Richard Kempenfelt

1718-82. He was born in October 1718 in Westminster, the son of the Swedish-born Magnus Kempenfelt, who was a lieutenant-colonel in the army and governor of Jersey in the 1720’s, and of his wife, Anne Hunt. He was the brother of Gustavus Kempenfelt, an army captain.

Entering the navy at the age of ten, Kempenfelt’s service began aboard the Lyme 20 in 1727, with which vessel he remained for the next ten years as a volunteer and then a midshipman under Captains Thomas Marwood, Charles Crauford, Francis Dansays, and Charles Fanshawe. During this period the Lyme saw service on the Jamaican station, in home waters, off Ireland, and in the North Sea.

He was present at Vice-Admiral Edward Vernon’s siege of Porto Bello in 1739, and on 14 January 1741 he was promoted lieutenant of Vernon’s flagship on the Jamaican station, the Strafford 60, Captain Thomas Trevor. On 8 June 1741 he moved as first lieutenant to the Superb 60, Captain Hon. William Hervey, and on 31 October he joined the frigate Seahorse 20, Captains Philip Durell, Thorpe Fowke, John Simcoe, Charles Colby, and Henry Dennis, continuing to serve in the West Indies before returning to England to be paid off in October 1746.

Richard Kempenfelt – one of the most outstanding admirals of his day

From August 1747 Kempenfelt was the first lieutenant of the Tavistock 50, Captain Justinian Nutt, whilst that vessel was fitting out at Portsmouth, and in September 1748 he was appointed the first lieutenant of the Anson 60, Captain Hon. Augustus Keppel, who was soon succeeded by Captain Nutt. Kempenfelt remained with this vessel, a Portsmouth guardship, until January 1755, by which time Captain Charles Holmes had been commanding her for two years. He then transferred to the Lichfield 50, and from April was the first lieutenant of the Orford 66, both vessels being commanded by Captain Charles Steevens.

On 5 May 1756, Kempenfelt was promoted commander of the fireship Lightning, and on 17 January 1757 he was posted captain of the Elizabeth 70, flying the broad pennant of Commodore Charles Steevens, who set out for the East Indies in March with a small squadron. Pausing at Madeira on 14 April, this force arrived at Bombay on 25 August before departing for Madras in January 1758 to join Vice-Admiral George Pocock. The Elizabeth was subsequently present in the actions with the French off Cuddalore on 29 April, and off Negapatam on 3 August.

Remaining on the East Indies station, Kempenfelt removed to the frigate Queenborough 20 in the latter part of 1758, and on 16 February 1759 he led a small squadron consisting of another 20-gun ship and six other vessels whose appearance off Madras raised the French siege. He resumed his duties as flag captain to the promoted Rear-Admiral Charles Steevens upon joining the Grafton 70 in the early summer, and he fought at the Battle of Pondicherry on 10 September, where the fire of his command forced the Vengeur 64 out of the French line.

In 1760 Steevens assumed the role of commander-in-chief in the East Indies after Vice-Admiral Pocock had returned home, and Kempenfelt moved with his patron on 23 June 1760 to the Norfolk 74. When Steevens died at Bombay on 20 May 1761, Kempenfelt became the flag captain to the new commander-in-chief, Rear-Admiral Sam Cornish, and following the capture of Manila in October 1762, during which operation he superintended the landing of the troops, he was appointed the governor of the citadel and port of Cavite by General William Draper. This position was only intended as a mark of respect from the Army for his endeavours, and he was sent back to England a short while afterwards with Cornish’s despatches, arriving at the Admiralty on 15 April 1763. Without being offered any reward, he apparently set off for the East Indies to resume his former position as first captain to Cornish, however, with the Seven Years War having concluded, it is not clear whether he reached the Indian Ocean before returning home.

Apart from a brief spell in command of the Buckingham 70 during the dispute with Spain over the Falkland Islands at the end of 1770, Kempenfelt was not re-employed until 1778. During the years of peace, he travelled to the continent to make a study of shipbuilding techniques, and he also spent time examining French harbours and coastal waters.

On 2 October 1778, with the French having allied themselves to the rebellious colonies in the American War of Independence, he was appointed to the newly launched Alexander 74, which completed her fitting out at Deptford in early December; however, he does not appear to have taken her to sea before he was appointed the captain of the Channel Fleet to Admiral Sir Charles Hardy on 24 March 1779. He had earlier been nominated for this post by Captain John Elliot, who had been chosen in the first instance but believed Kempenfelt to be the most proficient officer in the service. In accepting the role, Kempenfelt found himself in a rather invidious position, as he was not alone in regarding the aged Hardy as the wrong choice for commander-in-chief.

