Hon. Henry St. John

1740-1780. Born on 1 June 1740, he was the fifth son of John St. John, the 11th Lord Bletso, and of his wife Elizabeth Crowley.

Having joined the navy at an early age, St. John was commissioned lieutenant on 15 September 1760. He commanded the sloop Hazard 8 in the convoy that brought Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz to England in August 1761, but he does not appear to have been promoted to the rank of commander until 28 January 1762. He was then posted captain of the Tartar 28 on 31 August 1762, serving with Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Hardy s squadron off France in the autumn, and being paid off in April 1763.

Captain St. John was killed at the Battle of Martinique in 1780

Following the peace of 1763 he recommissioned the frigate Garland 24 in home waters before going out to Nova Scotia in July. Returning to England to be paid off in February 1768, he was not re-employed until 1770 when he joined the Edgar 60 during the Falkland Islands dispute with Spain. He removed to the guardship Raisonnable 64 in the following May and commanded her at Plymouth until the beginning of 1773.

From 1775 St. John commanded the guardship Torbay 74 at Plymouth, and in the summer of 1777 this ship was refitted for Channel service. Cruising out of Plymouth that year, she was badly damaged by a fire in the spring of 1778 and was thus unavailable for Admiral Hon. Augustus Keppel s fleet that fought at the Battle of Ushant on 27 July 1778. Once repaired, she remained in home waters until paid off in 1779. .

St. John next recommissioned the Intrepid 64 in early 1779, and he commanded her in the Channel fleet retreat during August. In January 1782 the Intrepid was ordered out to the West Indies with a convoy, and after joining Admiral Sir George Rodney s fleet in the Leeward Islands St. John died at the Battle of Martinique on 17 April 1780 being one of seven men killed and ten wounded upon his command.

He married Mary Schuyler of New York and had a son, Henry.