Bermuda has burst into English consciousness on a number of occasions, but two such significant ones were in the Age of Exploration and at the end of the American Revolutionary War.The first occurred in the summer of 1610, when news arrived in London, via James Fort, Virginia, that the eminent Sir George Somers and the entire complement of the Sea Venture (minus a murdered sailor, the perpetrator, and a ‘disappeared’ Native American) had survived the hurricane of late July 1609 by alighting on the island of Bermuda, as the ship was going to Davy Jones’ Locker.All of London must have been abuzz with word of their miraculous salvation at the “Isle of Devils”, the coffee shops humming with excitement, wherein no doubt William Shakespeare picked up the theme for his last play, ‘The Tempest’.Thus it might be said that Sir George, whose heart and entrails were here buried late in 1610 after a return to the island to get more grub for the starving at James Fort, was the first great British commander at Bermuda: others would follow.Some 160 years later, the island entered a period of tumult when some shots were fired at Concord, Massachusetts, signalling the beginning of a war in the British family that led to the independence of thirteen of its North American colonies at the Treaty of Paris in 1783.By that year, Bermuda had been free of one of the first global corporations for 99 years, as the Bermuda Company was dissolved in 1684 and responsibility for the island fell to the British Government.The British military woke up after the Treaty of Parish to the fact that Bermuda belonged to Britain and was ideally situated, halfway between Canada and the West Indies, for the establishment of a naval base from which the new United States of America could be controlled.So the first event led to the settlement (for the first time ever) of Bermuda in 1612, while the second led to the making of the Dockyard at Ireland Island in 1809.From that second occurrence, the development of the local economy expanded greatly as ingots of sterling cash poured into the place for the erection of the Dockyard and fortifications.The Royal Navy was, in retrospect, the first “International Business” for Bermuda, later followed by tourism and the other international business of present times.In fact, it may be suggested that the modern wealth of the island has its foundations in the military spending of the nineteenth century.The British commander at the beginning of Dockyard was ‘Vice-Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren BT KB, Commander-in-Chief Saint Lawrence River and Coast of America (1807); Commander-in-Chief North America and West Indies’ from 1812.It is of interest that from the latter date the name “West Indies” appears for the first time, prior to which, from 1767, “North America” was the main title for the New World squadrons of the Royal Navy: that indicated the coming importance of Bermuda and the British Caribbean islands.Borlase was quite the fellow at sea, having destroyed over 200 French vessels, but for a period retired when ‘he bought Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel and a yacht “in which he amused himself in the Channel”.By 1777, however, war had started and he sold his yacht, “left Lundy to the rabbits,” and rejoined the Navy.’Perhaps the most famous military mariner to be stationed in Bermuda in the 1800s was Lord Cochrane, the Earl Dundonald, for whom the channel that he blasted out of the coral reefs parallel to Dockyard is named.Involved in many naval engagements, Cochrane was instrumental in the independence of several South American countries and parts of the film “Master and Commander” are apparently based on his exploits.It was in relation to another nineteenth century commander, Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Harvey KCB, who is here buried at the Royal Naval Cemetery, that attention was drawn to a recent commander of note, stationed at Bermuda for a period after the Second World War, as Commodore, 7th Frigate Squadron.James Bateman, a Harvey relative, recently sent the National Museum a picture of the 1957 dedication of Sir Thomas’ tomb, with two naval officers on the right.One has been identified as Captain George Edward Hunt, DSO DSC RN, late of His Majesty’s submarine Ultor (1942-44).As commander of that boat, one of the ships he missed sinking was the Nicoline Maersk, originally of the famous Danish line (which presently has an office in Bermuda and recently sponsored a major permanent maritime exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution).Captain Hunt died in August 2011 at the ripe old age of 95; his submarine by comparison had only a brief life of four years, being broken up in 1946.According to an obituary in The Daily Telegraph, Hunt ‘sank more enemy ships than any other British submariner of the war, commanding patrols that were considered of “unsurpassed” daring and brilliance’.In his most illustrious encounter of 27 June 1944, he described the presence of a number of German escorts, modestly, as ‘very off-putting’, while his senior officer described the battle as ‘the most superlative exhibition …[of] determination and courage of the highest order’.A Bar to his DSO followed, making Hunt one of Britain’s most highly decorated naval officers.Many would have met the modest Captain Hunt during his time in Bermuda, a privilege to meet such famous masters and commanders that has often been accorded to Bermudians over the decades, due in large measure to our once-important oceanic position in the global politics of the last quarter-millennium.We are thus the poorer culturally for our present relegation to irrelevancy on the military stage of what was once the “North America and River of St. Lawrence and West Indies Station” etc, as the earth transitioned from the global “Cold War” to that of hit and run terrorism.The latter war claimed three Bermudians in the destruction of the World Trade Center on “9/11”: perhaps their names should be added to the new War Monument by the Cenotaph in the City of Hamilton.Edward Cecil Harris, MBE, JP, PHD, FSA is Director of the National Museum at Dockyard. Comments may be made to director@bmm.bm or 704-5480.