Admiral Sir Graham Moore, (1764–1843) 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. As a junior officer he took part in the Great Siege of Gibraltar 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 captain of the frigate , he took part in the Battle of Tory Island in October 1798, capturing the two days later, during 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 France against Britain, Austria, Prussia ...

. He went on to be First Naval Lord, then Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet, and finally,

Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth The Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth, was a senior commander of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years. Plymouth Command was a name given to the units, establishments, and staff operating under the admiral's command. Between 1845 and 1896, this offic ...

. He was the younger brother of General Sir John Moore.

Naval career

Moore was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland, the son of Jean Simson and John Moore, doctor and author. He entered the Navy in 1777 at the age of 13. He was promoted to

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 ...

on 8 March 1782 to serve aboard , taking part in the relief of Gibraltar under Lord Howe, and the subsequent

battle of Cape Spartel The Battle of Cape Spartel was an indecisive naval battle between a Franco-Spanish fleet under Admiral Luis de Córdova y Córdova and a British fleet under Admiral Richard Howe. These forces met on 20 October 1782 after Howe successfully resup ...

in October. During the peace he travelled through France, but was recalled to serve aboard , , and then , the flagship of Sir Richard Hughes on the

North American Station The North America and West Indies Station was a formation or command of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed in North American waters from 1745 to 1956. The North American Station was separate from the Jamaica Station until 1830 when the ...

. On 22 November 1790 he was promoted to commander in the sloop , before finally returning to England in 1793. WarrensAction1798Ireland

Moore was promoted to

post-captain Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of 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) addressed as captain ...

on 2 April 1794, soon after the start of the Revolutionary War, with command of the 32-gun frigate , in the North Sea and the coast of France. He then commanded the 36-gun frigate from September 1795. In her he took part in the Battle of Tory Island on 12 October 1798, capturing the two days later. In February 1800 he went out to the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

, but was invalided home after eighteen months. On the renewal of the war in 1803 he was appointed to (44), and with three other frigates – (32), (38) and (32) – under his command, captured a Spanish treasure fleet of four frigates – ''Medea'' (40), ''Clara'' (34), ''Fama'' (34) and ''Mercedes'' (36) – carrying bullion from the Caribbean back to Spain off Cadiz in the

action of 5 October 1804 The Battle of Cape Santa Maria was a naval engagement that took place off the southern Portuguese coast, in which a British squadron under the command of Commodore Graham Moore attacked and defeated a Spanish squadron commanded by Brigadier D ...

. Moore was then attached to Sir

Robert Calder Admiral Sir Robert Calder, 1st Baronet, (2 July 174531 August 1818) was a British naval officer who served in the Seven Years' War, the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. For much of his career ...

's squadron blockading Ferrol. In 1808, he served as

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 ...

, flying his

broad pennant A broad pennant is a triangular swallow-tailed naval pennant flown from the masthead of a warship afloat or a naval headquarters ashore to indicate the presence of either: (a) a Royal Navy officer in the rank of Commodore, or (b) a U.S. Na ...

in the new ship assisting Admiral Sir Sidney Smith with the Portuguese royal family's escape to Brazil, and was subsequently made a Knight of the

Order of the Tower and Sword The Ancient and Most Noble Military Order of the Tower and of the Sword, of the Valour, Loyalty and Merit ( pt, Antiga e Muito Nobre Ordem Militar da Torre e Espada, do Valor, Lealdade e Mérito), before 1910 Royal Military Order of the Tower an ...

. He later served as part of 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 ...

fleet for several years. At the close of the

Walcheren campaign The Walcheren Campaign ( ) was an unsuccessful British expedition to the Netherlands in 1809 intended to open another front in the Austrian Empire's struggle with France during the War of the Fifth Coalition. Sir John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chath ...

in December 1809, he was entrusted with destroying the basin, arsenal, and sea defences of Flushing (Vlissingen). Moore commanded from March 1812, until promoted to rear-admiral on 12 August 1812, and served as Commander-in-Chief in the Baltic for a short time, flying his flag in . In 1814 he served as

captain of the fleet In the Royal Navy of the 18th and 19th centuries a captain of the fleet could be appointed to assist an admiral when the admiral had ten or more ships to command. The equivalent post was called fleet captain in the U.S. Navy of the 18th and 19th ...

to Lord Keith in the Channel, and, having been appointed 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 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 o ...

on 2 January 1815, he became second-in-command, Mediterranean Fleet in 1815. He joined the Board of Admiralty as First Naval Lord in the

Liverpool ministry This is a list of members of the government of the United Kingdom in office under the leadership of Lord Liverpool from 1812 to 1827. He was appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by the Prince Regent after the assassination of Spencer ...

in May 1816. Promoted to vice-admiral on 12 August 1819, he left the Board of the Admiralty in March 1820. He was Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet between 1820 and 1823 and was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 11 March 1836. Promoted to full admiral on 10 January 1837, he served as

from 1839 to 1842 flying his flag in . Tomb-Admiral Sir Graham Moore

Moore died at his home, Brook Farm, Cobham, Surrey, on 25 November 1843, and was buried at St. Andrew's Church.

Family

In 1812 he married Dora Eden, daughter of Thomas Eden, and niece of

William Eden, 1st Baron Auckland William Eden, 1st Baron Auckland, PC (Ire), FRS (3 April 174528 May 1814) was a British diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1774 to 1793. Early life A member of the influential Eden family, Auckland was a younger son ...

; they had one son, Captain John Moore, RN (d. 1866).

Diary

Moore kept a detailed diary from 1784 until 1843, comprising thirty-four volumes, which provide a unique account of his service as a lieutenant, commander and captain. The diary is held at Cambridge University Library.

Namesakes

Several places were named in his honour: the Sir Graham Moore Islands (Nunavut), Sir Graham Moore Islands, Cape Graham Moore, and Graham Moore Bay, in northern Canada were named by William Parry (explorer), William Parry, while the Sir Graham Moore Islands (Western Australia), Sir Graham Moore Islands, Western Australia, were named by Phillip Parker King.

References

Sources

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External links

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Graham 1764 births 1843 deaths Military personnel from Glasgow Lords of the Admiralty Royal Navy admirals Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars British diarists Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War Recipients of the Order of the Tower and Sword