He entered the
Royal Naval College on 7 May 1825. On 11 August 1835 he became a lieutenant and from 30 December served on-board in the Mediterranean (commanded by
Edward Russell). He moved to , the
flagship of
Josias Rowley and commanded by John M'Kerlie on 29 November 1836. From 13 January 1837 he served as lieutenant in commanded by
Hyde Parker, still in the Mediterranean. Mends moved to take command of , a
receiving ship based at
Malta on 28 July 1838. Mends was posted to , then as
flag lieutenant to
Sir John Louis, Admiral-Superintendent at Malta. From 3 November 1843 to 1846 he served as lieutenant in commanded by Commodore
Sir Henry Martin Blackwood stationed off Ireland and then the
East Indies. On 8 November 1846 he was promoted to commander, serving in from 1 January 1848 to March 1849 once more in the Mediterranean, under Captain George Frederick Rich, and then from 11 July 1850 on commanded by Henry Martin Blackwood at Portsmouth. Mends was promoted to captain on 10 December 1852. He served from 22 October 1853 to 1 January 1854 as captain of , flagship to Rear-Admiral
Edmund Lyons of the
Mediterranean fleet, during the
Crimean War. From January 1854 he was captain of serving in the
Black Sea. Between 14 February 1855 and April 1857 he was captain of , flagship to Edmund Lyons in the Black Sea and then the Mediterranean. From 3 April 1857 to 1 February 1860 he was captain of on Coast Guard service. He moved to take command of on 1 February 1860 when she replaced
Hastings on coast guard service and was then appointed deputy controller general of the coast-guard in 1861. He spent May 1862 to February 1883 as
Director of Transport at the
Admiralty. Mends retired at the rank of rear-admiral on 1 January 1869, was promoted to vice-admiral on 1 January 1874 and then a full admiral on 15 June 1879. == References ==