James Newman-Newman

Captain James Newman-Newman (1767–1811) of the British Royal Navy was an officer who served in numerous actions with distinction during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars before his death in the wreck of his ship of the line HMS ''Hero'', which was lost with two other battleships off the Northern European coast during a storm in December 1811. Over 2,000 sailors lost their lives.

Career

Newman-Newman was born in 1767, and joined the Royal Navy at a young age, serving as a lieutenant aboard the flagship of Sir Alexander Hood, HMS ''Royal George'' during the battle of the Glorious First of June, when a French fleet was defeated deep in the Atlantic by the British Channel Fleet under Lord Howe. Due to good service in this action, Newman-Newman was promoted to captain and took command of a succession of frigates in the Mediterranean and home waters, beginning with HMS ''Ceres'' in 1795.Captain James Newman-Newman
''National Maritime Museum'', retrieved 27 March 2008

On 21 March 1796, the sloop HMS ''Lark'', under William Ogilvy, joined the ''Ceres'' and Newman-Newman in providing support to an unsuccessful attack by British troops from Port-au-Prince on the town and fort of Léogane on the island of Hispaniola.

In 1798, Newman-Newman was in command of the frigate HMS ''Mermaid'' during the campaign against a French fleet which threatened to invade Ireland. The French force was destroyed at the Battle of Tory Island, in which ''Mermaid'' was not engaged, but the surviving French ships scattered into the Atlantic and ''Mermaid'' was one of the ships tasked with tracking them. On 15 October, ''Mermaid'', in company with the brig HMS ''Kangaroo'' discovered the French frigate ''Loire'' and gave chase, catching and engaging the French ship.James, Vol. 2, p. 137 ''Loire'' was too strong for her opponents, however, and despite suffering heavy damage, managed to escape. The following day ''Loire'' was captured by the large razee HMS ''Anson'', having suffered heavy casualties. ''Mermaid'' had taken 17 casualties herself and Newman-Newman was praised for his conduct.James, Vol. 2, p. 138

Two years later, Newman-Newman was again involved in the capture of a French frigate, this time as captain of HMS ''Loire'', the same ship he had captured two years previously. The French ''Pallas'' had been sighted off St Malo by two small Royal Navy ships and, despite the disparity in size, the small craft engaged the much larger frigate.James, Vol. 3, p. 30 ''Pallas'' was able to hold off her diminutive opponents, but in the afternoon of 5 February 1800 a squadron led by Newman-Newman in ''Loire'' arrived. In the engagement which followed, the five British ships fought a lengthy battle with ''Pallas'' and French shore batteries under which the frigate was sheltering until eventually ''Pallas'' surrendered. ''Loire'' had suffered 22 casualties.James, Vol. 3, p. 31

In 1802, Newman-Newman was briefly in reserve during the Peace of Amiens, but he soon returned to service as commander of a ship of the line following the resumption of the Napoleonic Wars the following year. In the summer of 1809, he was called as a witness at the Court-martial of James, Lord Gambier which assessed whether Admiral Lord Gambier had failed to support Captain Lord Cochrane at the Battle of Basque Roads in April 1809. Gambier was controversially cleared of all charges. Newman-Newman's service was in Home Waters and the Baltic Sea. In 1811 he was tasked with escorting a large convoy from Gothenburg to London in his ship HMS ''Hero''. Returning in late 1811, the convoy, which had joined with parts of the British Baltic Fleet, was struck by a huge storm which wrecked over 30 merchant ships and on 24 December claimed the flagship HMS ''St George'' and HMS ''Defence''. Hundreds of sailors were drowned including Admiral Robert Carthew Reynolds.James, Vol. 5, p. 349 The next day, Christmas Day 1811, HMS ''Hero'' was also driven ashore, onto the Haak Sands off the Texel. Weather conditions were so severe that no boats could be launched and no rescue attempted and as a result only 12 men from a crew of several hundred reached safety. Newman-Newman was not among them.James, Vol. 5, p. 350

Notes

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Newman-Newman, James
1767 births
1811 deaths
Royal Navy officers
Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars
Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars
Deaths due to shipwreck at sea