The Leeward Islands Station originally known as the Commander-in-Chief at Barbadoes and the Leeward Islands was a

formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...

command Command may refer to: Computing * Command (computing), a statement in a computer language * COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS * Command key, a modifier key on Apple Macintosh computer keyboards * ...

of the

Kingdom of Great Britain The Kingdom of Great Britain (officially Great Britain) was a sovereign country in Western Europe from 1 May 1707 to the end of 31 December 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of Union 1707, wh ...

and then the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

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 ...

stationed at

English Harbour English Harbour is a natural harbour and settlement on the island of Antigua in the Caribbean, in the extreme south of the island. The settlement takes its name from the nearby harbour in which the Royal Navy established its base of operations fo ...

Antigua Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Bar ...

Leeward Islands french: Îles-Sous-le-Vent , image_name = , image_caption = ''Political'' Leeward Islands. Clockwise: Antigua and Barbuda, Guadeloupe, Saint kitts and Nevis. , image_alt = , locator_map = , location = Caribbean Sea North Atlantic Ocean , co ...

. It existed from 1743 to 1821.

History

During the 18th and 19th centuries Antigua served as the headquarters of first the ''Commander in Chief Barbadoes and Leeward Islands'' then later the ''Commander in Chief, Leeward Islands'' which was the British navy's important base in the Eastern

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean ...

area during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...

The three most strategically important bases were Antigua, Barbados and St. Lucia. The Station, was formed in October 1743 as a separate command to the older

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 ...

to protect Britain's sugar producing islands and its convoys. During the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...

a number of large scale naval actions were conducted by the

from this Caribbean base, one of its major engagements was the

Battle of the Saintes The Battle of the Saintes (known to the French as the Bataille de la Dominique), also known as the Battle of Dominica, was an important naval battle in the Caribbean between the British and the French that took place 9–12 April 1782. The Brit ...

. The station was in existence from 1743 to 1821 when it was abolished. The last commander-in-chief was reappointed as the Commander-in-Chief for the

North America 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 t ...

Commander-in-Chief, Barbadoes and Leeward Islands

Included:
= died in post * Commodore Charles Knowles, (1743-1744) (also ''Second-in-Command, Jamaica Station'') * Rear-Admiral Peter Warren (1744 - 1745) * Commodore Fitzroy Henry Lee (1745-1746) * Vice-Admiral

Isaac Townsend Isaac Townsend ( – 21 November 1765) was an admiral in the British Royal Navy and a Member of Parliament. A post-captain from 1720, Townsend commanded various ships. As captain of HMS Shrewsbury he took part in the expedition against Cartag ...

, (1744-1746) * Commodore Edward Legge, (1746-1747) * Rear-Admiral Henry Osborn, (1748) * Commodore Francis Holburne, (1748-1752) * Rear-Admiral

Thomas Pye Sir Thomas Pye ( – 26 December 1785) was an admiral of the Royal Navy who served during the War of the Austrian Succession, the Seven Years' War, and the American War of Independence. He was briefly Member of Parliament for Rochester, and se ...

, (1752-1755) * Commodore Sir Thomas Frankland, (1754) * Commodore Charles Steevens (1755) * Commodore Sir Thomas Frankland, (1756-1757) * Commodore John Moore, (1757-1760) * Commodore Sir James Douglas, (1760-1761) * Admiral Sir George Brydges Rodney, (1761-1763) * Rear-Admiral Sir William Burnaby, (1763) * Rear-Admiral

Richard Tyrell Rear-Admiral Richard Tyrell (1691–26 June 1766) was an Irish officer in the Royal Navy. Life He was born in Dublin in 1691 the son of James and Mary Tyrell. Tyrell was a nephew of Sir Peter Warren, and entered the Royal Navy rather late ...

, (1763) * Rear-Admiral

Robert Swanton Rear Admiral Robert Swanton (1710–1765) was a Royal Navy officer who became commander-in-chief of the Leeward Islands Station. Naval career Swanton joined the Royal Navy on 8 September 1724 as a cadet. He was given an operational post as ...

, (1763-1764) * Rear-Admiral

, (1765-1766) * Vice-Admiral

, (1766-1769) * Rear-Admiral

Robert Man Admiral Robert Man (1721–1783) was a Royal Navy officer. He commanded the third-rate HMS ''Lancaster'' at the siege of Louisbourg in June 1758 during the French and Indian War. He went on to become commander-in-chief of the Leeward Islands St ...

