of Sevastopol in June 1855. He then took part in operations in Sea of Azov and, having been promoted to commander on 29 September 1855, went ashore with the quartermaster and a seaman, to destroy large quantities of enemy forage on the shore. After a difficult and dangerous journey they reached their objective – a magazine of corn – and managed to ignite the stacks, but the guards were alerted and immediately opened fire and gave chase. The men had difficulty in escaping, but they finally reached their ship and the lookouts later reported that the forage store had burned to the ground. He and his colleague, Quartermaster William Thomas Rickard, were awarded the Victoria Cross. His citation reads: Commerell became commanding officer of the steam vessel HMS Snake in the Mediterranean Fleet in February 1856 and, having been awarded French Legion of Honour, 5th class on 2 August 1856 and the Turkish Order of the Medjidie, fifth class on 3 April 1858, he became commanding officer of the paddle sloop HMS Fury on the East Indies and China Station in October 1858. He was second-in-command of a naval brigade which landed in China, but then had to retreat to their boats after facing firm resistance, at Battle of Taku Forts in June 1859 during the Second Opium War. Promoted to captain on 18 July 1859, Commerell went on to be commanding officer of the paddle frigate HMS Magicienne on the East Indies and China Station in September 1859 and commanding officer of the turret ship HMS Scorpion at Portsmouth in May 1865. After that he became commanding officer of the frigate HMS Terrible in May 1866 and assisted the SS Great Eastern to lay the fifth (and first successful) Atlantic cable. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (civil division) on 2 November 1866 and became commanding officer of the turret ship HMS Monarch in the Channel Squadron in May 1869. He was also appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (military division) on 2 June 1869. Senior command Promoted to commodore, second class in February 1871, Commerell became Commander-in-Chief Cape of Good Hope and West Coast of Africa Station, with his broad pennant in the corvette HMS Rattlesnake. However, in August 1873, when he was undertaking a reconnaissance up the Pra River at the start of the Third Anglo-Ashanti War, he was