Anthony Hoskins

Who was Anthony Hoskins?

Admiral Sir Anthony Hiley Hoskins, GCB, was a Royal Navy officer. As a junior officer, he took part in the Cape Frontier War of 1851 and then saw action at the Battle of Canton in December 1857 and the Battle of Taku Forts in May 1858 during Second Opium War. Once promoted to flag officer rank, he acted as Second-in-Command of the Fleet at the bombardment of Alexandria in July 1882 during the Anglo-Egyptian War. He went on to be First Naval Lord in September 1891 but in that role took a relaxed view of the size of the Fleet and did not see the need for a large shipbuilding effort on the scale envisaged by some of his colleagues such as Admiral Sir Frederick Richards and Admiral Sir John Fisher who were concerned about French and German naval expansion.