Admiral John Schank (6 February 1823) was an officer of the British Royal Navy known for his skill in ship construction and mechanical design.

Biography

He was the son of Alexander Schank of Castlerig,

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

, Scotland. He entered the Royal Navy when young. His remarkable skills at mechanical design earned him the nickname "Old Purchase" following his design and construction of a cot fitted with pulleys that allowed it to be adjusted by the person lying in it. As a lieutenant in 1776, he was placed in charge of assembling ships to battle the American Revolutionaries on Lake Champlain. In less than six weeks, he constructed , which he then commanded as part of a fleet that defeated General

Benedict Arnold Benedict Arnold ( Brandt (1994), p. 4June 14, 1801) was an American military officer who served during the Revolutionary War. He fought with distinction for the American Continental Army and rose to the rank of major general before defect ...

's fleet in October 1776. His talents as an engineer were applied in General John Burgoyne's expedition to the building of floating bridges. After being made a captain in 1783, he brought before the Admiralty his design for ships with a sliding keel which allowed navigation of shallow waters. His design was tested successfully and incorporated by the Admiralty into several larger vessels, most notably , which explored parts of Australia. , a 16-gun ship sloop launched in 1796, had three sliding keels. View of the Wolverne, armed according to a new method proposed by Capt Schank RMG PU6050

View of the Wolverne, armed according to a new method proposed by Capt Schank RMG PU6050

He also designed a system for moving cannons from one side of a vessel to the other, permitting her to carry fewer cannon. The system was tried on , but was not adopted more widely. One problem was that when all the guns were on one side, there was little freeboard. He attained the rank of admiral of the blue in 1821. He married Margaret Grant (1761–1843), sister of The Rt. Hon. Sir William Grant, Master of the Rolls. The Schanks lived at Barton House,

Dawlish Dawlish is an English seaside resort town and civil parish in Teignbridge on the south coast of Devon, from the county town of Exeter and from the larger resort of Torquay. Its 2011 population of 11,312 was estimated at 13,355 in 2019. It is t ...

, which was afterwards left to his brother-in-law, Major John Grant (1766–1835). He died at Barton House, 1823.

Legacy

Mount Schank and

Cape Schanck Cape Schanck is a locality at the southernmost tip of the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, approximately south of Melbourne's Melbourne City Centre, Central Business District, located within the Sh ...

, Australia were named for the Admiral in December 1800 by Lieutenant (later Captain)

James Grant James Grant may refer to: Politics and law *Sir James Grant, 1st Baronet (died 1695), Scottish lawyer *Sir James Grant, 6th Baronet (1679–1747), Scottish Whig politician *Sir James Grant, 8th Baronet (1738–1811), Scottish member of parliament * ...

during his exploratory mission of the region while commanding the ''Lady Nelson''. Schank appears in Patrick O'Brian's book '' The Letter of Marque''. Schank appears in Richard Woodman's book '' A King's Cutter''.Richard Woodman, ''A King's Cutter'', Sheridan House, 2001 Schank's Bay on Carleton Island was once named for him, but now referred to as North Bay.

Notes

References

Biography at ''the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
* 1823 deaths People from Fife Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War British naval commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Royal Navy admirals Year of birth uncertain 1740 births {{UK-navy-bio-stub