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 ...

Charles Hughes (died 11 August 1819) 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 who became Commander-in-Chief of the

East Indies Station The East Indies Station was a formation and command of the British Royal Navy. Created in 1744 by the Admiralty, it was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies. Even in official documents, the term ''East Indies Station'' was ...

Naval career

In 1782 Hughes commanded HMS ''Exeter'' before transferring to command HMS ''Worcester'' in November 1782. On 20 June 1783 the ''Worcester'' took part in the Battle of Cuddalore, an action with the French fleet off

Cuddalore Cuddalore, also spelt as Kadalur (), is the city and headquarters of the Cuddalore District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Situated south of Chennai, Cuddalore was an important port during the British Raj. While the early history of Cudda ...

which took place after peace had been signed in Europe but before the news had reached India and which became the final battle of 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 appointed Commander-in-Chief of the

in 1785 and remained in post until 1787. He lived at

Friday Hill House Friday Hill House is a Grade II listed house at 7, Simmons Lane, Friday Hill, London, E4 6JH. It was built in 1839 by the architect Lewis Vulliamy. The manor house built and owned by Robert Boothby Heathcote, who was both the lord of the mano ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

.Maurice, Thomas ''Indian Antiquities: or, dissertations relative to the ancient geographical divisions, Volume 1'', 1792, p.cxxii
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Charles Royal Navy officers