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Downs Station
The Downs Station also known as the Commander-in-Chief, the Downs or Admiral Commanding at the Downs was a formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain and then the United Kingdom's Royal Navy based at Deal. It was a major command of the Royal Navy from 1626 until 1834. The Downs is a roadstead (area of sheltered, favourable sea) in the southern North Sea near the English Channel off the east Kent coast. It is primarily known in naval history for the Dutch defeat of the Spanish in the Battle of the Downs in 1639. History The Downs served as permanent base for naval vessels operating out of Deal, Kent. It served as a base for warships patrolling the North Sea. The command generally covered an area in the southern North Sea near the English Channel off the east Kent coast. The station lasted until 1815, when it was absorbed into the Commander-in-Chief, The Nore's control, whose role and geographic area of responsibility was re-defined by the Admiralty. Commanders in chief ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands within the British Isles. Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea. The total area of the United Kingdom is , with an estimated 2020 population of more than 67 million people. The United Kingdom has evolved from a series of annexations, unions and separations of constituent countries over several hundred years. The Treaty of Union between the Kingdom of England (which included Wales, annexed in 1542) and the Kingdom of Scotland in 170 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Badiley
Vice-Admiral Richard Badiley ( – 7 or 11 August 1656) was an English naval officer. He saw service during the First Anglo-Dutch War. Early service He was a merchant, ship-owner, and ship-captain, probably related to several Badileys who appeared in Trinity House lists of shipmasters in the 1620s. He first appeared as master's mate of the ''Increase'' at Cadiz in 1636, when he was described as aged twenty and of Wapping. He served as master of the ''Advance'' and ''Peregrine'' on trading voyages to the eastern Mediterranean in the period 1637–45 and fought actions with Turkish corsairs' in 1637, 1640, and 1644. He won particular fame for one such encounter, where with just 44 seamen, he defended his ships from 500 Turks. He carried out trading voyages to North America as well, and by 1648 had become a younger brother of Trinity House. By 1654, Badiley was described as a freeman of the Fishmongers' Company. He continued his commercial activities and leased several of hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Montagu (Royal Navy Officer)
Admiral John Montagu (1719–1795) was an English naval officer and colonial governor of Newfoundland. Naval career He was born in 1719, son of James Montagu of Lackham, Lacock, Wiltshire (died 1747), and great-grandson of James Montagu of Lackham (1602–1665), third son of Henry Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester. Montagu began his naval career in the Royal Naval Academy, Portsmouth on 14 August 1733. He was promoted lieutenant in 1740 and served on and, in 1744, was present at the Battle of Toulon. In 1757 he was present at the execution of Admiral John Byng. Promoted to Rear-Admiral in 1770, he served as Commander-in-Chief of the North American Station from 1771 to 1774. In March 1772, Montagu was involved in the Gaspee Affair as the commanding officer of Lieutenant William Duddingston, where he unsuccessfully tried to identify and have prosecuted the raiders who attacked Dudingston's ship. He was promoted Vice-Admiral in 1776 and then appointed Governor and commander ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sir John Moore, 1st Baronet
Admiral Sir John Moore, 1st Baronet, KB (24 March 1718 – 2 February 1779) was a British officer of the Royal Navy during the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War. He eventually rose to the rank of admiral. Childhood Moore was born on 24 March 1718, as the third son of Henry Moore, the rector of Malpas, Cheshire and the son of Henry Hamilton-Moore, 3rd Earl of Drogheda. John's mother, Catherine, was the daughter of Sir Thomas Knatchbull, baronet, and was also the widow of Sir George Rooke.Laughton, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' Moore was initially educated at the Whitchurch grammar school, Shropshire but by age 11 he appears on the books of HMS ''Lion'' for her voyage to the West Indies in 1729. ''Lion'' was at this time the flagship of Rear-Admiral Charles Stewart, a relative of Moore's. Early naval service Moore left ''Lion'' before it sailed however, transferring first to HMS ''Rupert'', and then to HMS ''Diamond''. ''Diamond'' came und ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Boys (Royal Navy Officer)
Captain William Boys (25 June 1700 – 4 March 1774) was a Royal Navy officer who became Commander-in-Chief, The Nore. History Promoted to captain, Boys joined the Royal Navy in 1717 and became a midshipman in the third-rate HMS ''Prince Frederick''. In June 1725 he was on board the South Sea Company slaver '' Luxborough Galley'' when the ship sunk following a fire and the six survivors only survived by cannibalism. Promoted to captain he became commanding officer of the sixth-rate HMS ''Greyhound'' in June 1743, commanding officer of the fourth-rate HMS ''Princess Louisa'' in 1744 and commanding officer of the fifth-rate HMS ''Pearl'' on the East Indies Station in 1745. He went on to be flag captain to Vice-Admiral Thomas Smith in the first-rate HMS ''Royal Sovereign'' in 1755 and commanding officer of the fourth-rate HMS ''Preston'' in 1759 and saw action during the Seven Years' War. After that he became Commander-in-Chief, The Nore The Commander-in-Chief, The No ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Smith (Royal Navy Officer)
Admiral of the Blue Thomas Smith (1707 – 28 August 1762) was a British admiral and colonial governor, credited with the invention of the divisional system that remains in use on ships of the Royal Navy. He served as Commander-in-Chief, North Sea, Commander-in-Chief, Leith and Commander-in-Chief, the Downs Early life Born in England around 1707, Smith was the illegitimate son of Sir Thomas Lyttelton and a woman of whom details are unknown. He was raised a member of the Lyttelton family, who provided for Smith's education and aided him in the beginnings of his career in the Royal Navy. Early naval career The precise date as to when Smith entered the Royal Navy is unknown, but his first notable appointment in the Service was to the position of junior lieutenant aboard the ''Royal Oak'' on 6 February 1728, at the appointment of his commanding officer Sir Charles Wager. In June of the same year he was moved to the 44-gun ''Gosport'' under the command of Captain Duncombe Dra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Vernon
