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 ...

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 ...

Sheerness Sheerness () is a town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 11,938, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby town ...

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

Iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants *Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional enti ...

Hermione Hermione may refer to: People * Hermione (given name), a female given name * Hermione (mythology), only daughter of Menelaus and Helen in Greek mythology and original bearer of the name Arts and literature * ''Cadmus et Hermione'', an opera by ...

Hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ...

Porto Praya Praia (, Portuguese for "beach") is the capital and largest city of Cape Verde.George Johnstone in 1781, after which he had no further service.

Career

James Hawker was born in or before 1730.Laughton; Pearsall 2004. He entered the naval service in 1744 on board the ''

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

'' with Captain Solomon Gideon. He was afterwards with Captain Rodney in the ''

Sheerness Sheerness () is a town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 11,938, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby town ...

'', with Lucius O'Bryen in the ''

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

'', and

Molyneux Shuldham Admiral Molyneux Shuldham, 1st Baron Shuldham ( – 30 September 1798) was an officer of the British Royal Navy. He served for a time as colonial governor of Newfoundland. Family and early life Molyneux Shuldham was born in Ireland c. 1717, a ...

.Laughton 1891, p. 200. His passing certificate is dated 4 June 1755. On 31 December 1755 he was appointed lieutenant of the ''Colchester'', which in 1759 was attached to the fleet off

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Brest, ...

, under Hawke. On 6 August 1761 he was promoted to the command of the ''

Barbadoes Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

'', and in April 1763 was appointed to the '' Sardoine''. He was posted on 26 May 1768, and in March 1770 commissioned the '' Aldborough''. In July 1779 he commanded the ''

Iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants *Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional enti ...

'', a 32-gun frigate, on the coast of North America, and in her, on 6 June 1780, fought what naval historian

John Knox Laughton Sir John Knox Laughton (23 April 1830 – 14 September 1915) was a British naval historian and arguably the first to delineate the importance of the subject of Naval history as an independent field of study. Beginning his working life as a mathe ...

has called "a well-conducted and equal

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

" with the French 36-gun frigate ''

Hermione Hermione may refer to: People * Hermione (given name), a female given name * Hermione (mythology), only daughter of Menelaus and Helen in Greek mythology and original bearer of the name Arts and literature * ''Cadmus et Hermione'', an opera by ...

'', commanded by M. La Touche Tréville, who died in 1804, vice-admiral in command of the

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 ...

fleet. After a severe combat the two ships separated, both disabled; the ''Iris'' returned to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, and the ''Hermione'' made the best of her way to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. La Touche was greatly mortified, as his frigate was by far the more powerful, and he had previously boasted that he would clear the coast of British cruisers. Some angry correspondence ensued, with the object apparently of determining which of the two ran away from the other. This was published in the '' New York Gazette'', and created a very unfavourable impression of La Touche's conduct, to which

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

angrily referred during the time of his Toulon command.Nicolas, ed. 1846, vi. p. 165. It is said that during the action a

chain-shot In artillery, chain shot is a type of cannon projectile formed of two sub-calibre balls, or half-balls, chained together. Bar shot is similar, but joined by a solid bar. They were used in the age of sailing ships and black powder cannon to sho ...

did a good deal of damage to the ''Hermione'', on which La Touche remarked, "Voilà une liaison bien dangereuse!" ('This is a very dangerous affair!'). According to Laughton, however, it is very doubtful if the ''Iris'' fired any chain-shot. On 1 August Hawker was moved into the '' Renown'', which he took to England, and on 10 November was appointed to the ''

Hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ...

'', one of the squadron with Commodore George Johnstone in

Porto Praya Praia (, Portuguese for "beach") is the capital and largest city of Cape Verde. He quit the ''Hero'' shortly afterwards, and had no further service. He died early in 1786, probably at

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, where he owned property and had business interests.

Personal life

He left a family of three sons and five daughters, three of whom married naval officers, Admiral

Charles Boyles Charles Boyles (1756–1816) was a senior officer in the British Royal Navy. His conduct when commanding the ''Windsor Castle'', in the action of 22 July 1805, under Sir Robert Calder, with the combined French and Spanish fleets, was noteworthy ...

, Admiral Edward Oliver Osborne, and Admiral Sir Michael Seymour, Baronet; another daughter married Sir

William Knighton Sir William Knighton, 1st Baronet, (1776 – 11 October 1836) was Private Secretary to the Sovereign under George IV (1822–1830). Life He was born in 1776 at Bere Ferrers in Devon, and studied under his uncle, Dr. Bredall, in Tavistock, ...

, private secretary and keeper of the privy purse to

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

. Of the sons two entered the army; the third,

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...

, died, an admiral, in 1860.

Notes

References

Sources

* Beatson, Robert (1804). ''Naval and Military Memoirs of Great Britain, from 1727 to 1783''
Vol. 5
London: Longman, Hurst, Rees and Orme. p. 47. * * Nicolas, Nicholas Harris, ed. (1846). ''The Despatches and Letters of Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson''
Vol. 6
London: Henry Colburn. p. 165. Attribution: *

Career

Personal life

Notes

References

Sources

Further reading