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 Edward Hughes (c. 17201794) 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 Fr ...

officer who commanded the

East Indies Station The East Indies Station was a formation and command of the British Royal Navy. Created in 1744 by the Admiralty, it was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies. Even in official documents, the term ''East Indies Station'' was ...

Naval career

Hughes joined the Royal Navy in 1735, and four years later, was present at the capture of Portobelo, Panama.Sir Edward Hughes at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
/ref> In 1740, he was promoted to lieutenant and served in the Cartagena expedition of 1741, and at the indecisive Battle of Toulon in 1744. In HMS ''Warwick'', he participated in the action against the ''Glorioso'', but without proper support from the ''Lark'' (which was sailing with the ''Warwick''), the enemy escaped. The commander of the ''Lark'' was subsequently tried and condemned for his conduct, and Hughes received the vacated command. Captain Hughes was with

Edward Boscawen Admiral of the Blue Edward Boscawen, PC (19 August 171110 January 1761) was a British admiral in the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament for the borough of Truro, Cornwall, England. He is known principally for his various naval commands during ...

at Louisburg and with Charles Saunders at

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

. He was in continual employment during the peace, and as commodore, commanded the

from 1773 to 1777. Before long, he returned to the East Indies Station as a rear-admiral, with an overwhelming naval force. On his outward voyage, he took

Gorée (; "Gorée Island"; Wolof: Beer Dun) is one of the 19 (i.e. districts) of the city of Dakar, Senegal. It is an island located at sea from the main harbour of Dakar (), famous as a destination for people interested in the Atlantic slave trad ...

from the French, and he was called upon to conduct only minor operations for the next two years, as the enemy could not muster any force fit to meet the powerful squadron Hughes had brought from the Channel. With Spain and Great Britain at war 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 ...

, Spanish authorities in Chile received a warning that Hughes was heading to Chilean coasts for an imminent attack. This attack did however never happen. In 1782, at the reopening of hostilities in the East Indies, he stormed

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; ta, திருகோணமலை, translit=Tirukōṇamalai; si, ත්‍රිකුණාමළය, translit= Trikuṇāmaḷaya), also known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee Dis ...

a few days before the squadron of Suffren arrived in the neighbourhood. For the next year, these Indian waters were the scene of one of the most famous of naval campaigns. Suffren was perhaps the ablest naval commander that France ever produced, but his subordinates were factious and unskilful; Hughes on the other hand, whose ability was that born of long experience rather than genius, was well supported. No fewer than five fiercely contested general actions were fought by the two fleets, neither of them gaining a decisive advantage. In the end, Hughes held his ground. After the peace, he returned to England, and, though further promotions came to him, he never again hoisted his flag. He had accumulated considerable wealth during his Indian service, which for the most part he spent in unostentatious charity. He died at his seat of Luxborough in Essex in 1794. His second wife Ruth died in 1800. Hughes' fortune went to

Edward Hughes Ball Hughes Edward Hughes Ball Hughes (28 May 1798 – 10 March 1863), also known as "The Golden Ball", was an English dandy known for his extravagant lifestyle. Life Hughes was born in Lambourne, Essex, and was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Camb ...

(c. 1798 – 1863), her grandson by a previous marriage, who became the dandy and wastrel known as "The Golden Ball".

Tribute

The British East India Company ship the ''Sir Edward Hughes'' launched in 1784, was named after him.

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Edward 1720 births 1794 deaths Royal Navy admirals British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Mysore War Knights of the Bath Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War British military personnel of the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War#