Vice-Admiral Sir William Mitchell, KCB (c. 1745 – 7 March 1816) was an officer of the British

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 ...

during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Mitchell is best known for rising from humble origins to high rank, having joined the Navy in 1766 as an

able seaman An able seaman (AB) is a seaman and member of the deck department of a merchant ship with more than two years' experience at sea and considered "well acquainted with his duty". An AB may work as a watchstander, a day worker, or a combination ...

and died in 1816 as a vice-admiral. His service was highly varied, including a

circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first recorded circ ...

of the world, command of a ship at the

Battle of Camperdown The Battle of Camperdown (known in Dutch as the ''Zeeslag bij Kamperduin'') was a major naval action fought on 11 October 1797, between the British North Sea Fleet under Admiral Adam Duncan and a Batavian Navy (Dutch) fleet under Vice-Admiral ...

in 1797 and a period as

Sir James Saumarez Admiral of the Red James Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez (or Sausmarez), GCB (11 March 1757 – 9 October 1836) was an admiral of the British Royal Navy, known for his victory at the Second Battle of Algeciras. Early life Saumarez was born ...

's flag captain. He was also rumoured to have once been flogged round the fleet for

desertion Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which ar ...

, although no firm evidence of this has been discovered.

Life

Nothing is known of William Mitchell's birth, youth or childhood, other than that he must have been born in either 1745 or 1746 as his age at his death was reported to be 70. The first time that he appears in the historical record is in 1766, when he joined the Royal Navy ship under Captain

Samuel Wallis Samuel Wallis (23 April 1728 – 21 January 1795 in London) was a British naval officer and explorer of the Pacific Ocean. He made the first recorded visit by a European navigator to Tahiti. Biography Wallis was born at Fenteroon Farm, n ...

. As he was already rated as an

, it is likely that he was already experienced at sea, and he remained on board ''Dolphin'' during Wallis'

of the world between 1766 and 1768. He then disappears from Navy records, not reappearing again until July 1777, when he reenlisted on during the

American Revolutionary War 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 ...

. As an experienced seaman, he was able to secure a promotion to master's mate and

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...

, transferring to HMS ''Victory'' and then in 1781 to HMS ''Foudroyant'' as an acting lieutenant. In November 1781 he went before a Navy board and was confirmed in the rank of lieutenant. In 1790, after the Peace of Paris, Mitchell was 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) ...

and in 1792 took command of the 14-gun , moving to and then two year later. Mitchell remained in command of ''Isis'' for the next six years, and saw action at the

in 1797, defeating the much larger Dutch ship ''Gelijkheid''. In 1800, Mitchell moved to HMS ''Resolution'' and then in 1803 to HMS ''Zealand'', the flagship of Admiral

. By 1807, Mitchell had been returned to shore service, commanding the sea fencibles at

Shoreham-by-Sea Shoreham-by-Sea (often shortened to Shoreham) is a coastal town and port in West Sussex, England. The town is bordered to its north by the South Downs, to its west by the Adur Valley and to its south by the River Adur and Shoreham Beach on the ...

. In 1808 he was promoted to rear-admiral and continued to rise through the ranks during his years on shore, becoming a vice-admiral in 1813 and being made 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 ...

shortly before his death at

Camberwell Camberwell () is a district of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles and a common of which Goose Green is a remnant. This e ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

on 7 March 1816. Many years after his death,

Sir John Ross Sir John Ross (24 June 1777 – 30 August 1856) was a Scottish Royal Navy officer and polar explorer. He was the uncle of Sir James Clark Ross, who explored the Arctic with him, and later led expeditions to Antarctica. Biography Ear ...

wrote of him that he had "risen to the rank of rear-admiral by his good conduct, after having been flogged round the fleet for desertion". This claim, which has never been backed up by firm evidence, may be accurate given the odd disappearance of Mitchell from Navy records between 1768 and 1777.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, William 1740s births 1816 deaths Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Royal Navy vice admirals