by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 8, 2017 | 1779, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Upon gaining intelligence that two Spanish treasure-ships were shortly due to arrive at the principal Spanish fortress on the Honduran coast in Central America, San Fernando d?Omoa, Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Parker commanding the Jamaican station assembled a force...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 10, 2017 | 1779, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Quebec v Surveillante – 6 October 1779 Captain George Farmer of the Quebec 32 had enjoyed a profitable year cruising against the French commerce when, in the early autumn of 1779, he was forced into Portsmouth for a refit. More pertinently he also had to...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 10, 2017 | 1779, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
The Leeward Islands fleet under the temporary command of Rear-Admiral Sir Hyde Parker was at anchor in Gros Islet Bay, St. Lucia on the morning of 18 December when a signal was received between 8 and 9 a.m. from the Preston 50, Captain Samuel Uppleby. This...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 12, 2017 | 1779, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
The Detention of a Dutch Convoy – 31 December 1779 Conversant with their long-standing friendship and several treaties dating back to the previous century, the Dutch government led by the ‘stadtholder’, Prince William V of Orange, was not unsympathetic to...
by Richard Hiscocks | Feb 1, 2016 | Appendicies
1777-78 Commodore John Elliot 1778-79 Vice-Admiral Matthew Buckle 1779-82 Vice-Admiral Francis William Drake 1780 -81 Rear-Admiral John Evans* 1781-82 Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Hughes * 1782-90 Station not active 1790-91 Rear-Admiral Sir Richard King 1791-93 Station...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 31, 2016 | Appendicies
1773-77 Commodore Sir Edward Hughes 1776-80 Commodore Sir Edward Vernon 1779-84 Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes 1783-85 Commodore Andrew Mitchell 1785-86 Commodore Charles Hughes 1786-88 No Naval presence 1788-93 Commodore Hon. William Cornwallis 1793-94 No Naval...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 31, 2016 | Appendicies
1776-78 Captain Sir George Collier 1778 Captain Charles Feilding 1778-79 Captain Sir George Collier 1780-83 Captain Sir Andrew Hamond 1783-85 Captain Sir Charles Douglas 1785-88 Commodore Herbert Sawyer 1788-89 Captain John Linzee 1789-92 Vice-Admiral Sir...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 26, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
1778 Overview On 6 February France signed a friendship and commercial treaty with the American Congress, and a month later officially advised the British government that it considered the colonials had already won their independence. The government had long...
by Richard Hiscocks | Feb 1, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Revelling in their capture of the rebel capital Philadelphia during the previous autumn, the British and their American loyalist allies were able to enjoy a socially-charged, relaxed and indulgent winter in the city, staging balls, theatrical productions and...
by Richard Hiscocks | Feb 1, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Yarmouth v Randolph – 7 March 1778 When intelligence was received that the trade in the waters around Barbados was about to be attacked by a group of American privateers from South Carolina, the British merchantmen were ordered to remain in port whilst...
by Richard Hiscocks | Feb 3, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
John Paul Jones’ Cruise and the Capture of the Drake – 7 March 1778 On 10 April 1778, the American privateer commander John Paul Jones departed Brest in command of the Ranger 18, having enjoyed the hospitality of the French Navy and the...
by Richard Hiscocks | Feb 4, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
King George conducts a Review of the Fleet at Portsmouth – May 1778 With war against France inevitable, a grand fleet began commissioning at Spithead in the spring of 1778 under the command of Admiral Hon. Augustus Keppel. Ever anxious to involve himself...
by Richard Hiscocks | Feb 18, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
On 13 April Vice-Admiral Jean Baptiste Charles Henri Hector, Comte d’Estaing, who fifteen years before had joined the French navy from the rank of lieutenant-general in the army, departed Toulon with a fleet of eleven sail of the line, a 50-gun ship, five...
by Richard Hiscocks | Feb 26, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Lord Howe’s defence of New York – July 1778 In early May the dull-sailing sloop Porcupine 20, Captain Hon. William Clement Finch, arrived in the Delaware River from England with despatches announcing the imminent commencement of hostilities with...
by Richard Hiscocks | Mar 18, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
The Battle of Ushant – 27 July 1778 – and the Political Aftermath Admiral Hon. Augustus Keppel was the equal of Lord Howe as the finest officer in the Navy, but being an eminent Whig he was a bitter opponent of the war against the American colonies...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jun 4, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
The Relief of Rhode Island – August 1778 Having departed New York waters on 22 July following his decision not to run the risk of challenging Vice-Admiral Lord Howe’s defensive position off Sandy Hook, Vice-Admiral the Comte d’Estaing had...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jun 26, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
On 7 July news of the impending war with France reached the British governor-general at Calcutta, and with immediate effect the commander-in-chief in the East Indies, Commodore Sir Edward Vernon, was ordered to assist the army under Major-General Hector Munro...
