test the turret system of shipbuilding. In 1865, he became agent to the Great Indian Peninsula Railway Company, and two years later was made managing director of the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company, a post that he held until 1874. From 1869 he was a Director of the International Mid-Channel Telegraph Co. Ltd. In 1871, he was appointed as captain of in the Channel Fleet. On 12 June 1873, he was appointed rear admiral. His interest in Arctic exploration had never ceased, and in 1873, he induced Commander Albert Hastings Markham to undertake a summer voyage for the purpose of testing the conditions of ice-navigation with the aid of steam. The result of this summer voyage was the British Arctic Expedition, under Sir George Nares. Osborn became a member of the expedition committee. Death Osborn died in London on 6 May 1875, a few days after the expedition had sailed. His body was interred at Highgate Cemetery on 10 May 1875 with the funeral attended by many of those who had served with him in the Royal Navy. A cable ship was named for him and the SS Sherard Osborn was launched in 1878, for the Eastern Extension, Australasia and China Telegraph Company. References Footnotes Bibliography External links 1822 births 1875 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery Companions of the Order of the Bath English explorers Explorers of the Arctic Fellows of the Royal Society Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Order of the Medjidie, 4th class Royal Navy rear admirals Royal Navy personnel of the Crimean War Royal Navy personnel of the Second Opium War British military personnel of the Taiping Rebellion