and then on 31st Dec 1860 he was appointed as an Agent for Mails which is where the Civil War incident occurred.
He was a player in the ‘Trent Affair’ of November 1861, which came close to involving Great Britain in the American Civil War. The USS San Jacinto intercepted the British mail packet steamer RMS Trent, firing a shot across its bows. The Americans boarded the British ship and arrested and removed two Confederate diplomats bound for Great Britain. To resolve the issue President Abraham Lincoln released the diplomats to continue their journey. During the incident Cmdr Williams hid the dispatch bag belonging to the diplomats. In Britain the incident caused public outrage, but in the US they toasted the Captain of the USS San Jacinto, Charles Wilkes, for his daring act against the British.
His service papers make a note that the board approves of his conduct during the invasion of RMS Trent and the forceful removal of dipolmats by an armed party.
He retired in 1864 and died on 27th Aug 1867.
