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 ...

Cornelius Mitchell (died 1749) 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 served as Commander-in-Chief of the

Jamaica Station Jamaica station is a major train station of the Long Island Rail Road located in Jamaica, Queens, New York City. With weekday ridership exceeding 200,000 passengers, it is the largest transit hub on Long Island, the fourth-busiest rail station ...

Naval career

Mitchell was promoted to

post captain Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of Captain (Royal Navy), captain in the Royal Navy. The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from: * Officers in command of a naval vessel, who were (and still are) ...

on 14 June 1731 on appointment to the 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 ''Larke''. He transferred to the command of the fourth-rate HMS ''Rochester'' in August 1739, 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 ''Buckingham'' in October 1740, of the third-rate HMS ''Kent'' in 1741 and of the fourth-rate HMS ''Adventure'' in 1744. He was accused of failing to pursue a French squadron when in charge of a superior force in August 1746 and, although he served briefly as Commander-in-Chief of the

in 1746, he was tried by

court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

and sentenced to be

cashiered Cashiering (or degradation ceremony), generally within military forces, is a ritual dismissal of an individual from some position of responsibility for a breach of discipline. Etymology From the Flemish (to dismiss from service; to discard ro ...

and "rendered incapable of ever being employed in his Majesty's service" in January 1748.Mahan, p. 67

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Cornelius Royal Navy officers 1749 deaths Royal Navy officers who were court-martialled Royal Navy captains