In April 1779 he sat on the court martial of Vice-Admiral Sir Hugh Palliser in the wake of the Battle of Ushant, which had taken place on 27 July 1778, and thereafter taking up his role as captain of the fleet to Admiral Hardy aboard the Victory 100, Captain Henry Collins, he was present in the Channel Fleet Retreat before the allied armada in August. When Hardy was taken ill during the spring of 1780 Kempenfelt attended him until he died, and he continued in his role as captain of the fleet when Admiral Francis Geary was appointed the new commander-in-chief at the end of May, fulfilling his duties aboard the Victory with Captain Samuel Wittewronge Clayton. He subsequently saw service in the Channel Fleet campaign of June-December, during which Vice-Admiral George Darby succeeded Geary in the chief command on 7 September, with Kempenfelt joining him aboard the Britannia 100, Captain James Bradby.

Having been promoted rear-admiral on 26 September 1780, Kempenfelt kissed the King’s hand on 10 January 1781 in recognition of his advancement, and he was present at the second relief of Gibraltar on 12 April. In June it was reported that he had resigned his position as captain of the Channel Fleet, but in early September he set off from London to rejoin that force at Torbay after accepting an offer to command a division of the fleet. Hoisting his flag on 10 September aboard the Victory 100, Captain Henry Cromwell, he subsequently served as the third-in-command during the autumn campaign.

Kempenfelt lost his life when the Royal George sank in 1782

In the absence of the sickly Vice-Admiral Darby in early December 1781, Kempenfelt received orders to fit out a number of ships at Portsmouth and intercept a French convoy that was known to be congregating at Brest. Sailing on 2 December, his squadron captured a large French merchant ship days later, and on 12 December he achieved a brilliant tactical victory off Ushant when his inferior force of twelve sail of the line prosecuted an attack that left the Comte de Guichen’s larger escort fleet of nineteen sail of the line stranded in heavy conditions to leeward. In total, fifteen ships with over a thousand troops and other valuable stores were taken, whilst two or three vessels were sunk, and others struck their colours but could not be taken possession of.

On 4 January 1782 Kempenfelt was back at court in London to be granted a private audience with the King, but it was not until the first week of April that he returned to Portsmouth, where he transferred his flag to the Royal George 100 with Captain Cromwell. Serving under a new commander-in-chief, Admiral Lord Howe, following the change of government, he took his division to sea under the orders of Vice-Admiral Hon. Samuel Barrington on 13 April, with their combined force numbering eleven sail of the line and three frigates. A week later, on 20 April, he rescued the Buffalo 60, Captain George Robertson, from three French sail of the line in the same engagement that saw Captain John Jervis of the Foudroyant 80 bring the Pégase 74 to action and capture her.

After a brief return to Spithead, Kempenfelt sailed again on 3 May with Captain Martin Waghorn now in command of the Royal George, and his squadron of seven sail of the line and a frigate maintained a watch on Brest without incident for the rest of the month, bar a short visit to Torbay from the 18th to 24th in order to shelter from strong south-westerly gales. The squadron returned to Spithead on 5 June, and as the Admiralty had received intelligence the day before that twenty-seven allied sail of the line were congregating at Cadiz, it was decided that a concentration of the Channel Fleet was required. Three days later, Howe and Barrington came out of Portsmouth to join Kempenfelt off Spithead, but by now an influenza epidemic had infected many of the ships, with several vessels reporting hundreds of sick. Consequently, the fleet remained inactive for the rest of the month before putting out under Howe’s command to counter the threat of the allied fleet against the Jamaica convoy.

By 14 August the Channel Fleet was back at Spithead and was preparing for the relief of Gibraltar. Just over two weeks later, on 29 August the Royal George was given a ‘parliament heel’ to correct underwater defects, but she over-heeled, allowing the seas to rush into the lower gunports which had been left open to take in stores, and thereby causing her to rapidly sink. Kempenfelt was in his cabin at the time, and he was one of the eight hundred men women and children who drowned.

Various sources state that he married a widow, Anne Merriman or Merryman in about 1765, and that she died in 1774 after having issue one daughter with Kempenfelt to add to the numerous children from her previous marriage.

A most popular officer, Kempenfelt was noted for the care of his men, for his advocation of a divisional system to enhance officer responsibility, and for the introduction of French tactics and ideas. He was known as the ‘brains of the navy’ and Admirals Howe, Nelson, Jervis, and Duncan later adapted his principles and tactics in battles to earn famous victories. Together with Howe, he drafted the ‘Steadfast Fighting Laws’, and he improved Howe’s innovative signalling system, basing it on nine flags which allowed up to ninety-nine different signals to be generated. Unfortunately, many officers could not understand the codes, which greatly upset him, as did the fact that the traditionalists did not take to his melee tactics. He worked hard on managing Admirals Hardy and Geary in his position of captain of the fleet although he had little regard for the abilities of both officers.

Practical, he wrote religious verse, was pious and benevolent, modest, plain and honest, brave, experienced, judicious, cool, sedate, and temperate. Such was his popularity that fifteen years after his death, the mutineers at Spithead distributed pamphlets requesting peace ‘in the spirit of Kempenfelt’. Affectionately known as ‘Kempy’, he was tall and stooped in appearance. He was a good friend of the equally proficient and evangelical Admiral Lord Barham.