Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

Sir Archibald Dickson, 1st Baronet (c.1739–1803) was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

officer.

Naval career

He was born around 1739 the son of Archibald Dickson. He initially entered the merchant navy in 1752. He moved to the

in 1755 and passed the lieutenants exam in 1759. In 1765 he was given command of

HMS Egmont Several ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS ''Egmont'': *, a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line launched in 1768, and broken up in 1799. * was a schooner of eight guns and 100 tons burthen, launched in 1768. The Royal Navy purchased her ...

and in 1771 took command of HMS Thunder. Promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on 31 January 1774, Dickson was given command of the

fourth-rate In 1603 all English warships with a compliment of fewer than 160 men were known as 'small ships'. In 1625/26 to establish pay rates for officers a six tier naval ship rating system was introduced.Winfield 2009 These small ships were divided i ...

HMS ''Antelope'' in January 1774 and the

sixth-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a sixth-rate was the designation for small warships mounting between 20 and 28 carriage-mounted guns on a single deck, sometimes with smaller guns on the upper works and ...

HMS ''Greyhound'' in October 1775. In Greyhound, he took part in the action against the Penobscot Expedition in July 1779 and fought at the Battle of Martinique in April 1780 during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. He was next given command of the

third-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Years of experience proved that the third r ...

HMS ''Dublin'' and saw action at the

Battle of Cape Spartel The Battle of Cape Spartel was an indecisive naval battle between a Franco-Spanish fleet under Admiral Luis de Córdova y Córdova and a British fleet under Admiral Richard Howe. These forces met on 20 October 1782 after Howe successfully resupp ...

in October 1782. After that he was given command of the third-rate HMS ''Goliath'' in 1786, of the third-rate HMS ''Captain'' in 1790 and the third-rate HMS ''Egmont'' in 1793. Promoted to

rear-admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarded ...

on 12 April 1794 and to vice-admiral on 1 June 1795, Dickson became

Commander-in-Chief, North Sea The Commander-in-Chief, North Sea, was senior appointment and an operational command of the British Royal Navy originally based at Great Yarmouth from 1745 to 1802 then at Ramsgate from 1803 until 1815. The office holder commanded the North Se ...

in 1800. In August 1800 a diplomatic mission was sent to

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

under Lord Whitworth, accompanied by a fleet under Dickson's command. He was promoted to full

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

on 1 January 1801, with at Yarmouth serving as his flagship. She was paid off in April 1802.

Baronetcy and death

In honour of his service, Dickson was created Sir Archibald Dickson, 1st Baronet on 21 September 1802. He died near

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

and died in May 1803.

Family

Dickson had married twice: firstly to Elizabeth Porter who died in 1779, and (after a 20 year wait) in 1800 he married Frances Anne Willis. He had a daughter, Elizabeth Dickson (d.1856), but no male heir. Therefore, the baronetcy passed to his nephew, Archibald Collingwood Dickson.

References

Sources

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Dickson, Archibald Royal Navy admirals 1803 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Royal Navy personnel of the Seven Years' War Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars