Captain Lancelot Skynner (1766–9 October 1799) was an 18th century

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 ...

commander. He was drowned at the sinking of the infamous HMS ''Lutine'' famed for the ship's bell: the

Lutine Bell ''Lutine'' was a frigate which served in both the French Navy and the Royal Navy. She was launched by the French in 1779. The ship passed to British control in 1793 and was taken into service as HMS ''Lutine''. She sank among the West Frisian I ...

Life

Skynner was born in 1766 at the vicarage (now known as Glebe House) in

Easton-on-the-Hill Easton on the Hill is a village and civil parish at the north eastern tip of North Northamptonshire, England. The village had a population at the 2011 census was 1,015. The village, sited on the A43 road, is compact in form, with the older part ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

the son of the local vicar, Reverend John Skynner (1725-1805), and his wife, Sara Lancaster. He was named after his paternal uncle Captain Lancelot Skynner who had been killed on HMS ''Bideford'' on 4 April 1760, fighting a superior force of French frigates. In 1779 Skynner joined the

as a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...

on the newly launched HMS ''Brilliant'', serving in the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

under Captain John Ford. In May 1780 the ship went to the

Leeward Islands french: Îles-Sous-le-Vent , image_name = , image_caption = ''Political'' Leeward Islands. Clockwise: Antigua and Barbuda, Guadeloupe, Saint kitts and Nevis. , image_alt = , locator_map = , location = Caribbean SeaNorth Atlantic Ocean , coor ...

to protect them from a Spanish fleet. On return to England he transferred still under Ford to HMS ''Nymphe'', a 36-gun frigate newly captured from the French and held at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

. He was not promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

until 12 November 1790, then serving under Captain Wyndham Bryer on the 14-gun HMS ''Cygnet'' which was based off

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. In February 1793 he was put on HMS ''Aimable'' and was briefly on HMS ''Theseus'' before joining HMS ''Boyne'' under Admiral Sir John Jervis. In April 1794 he transferred to the 18-gun HMS ''Zebra''. In January 1795 Skynner was given his first ship to command, the 44-gun HMS ''Experiment'' which was mainly used as a storage and supply ship in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

. On 16 September he was promoted to post-captain in January 1796 was given command of the 76-gun HMS ''Ganges''. In March he was made captain of HMS ''Beaulieu'' and took part in the capture of the island of St Lucia in April/May. Still on ''Beaulieu'', in August with HMS ''Mermaid'' they jointly made a successful attack on the French man-o-war ''La Vengeance'' off Basseterre. Lutine2

In May 1799 Skynner was given command of HMS ''Lutine''. This 32-gun frigate largely served escort duties in the North Sea. Its fateful voyage related to the conveyance of £1.2 million of gold bullion from England to Germany to support a bank crash there. The ship sank in a storm in the North Sea near Vlieland on 9 October, and Skynner and the crew were drowned. The treasure was never recovered but the ship's bell was found in a search in 1858. Skynner's body washed ashore and was buried in a small cemetery on Vlieland.

Recognition

A plaque to Skynner's memory exists at the entrance to Glebe House in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skynner, Lancelot 1766 births 1799 deaths Royal Navy officers Deaths by drowning Royal Navy captains