, (1769-1772)

Commander-in-Chief, Leeward Islands

= died in post * Vice-Admiral William Parry, (1772-1775) * Vice-Admiral James Young, (1775-1778) * Rear-Admiral Samuel Barrington, (1778-1779) * Vice-Admiral

John Byron Vice-Admiral John Byron (8 November 1723 – 1 April 1786) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer. He earned the nickname "Foul-Weather Jack" in the press because of his frequent encounters with bad weather at sea. As a midshipman, he sa ...

, (1779) * Rear-Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, (1779-1780) * Admiral Sir George Brydges Rodney, (1780-1781) * Rear-Admiral

Sir Samuel Hood Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood (12 December 1724 – 27 January 1816) was an admiral in the Royal Navy. As a junior officer he saw action during the War of the Austrian Succession. While in temporary command of , he drove a French ship ashore in ...

, (1781-1782) * Admiral Sir George Brydges Rodney, (1782) * Admiral Hugh Pigot, (1782-1783) * Rear Admiral Sir Richard Hughes, (1783-1786) * Commodore Sir Richard Bickerton, (1786-1787) * Commodore Sir William Parker, (1787-1789) * Rear-Admiral Sir John Laforey, (1789-1793) * Rear-Admiral Alan Gardner, (1793) * Vice-Admiral Sir John Jervis, (1793-1794) * Vice-Admiral

Benjamin Caldwell Admiral Sir Benjamin Caldwell, (31 January 1739 – November 1820) was a senior and experienced British Royal Navy officer of the eighteenth century. His many victories and achievements were overshadowed by his acrimonious departure from the N ...

, (1794-1795) * Admiral Sir John Laforey, (1795–96) * Rear-Admiral Sir Hugh Cloberry Christian, (1796) * Rear-Admiral Henry Harvey, (1796-1799) * Vice-Admiral

Lord Hugh Seymour Vice-Admiral Lord Hugh Seymour (29 April 1759 – 11 September 1801) was a senior British Royal Navy officer of the late 18th century who was the fifth son of Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford, and became known for being both a ...

, (1799-1800) * Rear-Admiral Sir John Duckworth, (1800-1801) * Rear-Admiral Thomas Totty, (1801-1802) * Commodore Samuel Hood, (1802) * Commodore

Robert Stopford Robert Wright Stopford, (20 February 1901 – 13 August 1976) was a British Anglican bishop. Early life and education Stopford was born in Garston, Merseyside (then in Lancashire), and educated at Coatham School in Redcar and Liverpool Coll ...

, (1802-1805) * Rear-Admiral

Sir Alexander Cochrane Admiral of the Blue Sir Alexander Inglis Cochrane (born Alexander Forrester Cochrane; 23 April 1758 – 26 January 1832) was a senior Royal Navy commander during the Napoleonic Wars and achieved the rank of admiral. He had previously captain ...

, (1805-1811) * Rear-Admiral

Sir Francis Laforey Admiral Sir Francis Laforey, 2nd Baronet, KCB (31 December 1767 – 17 June 1835) was an officer of the British Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, whose distinguished service record included numerous frigate commands ...

, (1811-1814) * Rear-Admiral Sir Philip Charles Durham, (1814-1816) * Rear-Admiral

John Harvey John Harvey may refer to: People Academics * John Harvey (astrologer) (1564–1592), English astrologer and physician * John Harvey (architectural historian) (1911–1997), British architectural historian, who wrote on English Gothic architecture ...

, (1816-1818) * Rear-Admiral

Donald Campbell Donald is a masculine given name derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinterpretation of the ...

, (1818-1819) * Commodore

Thomas Huskisson Thomas Huskisson (1784–1844) was an officer in the Royal Navy. Thomas Huskisson was half-brother of William Huskisson, the British politician. Naval career Huskisson joined the Royal Navy in 1800 and saw action at the Battle of Trafalgar on ...

, (1819-1820) * Rear-Admiral

William Charles Fahie Vice-Admiral Sir William Charles Fahie KCB (1763 – 11 January 1833) was a prominent British Royal Navy officer during the American War of Independence, French Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars. Unusually, Fahie's service was almost enti ...

, (1820-1821)

Citations

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * {{Royal Navy fleets Commands of the Royal Navy History of British Antigua and Barbuda Saint Paul Parish, Antigua and Barbuda 1740s establishments in the Caribbean 1743 establishments in North America 1743 establishments in the British Empire Military units and formations disestablished in the 1820s