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 regarded ...

Thomas Lennox Frederick (25 March 1750 – 7 October 1799) was an officer in 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 ...

and 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 ...

. He was a highly educated officer and a very greatly esteemed seaman, rising to the rank of rear-admiral of the red.

Early life

He was born on 25 March 1750, in the parish of

St George's, Hanover Square St George's, Hanover Square, is an Anglican church, the parish church of Mayfair in the City of Westminster, central London, built in the early eighteenth century as part of a project to build fifty new churches around London (the Queen Anne C ...

. He was the son of Sir Charles Frederick, the

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 ...

, and Lucy Boscawen. His grandfather was Sir John Frederick. Thomas first went to sea in 1768, under Captain

Peter Parker Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the S ...

American War of Independence

From October 1776 to 1779, he commanded successively , , , and after having been promoted 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) ...

, he was appointed to command . On 4 September 1780 he was in command of ''Unicorn'' when he had the misfortune of encountering, in a fog off Tortuga, a French frigate and two ships of the line that captured him. The subsequent court martial honourably acquitted Frederick for the loss of his ship, and in October 1781 he received command of the 44-gun frigate . On 20 December 1782, in company with , he captured off the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...

the 40-gun American frigate ''

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

'' after a chase of eighteen hours.

Years of peace

From May 1790 to September 1791 Thomas Frederick commanded the 44-gun .

French Revolutionary Wars

On the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars, he was appointed to , a 74-gun

third rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Years of experience proved that the third r ...

. He was present with Admiral Lord Hood at the

Siege of Toulon The siege of Toulon (29 August – 19 December 1793) was a military engagement that took place during the Federalist revolts of the French Revolutionary Wars. It was undertaken by Republican forces against Royalist rebels supported by Anglo-Spa ...

, and as a commanding officer of his ship, he saw action at the

Battle of Genoa The Battle of Genoa (also known as the Battle of Cape Noli and in French as ''Bataille de Gênes'') was a naval battle fought between French and allied Anglo-Neapolitan forces on 14 March 1795 in the Gulf of Genoa, a large bay in the Ligurian ...

against the French fleet. His ship fought two French third rates, defeating both of them, and was so damaged that had to take her in tow. She was then caught in a storm on her return to port and grounded. Although other British vessels arrived they were unable to get her off. The British set her on fire and abandoned her. Frederick's next command, in June 1795, was the 90-gun , which took part in the long blockade off Toulon. While in command he saw action at the Battle of Cape Saint Vincent, where the outnumbered British squadron under Sir John Jervis defeated the Spanish fleet. After taking a convoy to

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

, Frederick joined Jervis, Earl St. Vincent, on the resumption of the blockade of Cadiz. Cleveley, Cape St Vincent

Frederick was promoted to rear-admiral of the blue on 20 February 1797. In the autumn of 1798 he returned to Great Britain and later that year he raised his flag in the 98-gun . He later commanded the 90-gun , which paid off in September 1799.Pettigrew, p.88 Unfortunately, Frederick's health had severely deteriorated and he died on 7 October 1799 in Nottingham Place, London.

Notes

References

* *

External links

Thomas Frederick at threedecks.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frederick, Thomas 1750 births 1799 deaths Royal Navy rear admirals Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars British naval commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Military personnel from London People from the City of Westminster