Admiral Edward Vernon (12 November 1684 – 30 October 1757) was an English naval officer. He had a long and distinguished career, rising to the rank of admiral after 46 years service. As a vice admiral during the War of Jenkins' Ear, in 1739 he was responsible for the capture of Porto Bello, seen as expunging the failure of Admiral Hosier there in a previous conflict. However, his amphibious operation against the Spanish port of Cartagena de Indias was a disastrous defeat. Vernon also served as a Member of Parliament (MP) on three occasions and was outspoken on naval matters in Parliament, making him a controversial figure. The origin of the name "grog" for rum diluted with water is attributed to Vernon. He was known for wearing coats made of grogram cloth, earning him the nickname of "Old Grog", which in turn came to mean the diluted rum that he first introduced into his naval squadron. He is also the eponym of George Washington's estate Mount Vernon, and thereby th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philip Cavendish
Admiral Philip Cavendish (died 1743) of Westbury, Hampshire, was a Royal Navy officer and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1721 and 1743. He went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth. Biography Cavendish was the illegitimate son of William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire M.P . He joined the navy and was a lieutenant RN in 1694 and captain in 1701. From 1705, he was porter of St James's Palace. He married Anne Carteret, daughter of Edward Carteret. In 1719, he led a British squadron at the Battle of Cape St Vincent. Cavendish was put forward to succeed his father-in-law, Edward Carteret, as Member of Parliament for Bere Alston on the Hobart interest. He was elected at a by-election on 29 April 1721 but was unseated on petition on 6 June 1721. He was returned unopposed as MP for St. Germans on the Government interest at the 1722 general election. He did not obtain a seat at the 1727 general election although his father-in-law tried to put him forward ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Wager
Admiral Sir Charles Wager (24 February 1666 – 24 May 1743) was a Royal Navy officer and politician who served as First Lord of the Admiralty from 1733 to 1742. Despite heroic active service and steadfast administration and diplomatic service, Wager can be criticized for his failure to deal with an acute manning problem. However, in reality, the Royal Navy's numerical preponderance over other navies was greater than at any other time in the century, and its dockyard facilities, overseas bases (Wager was much involved in the development of new bases in the Caribbean), victualling organization, and central co-ordination were by far the most elaborate and advanced. Although British warship design was inferior to French in some respects, the real problem was an insufficiency of the versatile and seaworthy 60-gun ships, a class that Wager's Admiralty had chosen to augment during the 1730s but, as wartime experience would show, not aggressively enough. Early life Born in Rocheste ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stafford Fairborne
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Stafford Fairborne (1666 – 11 November 1742) was a Royal Navy officer and Whig politician. As a captain he saw action in command of various ships at the Battle of Beachy Head, at the Battle of Barfleur and at the Battle of Lagos during the Nine Years' War. As a flag officer Fairborne was given command of the inshore squadron in a fleet sent to the Mediterranean during the War of the Spanish Succession. The fleet was defeated at the Battle of Cádiz but later achieved a victory at the Battle of Vigo Bay. He later became Second-in-Command, under Sir Cloudesley Shovell, of the Mediterranean Fleet and was present at the siege and capture of Barcelona. After that he was given command of a squadron sent to La Rochelle and took part in the capture of Ostend. Fairborne represented Rochester as a Member of Parliament from 1705 to 1710 and also served as a member of the council of the Lord High Admiral (an office vested at that time in Prince George of Denmar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Holmes (Royal Navy Officer)
Admiral Sir John Holmes (1640? – 28 May 1683) was an English naval leader who rose to be Commander-in-Chief of the fleet in the English Channel (1677–79) and was the younger brother of the more famous Admiral Sir Robert Holmes. Military career Holmes served in his brother's expedition to West Africa in 1663–1664. At the Battle of Lowestoft in 1665, and until June the following year, he commanded the ''Paul''. He also fought in the St James's Day Battle, as captain of the 48-gun ''Bristol''. He was then promoted to command of a second-rate, , of 64 guns. In 1670-1 he was in Vice Admiral Sir Edward Spragge's expedition against the corsairs of Algiers. He commanded the ''Gloucester'' (62 guns) in the attack on the Dutch Smyrna fleet in 1672, which opened the Third Anglo-Dutch War, capturing one of the Dutch ships though it sank almost immediately because of damage inflicted in the fight. He was wounded, and following this action, knighted, and appointed to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Penn (Royal Navy Officer)
Sir William Penn (23 April 1621 – 16 September 1670) was an English admiral and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1660 to 1670. He was the father of William Penn, founder of the Province of Pennsylvania (today, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania). Early life Penn was born in St Thomas Parish, Bristol to Giles Penn and Joan Gilbert. He served his apprenticeship at sea with his father. Career Naval career In the First English Civil War of 1642–1646, he fought on the side of the Parliament, and commanded a ship in the squadron maintained against the king in the Irish seas. The service was arduous and called for both energy and good seamanship. In 1648, he was arrested and sent to London, but was soon released, and sent back as rear-admiral in the ''Assurance''. The exact cause of the arrest remains unknown, but it may be presumed that he came under suspicion of corresponding with the king's supporters. It is highly probable that he did so, for, until the Rest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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