Édouard Pottier (6 July 1839 – 3 August 1903) was a French admiral. During his career, he served in various regions of the world and took part in the operations leading to the occupation of Veracruz in 1861 during the Second French intervention in Mexico and the conquest of Vĩnh Long Province in 1867, which added that territory to French Cochinchina. Promoted to captain in 1886, he served in the Mediterranean and the Levant. Promoted to rear admiral in 1893 and vice admiral in 1898, he served as commander of the International Squadron, a multinational squadron which intervened in the Cretan Revolt of 1897–1898 against the Ottoman Empire. In 1900 he was appointed commander-in-chief of the French Far East Squadron. Biography Pottier was born in Strasbourg on 6 July 1839 and entered the French Navy as a cadet at Brest in 1855. Promoted to midshipman on 1 August 1857, he made his first cruise, operating in the Pacific Ocean aboard the 30-gun sailing corvette . In March 1861, he was assigned to the sailing corvette on the Iceland Station. He was promoted to enseigne de vaisseau on 2 September 1861. In October 1861, he reported aboard the aviso off Mexico as her second-in-command and took part in the Second French intervention in Mexico, participating in operations in the region of Veracruz. In January 1863, he reported aboard the 50-gun frigate for operations in the Indian Ocean and at New Caledonia. Pottier became second-in-command of the screw transport in French Cochinchina in February 1865, beginning a long stay in East Asia and the Pacific that included duty aboard the river gunboat . Promoted to lieutenant on 14 August 1866, he was ordered to the river gunboat , aboard which he took part in the conquest of Vĩnh Long Province that year resulting in the incorporation of the province into French Cochinchina. Becoming a Knight of the Legion of Honour on 10 August 1868, he became second-in-command of the screw aviso in the China and Japan Division, and he became the ship's commanding officer in March 1871. He transferred to the transport at New Caledonia in 1873. Pottier's long stay in East Asia and the Pacific finally came to an end in 1874, when he became second-in-command of the screw aviso in the South Atlantic Division. He took part in a hydrographic survey in Patagonia from 1875 to 1876. From 1877 to