by Richard Hiscocks | Mar 26, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Minerva v Concorde – 22 August 1778 News of the outbreak of war with France six weeks earlier had yet to reach the Jamaican-based frigate Minerva 32, Captain John Stott, when on 22 August she came across an unknown vessel whilst cruising near Cap François...
by Richard Hiscocks | Apr 7, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Fox v Junon 10 September1778 In early September, the British frigate Fox 28, Captain Hon. Thomas Windsor, was despatched by the commander-in-chief of the Grand Fleet, Admiral Hon. Augustus Keppel, to search for the French fleet, which was then believed to be at...
by Richard Hiscocks | Apr 17, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Few officers were more active in the American Revolutionary War than Captain Sir James Wallace, who whilst commanding the Experiment 50 did not have to go seeking action – it normally found him. So it was that whilst cruising in Boston Bay about thirty...
by Richard Hiscocks | Apr 29, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
The Egg Harbour Expedition – October 1778 Having been distracted by the arrival of the French fleet off New York and the organisation of the defence of Rhode Island, General Sir Henry Clinton, the British commander-in-chief in North America, resolved to...
by Richard Hiscocks | May 19, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
Captain Gardner puts duty over profit – 4 November 1778 There were few officers in the navy more attentive to their duty than Captain Alan Gardner of the nine-pounder frigate Maidstone 28. The world was a black and white place to the gruff pugnacious man...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jun 27, 2016 | 1778, American Revolutionary War 1776-1783
The Battle of St. Lucia – 15 December 1778 On 3 November, as the sailing season in North American waters drew to an end with the onset of winter, the French Toulon fleet of twelve sail of the line under the command of Vice-Admiral Jean Baptiste Charles...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 24, 2016 | Appendicies
Here is a list of individuals from the Officer Biography Section who served as Members of Parliament. Edward Henry A’Court 1820 – 1831, 1837 – 1847 Sir Charles Adam 1831 – 1841 Sir Edmund Affleck 1782 – 1788 Sir John Poo Beresford...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 24, 2016 | Appendicies
Here is a list of the honours inherited or earned by the officers who will appear in the Officer Biography section: Officer Year Award Reason Sir Charles Adam 1835 K.C.B. Service Sir Edmund Affleck 1782 Baronet Battle of the Saintes Sir Francis Austen 1837 K.C.B....
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 19, 2016 | Appendicies
1807 Rear-Admiral Charles Stirling 1807 Rear-Admiral George Murray 1808-09 Rear-Admiral Sir William Sidney Smith 1809-12 Vice-Admiral Hon. Michael De Courcy 1812-15 Rear-Admiral Manley Dixon 1816-20 Commodore William Bowles 1819-24 Commodore Sir Thomas Hardy 1823-26...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 19, 2016 | Appendicies
1781-82 Vice-Admiral Sir Hyde Parker 1781-82 Commodore Hon. Keith Stewart 1783-95 No Squadron present 1795-00 Admiral Viscount Duncan 1800-02 Vice-Admiral Archibald Dickson 1803-07 Admiral Lord Keith 1807-10 Admiral Thomas Macnamara Russell 1809-10 Rear-Admiral Sir...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 19, 2016 | Appendicies
1775-78 Vice-Admiral James Young 1778-79 Rear-Admiral Hon. Samuel Barrington 1779 Vice-Admiral Hon John Byron 1779-80 Rear-Admiral Sir Hyde Parker 1780-81 Admiral Sir George Rodney 1781-82 Rear-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood 1782 Admiral Sir George Rodney 1782-83 Admiral...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 18, 2016 | Appendicies
1774-77 Vice-Admiral Sir James Douglas 1777-83 Admiral Sir Thomas Pye 1779 Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes * 1783-86 Admiral John Montagu 1786-89 Vice-Admiral Lord Hood 1788 Rear-Admiral Sir Edmund Affleck # 1789-92 Vice Admiral Robert Roddam 1792-93 Vice-Admiral...
by Richard Hiscocks | Jan 18, 2016 | Appendicies
1776-78 Vice-Admiral John Amherst 1778-83 Vice-Admiral Lord Shuldham 1783-86 Vice-Admiral Mark Milbanke 1786-89 Vice-Admiral Thomas Graves 1789-92 Vice-Admiral Sir Richard Bickerton 1790 Vice-Admiral Thomas Graves # 1792-93 Rear-Admiral Phillips...
