Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

John Surman Carden (15 August 1771 – 22 April 1858) was an officer of the British

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 ...

in the early nineteenth century. Although the majority of his service was against the French 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 ...

, he is best remembered for the

action of 25 October 1812 The capture of HMS ''Macedonian'' was a naval action fought near Madeira on 25 October 1812 between the heavy frigate , commanded by Stephen Decatur, and the frigate , under the command of John Surman Carden. The American vessel won the long ...

, an engagement against a larger American frigate during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

in which his ship was captured. Carden was criticised for the loss of his ship, specifically his handling of the vessel during the action. Following his defeat in October 1812 he never served again in an active capacity, but he remained in the Navy and continued to gradually rise though the ranks in retirement, eventually becoming a full admiral before his death in 1858.

Life

Carden was born in 1771, the son of Army officer Major Carden of Tredington Court in

Tewkesbury Tewkesbury ( ) is a medieval market town and civil parish in the north of Gloucestershire, England. The town has significant history in the Wars of the Roses and grew since the building of Tewkesbury Abbey. It stands at the confluence of the Riv ...

. Carden spent his childhood at home, his mother refusing to allow him to become a pageboy in the household of

Queen Charlotte Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Sophia Charlotte; 19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818) was Queen of Great Britain and of Ireland as the wife of King George III from their marriage on 8 September 1761 until the union of the two kingdoms ...

and also resisted orders to enlist him in his father's regiment at the age of eight. Both his parents died while he was young: his mother died aged only 26, while his father was killed in action 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 ...

. Carden was educated privately until he was 17, when he enlisted in the

in 1788, joining under Captain Charles Thompson and later moving to the frigate under Captain Isaac Smith. In 1790 he became a midshipman and in 1793, at the outbreak of 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 ...

, he moved to the

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 ...

under Captain

George Cranfield Berkeley Admiral Sir George Cranfield Berkeley GCB (10 August 1753 – 25 February 1818) was a British Royal Navy officer. An admiral, he was highly popular yet controversial in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century Britain. Serving on several sh ...

.Tracy, p. 72 ''Marlborough'' served in the

Channel Fleet The Channel Fleet and originally known as the Channel Squadron was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1854 to 1909 and 1914 to 1915. History Throughout the course of Royal Navy's history the ...

, and in 1794 was heavily engaged at the battle of the

Glorious First of June The Glorious First of June (1 June 1794), also known as the Fourth Battle of Ushant, (known in France as the or ) was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic ...

, at which Carden was badly wounded in an ammunition explosion, suffering permanent damage to his eyesight. In March 1795 he moved to and 1797 to under Captain James Richard Dacres. In 1798 he briefly moved to Thompson's flagship before becoming a lieutenant in the frigate under Captain

Thomas Byam Martin Admiral of the Fleet Sir Thomas Byam Martin, (25 July 1773 – 25 October 1854) was a Royal Navy officer. As captain of fifth-rate HMS ''Fisgard'' he took part in a duel with the French ship ''Immortalité'' and captured her at the Batt ...

. ''Fisgard'' was employed in the aftermath of the

Battle of Tory Island The Battle of Tory Island (sometimes called the Battle of Donegal, Battle of Lough Swilly or Warren's Action) was a naval action of the French Revolutionary Wars, fought on 12 October 1798 between French and British squadrons off the northwes ...

, successfully engaging and capturing the off

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, for which Carden was promoted to commander. In 1799, Carden took command of the armed storeship , operating off the Netherlands and subsequently the

Vendée Vendée (; br, Vande) is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.

region of France. He later convoyed troopships to the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

in support of the Egyptian campaign, and was commended for clearing a gunpowder store on the burning transport ''Bombay'', saving many lives. During 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 ...

he served with the sea fencibles at the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate of ''fjord'', a Norse word meani ...

and returned to sea in 1804 as the commander of . In 1806, Carden became 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) ...

, but was not given command of a ship until August 1808, when he took over the massive 110-gun . In ''Ville de Paris'' he assisted in the evacuation of the British Army from Spain, following the

Battle of Corunna The Battle of Corunna (or ''A Coruña'', ''La Corunna'', ''La Coruña'' or ''La Corogne''), in Spain known as Battle of Elviña, took place on 16 January 1809, when a French corps under Marshal of the Empire Jean de Dieu Soult attacked a Briti ...

in January 1809. In April 1809 he took over and the following year moved to before gaining a permanent command in the frigate . In October 1812, not long after the breakout of the

, ''Macedonian'' was intercepted in the mid-Atlantic by , a much larger American frigate. In the ensuing battle, ''Macedonian'' was severely damaged and suffered 104 casualties before Carden surrendered to the American ship. ''Macedonian'' was taken back to the United States, and on his return to Britain, Carden was subject to the usual

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 ...

for the loss of his ship. Although acquitted of any culpability for the loss of his frigate, Carden was criticised for his handling of the ship during the battle and did not serve at sea again.Tracy, p. 71 However parliament soon resounded with his praises; and, among other marks of respect, he was honoured with the freedom of the cities of Worcester and Gloucester, and of the borough of Tewkesbury.O'Byrne Very little is known of Carden's life beyond that he was once married and had a daughter, Jemima born c. 1800. She married the Rev R W H Biederman. Carden remained in the Navy despite the lengthy period of inaction and in 1836 was superannuated, a form of retirement. He was promoted to rear-admiral the same year and although he was subsequently reinstated in the Navy and continued to receive promotions based on his seniority, he did not hold any further naval position. He died in Antrim in 1858, at the age of 86 with the rank of full admiral.

Life

References

Further reading