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 ...

George Henry Towry (4 March 1767 – 9 April 1809) was a Royal Navy officer of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century who is best known for his service as commander of the

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

HMS ''Dido'', in the

action of 24 June 1795 The action of 24 June 1795 was a minor naval engagement fought in the Western Basin of the Mediterranean Sea on 24 June 1795 during the French Revolutionary Wars. During 1795 the Royal Navy and French Navy Mediterranean Fleets were vying for sup ...

in the Western

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...

, when, in company with HMS ''Lowestoffe'' he successfully fought and defeated the French frigates ''Minerve'' and ''Artémise'', capturing ''Minerve'' and driving off ''Artémise''. He later commanded HMS ''Diadem'' at the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1797 and served during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

on the Transportation Board.

Life

Towry was born in March 1767, educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and joined the

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 ...

at 13 under the patronage of

Lord Longford Francis Aungier Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford, 1st Baron Pakenham, Baron Pakenham of Cowley, (5 December 1905 – 3 August 2001), known to his family as Frank Longford and styled Lord Pakenham from 1945 to 1961, was a British politician and ...

. He served 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 ...

aboard HMS ''Alexander'' and participated in the relief of the

Great Siege of Gibraltar The Great Siege of Gibraltar was an unsuccessful attempt by Spain and France to capture Gibraltar from the British during the War of the American Revolution. It was the largest battle in the war by number of combatants. The American war had end ...

in 1782. Following the end of the war he continued in service under the

Duke of Clarence Duke of Clarence is a substantive title which has been traditionally awarded to junior members of the British Royal Family. All three creations were in the Peerage of England. The title was first granted to Lionel of Antwerp, the second son ...

and at the outbreak of the

he was attached to the Mediterranean Fleet under the patronage of Lord Hood. He was rapidly promoted and by 1794 was a

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) ...

in command of the small 28-gun frigate HMS ''Dido''.Gentleman's Magazine, ''Captain George Henry Towry'' ''Dido'' was the only ship of the Mediterranean Fleet to exchange fire with French ships during Martin's cruise of 1794, but was unable to prevent the French escaping into Gourjean Bay. In June 1795, ''Dido'' was ordered, with HMS ''Lowestoffe'', to detach from the fleet off

Menorca Menorca or Minorca (from la, Insula Minor, , smaller island, later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Majorca. Its capi ...

and search for the French Mediterranean Fleet near

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

. On 24 June 1795, at roughly the midpoint between Menorca and Toulon, Towry encountered a French squadron of two frigates on an identical mission from the French commander Contre-amiral Pierre Martin. The squadrons engaged, ''Dido'' narrowly avoiding being crushed during a

ramming In warfare, ramming is a technique used in air, sea, and land combat. The term originated from battering ram, a siege weapon used to bring down fortifications by hitting it with the force of the ram's momentum, and ultimately from male sheep. Thus, ...

attempt by ''Minerve'' and becoming entangled in the French ship's rigging. Driving off boarding attempts, ''Dido'' snapped off the French

bowsprit The bowsprit of a sailing vessel is a spar extending forward from the vessel's prow. The bowsprit is typically held down by a bobstay that counteracts the forces from the forestays. The word ''bowsprit'' is thought to originate from the Middle L ...

and together with ''Lowestoffe'' then battered ''Minerve'' into surrender. the other French ship, ''Artémise'', played little part in the engagement and was easily driven off. Towry brought his prize back to the British fleet, where it was recommissioned as a Royal Navy frigate with the same name and Towry placed in command. In 1796, Towry was given command of the 64-gun

ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...

HMS ''Diadem'' and in February 1797 commanded her at the Battle of Cape St Vincent where the Spanish Fleet was defeated. Shortly afterwards ''Diadem'' returned to Britain and Towry took command of HMS ''Uranie'' and HMS ''Cambrian'' before the

Peace of Amiens The Treaty of Amiens (french: la paix d'Amiens, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition. It marked the end of the French Revolutionary Wars; after a short peace it se ...

in 1802. At the outbreak of the

Towry was given command of HMS ''Tribune'', but after a winter patrol he became ill and was forced to withdraw from active service. He was given a sinecure on the Transport Board and continued in this position until its dissolution. In 1802 he married a Miss Chamberlayne and had a marriage noted for its "greatest harmony and most perfect happiness" until her untimely death in 1806 which left him grief-stricken. They had three children, two of whom survived infancy. Towry died of natural causes at his father's house in April 1809 and was buried at

St Marylebone Parish Church St Marylebone Parish Church is an Anglican church on the Marylebone Road in London. It was built to the designs of Thomas Hardwick in 1813–17. The present site is the third used by the parish for its church. The first was further south, near Ox ...

Notes

References

* Retrieved on 5 March 2015 {{DEFAULTSORT:Towry, George Henry 1767 births 1809 deaths People educated at Eton College Royal Navy officers Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars Royal Navy captains