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, ...

Sir Robert Moorsom KCB (8 June 1760 – 14 April 1835) was an officer of the

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 ...

who served during the

American War of Independence 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 ...

, 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 ...

and 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 ...

. His very active service career was especially highlighted by his actions in 1805 at the

battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (180 ...

, where his ship HMS ''Revenge'' was severely damaged and Moorsom was himself seriously wounded.

Life

Born into a seagoing family at

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

in 1760, Moorsom was late to the navy, only joining aged 17, a good four years later than most of his contemporaries. He made up for his late arrival with exhaustive service, which included action at the

Great Siege of Gibraltar The Great Siege of Gibraltar was an unsuccessful attempt by Spain and France to capture Gibraltar from the British during the War of the American Revolution. It was the largest battle in the war by number of combatants. The American war had end ...

and at the

battle of Cape Spartel The Battle of Cape Spartel was an indecisive naval battle between a Franco-Spanish fleet under Admiral Luis de Córdova y Córdova and a British fleet under Admiral Richard Howe. These forces met on 20 October 1782 after Howe successfully resupp ...

. He was made lieutenant rapidly in 1784 following commendations from an action against a French convoy to America two years before, and then profited by the buildup to war in 1790 when he was granted promotion to

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) ...

. His service in the Revolutionary Wars was unremarkable, maintaining position in the blockading fleets of several ports where there was small opportunity for glory or action, especially in

ships 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 colum ...

, which he had soon graduated into. Following 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 ...

, Moorsom took over the newly built ''Revenge'' and was placed under Admiral Collingwood's command in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

, accompanying his admiral to Cadiz and thence to the battle of Trafalgar in October 1805. At the battle, ''Revenge'' was situated far to the rear of Collingwood's division, but due to her recent construction she was a very fast and agile ship and thus was able to overtake two ships in front of her, aiming at the Spanish flagship ''Principe de Asturias'' but missing her and becoming embroiled in a duel with the smaller ''San Ildefonso'' which drifted off damaged. The ''Revenge'' next engaged the ''Achille'' and dismasted her leaving her vulnerable to attack from following ships who later sank her. The French ''Aigle'' was next, ''Revenge'' ramming her and damaging her so she too drifted off from action. Finally reaching the ''Principe de Asturias'', the ''Revenge'' was dwarfed by her enormous opponent, and was significantly damaged by the broadsides from the bigger ship, splinters from which badly wounded Moorsom and killed or wounded over 70 of his crew. ''Asturias'' was later driven off by the aid of HMS ''Dreadnought'' and HMS ''Thunderer'', who rescued the badly holed and slowly sinking ''Revenge''. By a miracle of seamanship, the ''Revenge'' was returned to

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

despite the raging storm and Moorsom was one of the first officers dispatched home, sent to recuperate from his wounds. He was richly rewarded for his heroic actions in the battle but due to the surge in promotions which the battle brought combined with his injuries he was unable to find a ship and never returned to the sea as a captain. He was instead given numerous shore jobs, including carrying the great banner at Lord Nelson's funeral, appointment to rear-admiral and a position with the

Lords of the Admiralty This is a list of Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty (incomplete before the Restoration, 1660). The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty were the members of The Board of Admiralty, which exercised the office of Lord High Admiral when it was ...

and following the end of the war a career in backbench politics (as MP for

Queenborough Queenborough is a town on the Isle of Sheppey in the Swale borough of Kent in South East England. Queenborough is south of Sheerness. It grew as a port near the Thames Estuary at the westward entrance to the Swale where it joins the River M ...

1812–1820), as

Surveyor-General of the Ordnance The Surveyor-General of the Ordnance was a subordinate of the Master-General of the Ordnance and a member of the Board of Ordnance, a British government body, from its constitution in 1597. Appointments to the post were made by the crown under Le ...

. He went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Chatham in 1824 He was promoted through the flag ranks. Robert Moorsom died peacefully in 1835 as a full Admiral of the Blue and a

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

and was buried at St Peter's Church, Cosgrove, Northamptonshire, where a memorial plaque to him and his wife Eleanor (sister of cotton milling entrepreneur Jonathan Scarth) can still be seen. Robert's legacy included his talent for poetry and drawing which he passed on to his two sons, Vice Admiral Constantine Richard Moorsom 1792-1861 and Captain William Scarth Moorsom, an early railway engineer. A descendant (via Constantine) is the English journalist

Toby Young Toby Daniel Moorsom Young (born 17 October 1963) is a British social commentator. He is the founder and director of the Free Speech Union, an associate editor of ''The Spectator'', and a former associate editor at ''Quillette.'' A graduate of ...

and Canadian journalist Richard Moorsom Harrison.

References

External links

Animation of the Battle of TrafalgarMoorsom House (WikiMapia)
* * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Moorsom, Robert 1760 births 1835 deaths People from Whitby Royal Navy admirals Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Lords of the Admiralty Royal Navy captains at the Battle of Trafalgar Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs 1818–1820 English Freemasons

Life

Further reading

References

External links