Rear-Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

Robert Hughes (died 14 March 1729) 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 ...

officer. Having joined the navy in the late seventeenth century, he served as a

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 ...

in several ships of the line during the Nine Years' War before being promoted to captain in 1697. His first command was HMS ''Flamborough'' in which he captured several

privateer 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 ...

s off Dunkirk at the start of the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

, before taking command of HMS ''Winchester''. Hughes commanded a

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

guarding the Straits of Gibraltar in 1703, and in the following decade commanded several ships of the line in the

Mediterranean Sea 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 ...

and

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 ...

. Promoted to rear-admiral in 1727, Hughes was third in command of the Baltic Fleet that later in the year induced Russia not to go to war with Sweden. He died in 1729, having had no further active service.

Naval service

Early career

Robert Hughes was born in the late seventeenth century. He was the brother of

officer Captain Richard Hughes, and as such was the uncle of Captain

Sir Richard Hughes, 1st Baronet Captain Sir Richard Hughes, 1st Baronet (1708–23 September 1779) was a Royal Navy officer of the eighteenth century who served as Resident Commissioner of Portsmouth Dockyard. Hughes joined the navy in 1721 and served on a variety of ships, so ...

. Hughes also joined the navy and, with the Nine Years' War ongoing, was promoted to

on 19 December 1692. The following year he was appointed second lieutenant of the 70-gun ship of the line HMS ''Suffolk''. Hughes' early career is not well recorded, but by 1695 he was serving as the

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...

of the 100-gun ship of the line HMS ''Queen'', which was the flagship of Admiral

Sir Cloudesley Shovell Admiral of the Fleet Sir Cloudesley Shovell (c. November 1650 – 22 or 23 October 1707) was an English naval officer. As a junior officer he saw action at the Battle of Solebay and then at the Battle of Texel during the Third Anglo-Dutch War. ...

. Sometime after this Hughes was promoted to commander before, on 28 June 1697, being advanced in rank to captain.

Command

At the same time as his promotion to captain Hughes was given command of the 24-gun sixth-rate HMS ''Flamborough''; he continued in the ship after the end of the Nine Years' War later in the year. The following year, the ship sailed as escort to a convoy travelling through the

White Sea The White Sea (russian: Белое море, ''Béloye móre''; Karelian and fi, Vienanmeri, lit. Dvina Sea; yrk, Сэрако ямʼ, ''Serako yam'') is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is s ...

, before in 1699 serving off the coast of Ireland. ''Flamborough'' then saw service guarding the Great Yarmouth fisheries in 1701, with the

beginning in the same year. At this point ''Flamborough'' was sent to serve as a cruiser in the

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

. Hughes captured several small but successful

s around Dunkirk in 1702, demonstrating "great activity and diligence" according to biographer

John Charnock John Charnock (28 November 1756 – 16 May 1807) was a Royal Navy volunteer and author. He wrote a book on the history of marine architecture, a book on Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, and ''Biographia Navalis'' about leading figures in B ...

. Towards the end of the year Hughes was transferred to command the 50-gun ship of the line HMS ''Winchester'', which in 1703 joined the Mediterranean Fleet commanded by Shovell. By September, still in the Mediterranean, Hughes had moved to command the 32-gun frigate HMS ''Poole'', but, the fleet then returning to England, in 1704 he re-joined ''Winchester''. The ship joined

William Whetstone's squadron in the

, continuing there into 1705. The following year Hughes and ''Winchester'' joined the Mediterranean Fleet, commanded by Shovell and Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Leake. Leake appointed Hughes to serve as a

commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore ...

within the fleet, giving him command of a small

to guard the entrance to the Straits of Gibraltar. Hughes was highly successful in this task, capturing or destroying two enemy frigates and a

settee A couch, also known as a sofa, settee, or chesterfield, is a cushioned item of furniture for seating multiple people (although it is not uncommon for a single person to use a couch alone). It is commonly found in the form of a bench with up ...

. He continued off Gibraltar until 1709. Hughes was at this point moved with ''Winchester'' to serve in the English Channel again, and on 27 November captured a privateer from

Flushing Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushin ...

. In 1711 Hughes was given command of the 70-gun ship of the line HMS ''Kent'', serving in the Channel as the flagship of Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Hardy. ''Kent'' captured the privateer ''La Revanche'' on 23 February the following year. Hughes was moved to command the 60-gun ship of the line HMS ''Plymouth'' in 1715, joining Admiral Sir John Norris's Mediterranean Fleet. He continued there until 1717 when he was translated into the 80-gun ship of the line HMS ''Devonshire''. Hughes' subsequent service is unknown until 1726 when he was given command of the 70-gun ship of the line HMS ''Hampton Court'', part of Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Wager's Baltic Fleet.

Flag rank

Hughes was promoted to rear-admiral on 21 April 1727. He continued serving in ''Hampton Court'', this time as her

flag officer A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which the officer exercises command. The term is used differently in different countries: *In many countries ...

rather than captain. Immediately after his promotion Hughes joined a fleet under the command of Norris, serving as third in command. The fleet contained twelve ships of the line, and was expected to travel to the Baltic to induce Russia not to attack Sweden. The fleet reached

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

on 12 May and made such an impression on Russia that it laid up its navy and abandoned designs on Sweden. Hughes and the rest of the fleet subsequently returned to England not having had to fire a single shot in anger. The fleet arrived home in early January 1728; Hughes saw no further active service before on 14 March 1729 he died in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

from an infection in his leg. He was buried, as much of his family were, in

St Paul's, Deptford St Paul's, Deptford, is one of London's finest Baroque parish churches, cited as "one of the most moving C18 churches in London" in the ''Buildings of England'' series. It was designed by gentleman architect Thomas Archer and built between 171 ...

Personal life

Hughes married a woman named Lydia, with whom he had two daughters who became his co-heiresses. One daughter, Alice, married Sir James Calder, 3rd Baronet. She had four sons, including Admiral Sir Robert Calder. His other daughter, Katherine, married John Sayer and had a son, Vice-Admiral James Sayer.

Notes and citations

Notes

Citations

References

* * * * * * * * {{refend 1729 deaths Royal Navy rear admirals British naval commanders in the War of the Spanish Succession