Richard Leake (1629 – 1696) was an English naval officer and master-gunner of England.

Life

Richard Leake, son of Richard Leake, was born at

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-on- ...

in 1629. According to Martin Leake's biography of

Sir John Leake Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy), Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Leake (4 July 1656 – 21 August 1720) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. As a junior officer he saw action at the Battle of Texel during the Third Anglo-Dutch War. He then ...

, he served under his father in the Navy under the Parliament, but being a

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...

at heart took an opportunity of deserting and entered the King's service. His Majesty's affairs proving very unfortunate, more especially by sea, he went to Holland and served in the Dutch army. It does not, however, appear that the elder Leake commanded a state's ship, and the only service of the King at sea that the lad can have entered was the semi-piratical squadron under

Prince Rupert Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 (O.S.) / 27 December (N.S.) – 29 November 1682 (O.S.)) was an English army officer, admiral, scientist and colonial governor. He first came to prominence as a Royalist cavalr ...

. After being some time in Holland he was able to return to England, and commanded a merchant ship in several voyages to the Mediterranean. At the

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

he was appointed gunner of the ''Princess'', and in her fought in many severe actions during the

Second Dutch War The Second Anglo-Dutch War or the Second Dutch War (4 March 1665 – 31 July 1667; nl, Tweede Engelse Oorlog "Second English War") was a conflict between England and the Dutch Republic partly for control over the seas and trade routes, whe ...

. In one, in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

, on 20 April 1667, the ''Princess'' was engaged with seventeen vessels, apparently

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

privateers A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

, and though hard pressed succeeded in beating them off. She then went to Gottenburg, and in the return voyage was attacked by two Danish ships on 17 May. The captain and master were killed, the lieutenant was badly wounded, and the command devolved on Leake, who after a stubborn fight beat them off and brought the ship safely to the Thames. He was given 30 ''l''., and by warrant, 13 August 1667, was appointed "one of his majesty's gunners within the Tower of London, in consideration of his good and faithful service to his majesty during the war with the French, Danes, and Dutch". In May 1669 he was promoted to be gunner of the ''Royal Prince'', a first rate, which carried the flag of

Sir Edward Spragge Sir Edward Spragge (name also written as Spragg or Sprague) (circa 1620 – 21 August 1673) was an Irish-born English admiral of the Royal Navy. He was a fiery, brilliantly accomplished seaman who fought in many great actions after the restoration ...

in the battle with the Dutch of 10 August 1673. The ''Royal Prince'' was dismasted; many of her guns were dismounted; some four hundred of her men were killed or wounded; Spragge had shifted his flag to the ''St. George''; and a large Dutch ship with two fireships bore down on her, making certain of capturing or of burning her. It is said that

Rooke Rooke is a surname, and may refer to: * Daphne Rooke (1914–2009), South African author * Sir Denis Rooke (1924–2008), English engineer * Sir George Rooke (1650–1709), English admiral * Hayman Rooke (1723–1806), English major and antiquary ...

(afterwards Sir George), her first lieutenant and commander, judging further defence impossible, ordered the

colours Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associa ...

to be struck, and that Leake countermanding the order, and sending Rooke off the quarter-deck, took the command on himself, saying, "The Royal Prince shall never be given up while I am alive to defend her". His two sons, Henry and John, gallantly supported him; the men recovered from their panic; the

fireships A fire ship or fireship, used in the days of wooden rowed or sailing ships, was a ship filled with combustibles, or gunpowder deliberately set on fire and steered (or, when possible, allowed to drift) into an enemy fleet, in order to destroy sh ...

were sunk, the man-of-war beaten off, and the ''Royal Prince'' brought to

Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...

, but Henry Leake, the eldest son, was killed.''The Old and True Way of Manning the Fleet, or how to retrieve the Glory of the English Arms by Sea'', 1707, p. 15. The story is probably founded on fact, but is certainly much exaggerated. The ''Royal Prince'' being unserviceable, Leake was moved into the ''Neptune'', and shortly afterwards was given the command of one of the yachts, and appointed also to be master-gunner of Whitehall. By patent, 21 May 1677, he was constituted master-gunner of England and storekeeper of his Majesty's ordnance and stores of war at

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained throu ...

. In 1683 he attended

Lord Dartmouth Earl of Dartmouth is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1711 for William Legge, 1st Earl of Dartmouth, William Legge, 2nd Baron Dartmouth. History The Legge family descended from Edward Legge, Vice-President of Munster. ...

Tangier Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the cap ...

to demolish the fortifications. He is described as skilful and ingenious in his art, as the originator of the method of igniting the fuzes of shell by the firing of the mortar, and as the contriver of the "infernals" used at St. Malo in 1693. He invented also what seems to have been a sort of

howitzer A howitzer () is a long- ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like ot ...

, which is spoken of as a "cushee-piece", to fire shell and carcasses; in theory it seemed a formidable arm, but in practice it was found more dangerous to its friends than to its enemies, and never came into general use. In practising with it at Woolwich Leake's youngest son, Edward, was killed in September 1688. Leake died and was buried at

in July 1696. One son, John, and a daughter, Elizabeth, survived him.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leake, Richard 1629 births 1696 deaths Royal Navy officers