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 Thomas Pakenham GCB (29 September 1757 – 2 February 1836), styled The Honourable from birth to 1820, was a British naval officer and politician.

Biography

Pakenham was born the fourth son of The 1st Baron Longford and his wife Elizabeth, Baroness Longford (she was later created, in June 1785, The 1st Countess of Longford). He entered 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 ...

in 1771 on board the , with Captain

John MacBride John MacBride (sometimes written John McBride; ga, Seán Mac Giolla Bhríde; 7 May 1868 – 5 May 1916) was an Irish republican and military leader. He was executed by the British government for his participation in the 1916 Easter R ...

, with whom he moved to the in 1773. In 1774 he was on the coast of

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

with

William Cornwallis Admiral of the Red Sir William Cornwallis, (10 February 17445 July 1819) was a Royal Navy officer. He was the brother of Charles Cornwallis, the 1st Marquess Cornwallis, British commander at the siege of Yorktown. Cornwallis took part in a n ...

in the , and in 1775 was acting lieutenant of the on the coast of North America. In the following year he was promoted by Lord Shuldham to be lieutenant of the frigate , and while in her saw much boat service, in the course of which he was severely wounded. In 1778 he joined the , commanded by

Lord Mulgrave Marquess of Normanby is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first creation came in 1694 in the Peerage of England in favour of John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Bucki ...

, in the fleet under Keppel, and was present in the Battle of Ushant on 27 July. In the following spring he was moved into the ''Europe'', going to North America with the flag of Rear-Admiral

Mariot Arbuthnot Admiral (Royal Navy), Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot (1711 – 31 January 1794) was a Kingdom of Great Britain, British admiral, who commanded the Royal Navy's North American station during the American War for Independence. Early life A native of Wey ...

, and on 21 September 1779 was promoted to the command of the sloop , newly captured from the enemy. He was then sent to the

Jamaica station Jamaica station is a major train station of the Long Island Rail Road located in Jamaica, Queens, New York City. With weekday ridership exceeding 200,000 passengers, it is the largest transit hub on Long Island, the fourth-busiest rail station ...

, where, on 2 March 1780, he was posted by Sir Peter Parker the elder to the . His old wound, received while in the ''Greyhound'', broke out again, and compelled him to return to England in the autumn. In December 1780 he was appointed to the of 28 guns, attached to the fleet under

George Darby Vice Admiral George Darby (c.1720 – 1790) was a Royal Navy officer. He commanded HMS ''Norwich'' at the capture of Martinique in 1762 during the Seven Years' War. He went on to command the Channel Fleet during the American Revolutionary ...

, which relieved

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in April 1781, and was sent on to

Menorca Menorca or Minorca (from la, Insula Minor, , smaller island, later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Majorca. Its capi ...

in company with the under

William Peere Williams-Freeman Admiral of the Fleet William Peere Williams-Freeman (6 January 1742 – 11 February 1832) (born William Peere Williams) was an officer in the Royal Navy. He saw action aboard as a junior officer at the Battle of Quiberon Bay during the Seven Ye ...

. On their way back, in passing through the straits, they fell in, on 30 May, with two Dutch frigates. In the ensuing Battle of Cape St Mary, one of the Dutch frigates, the ''Castor'' (commanded by Pieter Melvill van Carnbee), struck to the ''Flora'', while the other, the ''Den Briel'', overpowered and captured the ''Crescent''. The ''Crescent'' was immediately recaptured by the ''Flora'', the ''Den Briel'' making her escape; but both ''Crescent'' and ''Castor'' had received so much damage in the action that they fell into the hands of two French frigates on the way home, 19 June, the ''Flora'' escaping. Pakenham had, however, refused to resume the command of the ''Crescent'', maintaining that by his surrender to the ''Den Briel'' his commission was cancelled, and that when recaptured the ship was on the same footing as any other prize. For the loss of his ship he was tried by court-martial and honourably acquitted, it being proved that he did not strike the flag till, by the fall of her masts and the disabling of her guns, further resistance was impossible. He was therefore at once appointed to the frigate , which he commanded in the following year at the relief of Gibraltar by Lord Howe. In 1793 he commissioned the , and in her took part in the

Glorious First of June The Glorious First of June (1 June 1794), also known as the Fourth Battle of Ushant, (known in France as the or ) was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic ...

, when his conduct was spoken of as particularly brilliant, and he was recommended by Howe for the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

. In 1795 he was turned over to the 84-gun ship ''Juste'', in the capture of which, on 1 June, he had had a principal hand. He was afterwards for some time

master-general of the ordnance The Master-General of the Ordnance (MGO) was a very senior British military position from 1415 to 2013 (except 1855–1895 and 1939–1958) with some changes to the name, usually held by a serving general. The Master-General of the Ordnance was ...

in Ireland, and had no further service in the navy. In 1783, Pakenham entered the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fra ...

for Longford Borough and sat until 1790. Subsequently, he represented Kells until 1798 and again Longford Borough until the Act of Union in 1801. On 14 February 1799, Pakenham was promoted to be rear-admiral, vice-admiral on 23 April 1804, and admiral on 31 July 1810. He was appointed a

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as one ...

on 20 May 1820. He married in 1785 Louisa, daughter of the Right Hon. John Staples, and had a large family. His fifth son Sir

Richard Pakenham Sir Richard Pakenham PC (19 May 1797 – 28 October 1868) was a British diplomat of Anglo-Irish background. He served as British Ambassador to the United States from 1843 until 1847, during which time he unsuccessfully worked to prevent ...

was a diplomat who served as British ambassador to Mexico, the United States and Portugal. Pakenham died on 2 February 1836.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pakenham, Thomas 1757 births 1836 deaths Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars Irish MPs 1783–1790 Irish MPs 1790–1797 Irish MPs 1798–1800 Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Royal Navy admirals Younger sons of earls Younger sons of barons

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Longford constituencies Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Meath constituencies Royal Navy personnel of the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War