Men of the Time, eleventh edition/Armstrong, Alexander
ARMSTRONG, Sir Alexander, K.C.B., F.R.S., LL.D., is a son of the late Mr. A. Armstrong, of Crahan, co. Fermanagh, Ireland. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and at the University of Edinburgh, where he graduated. Having entered the medical department of the Royal Navy in 1842, he served in various parts of the world, and for five years continuously in the Arctic regions. He was present in the "Investigator" at the discovery of the North-West passage. During the Russian war he served in the Baltic, was present at the bombardment of Sweaborg, and also in two night attacks with a flotilla of rocket-boats, for which he was gazetted. He has been Deputy Inspector-General of the Mediterranean fleet and the naval hospitals at Malta, Haslar, and Chatham; and he was promoted to be Inspector-General for special services in 1866. Three years later he became Director-General of the Medical Department of the Navy, which office he resigned in 1880. He was created a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1871. Sir Alexander Armstrong has received the Arctic and Baltic medals; also Sir Gilbert Blane's gold medal. He is an honorary physician to the Queen and the Prince of Wales. He is the author of "A Personal Narrative of the Discovery of the North-West Passage," 1857; and "Observations on Naval Hygiene and Scurvy, more particularly as the latter appeared during a Polar Voyage," 1858.