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, ...

Phillips Cosby (1729 – 10 January 1808) was a

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 ...

officer who fought in 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 ...

Naval career

Cosby joined the

as an ordinary seaman in 1747.Phillips Cosby at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
/ref> He was given command of a schooner at the Siege of Louisbourg in 1758 and was present at the capture of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

in 1759. Promoted to Post Captain in 1761, he commanded HMS ''Hind'' and HMS ''Isis''. In 1766 he was appointed to HMS ''Montreal''. He was receiver general (treasurer) of the Caribbean island of

Saint Kitts Saint Kitts, officially the Saint Christopher Island, is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean. Saint Kitts and the neighbouring island of Nevis cons ...

from 1771 to 1778, a lucrative post which he resigned on the outbreak of the

Anglo-French War The Anglo-French Wars were a series of conflicts between England (and after 1707, Britain) and France, including: Middle Ages High Middle Ages * Anglo-French War (1109–1113) – first conflict between the Capetian Dynasty and the House of Norma ...

. In command of HMS Centaur in 1778, he took part in the Battle of Ushant and in command of HMS ''Robust'' in 1779, he took part in the

Siege of Charleston The siege of Charleston was a major engagement and major British victory in the American Revolutionary War, fought in the environs of Charles Town (today Charleston), the capital of South Carolina, between March 29 and May 12, 1780. The Britis ...

in 1780. He also took part in the

Battle of Cape Henry The Battle of Cape Henry was a naval battle in the American War of Independence which took place near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay on 16 March 1781 between a British squadron led by Vice Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot and a French fleet under Admiral ...

in 1781. He was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet in 1785, Commander-in-Chief at Cork in 1790, and Port Admiral at Plymouth in 1792.

Family

In 1792 he married Eliza Hurst, née Gunthorpe.

References

Sources

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Cosby, Phillips 1729 births 1808 deaths Royal Navy vice admirals Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War