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Henry D'Esterre Darby
Admiral Sir Henry D'Esterre Darby, (9 April 1749 – 30 March 1823) was an officer in the Royal Navy. He was the third son of Jonathan and Susannah Darby of Leap Castle, in King's County, Ireland. He was the nephew of Vice Admiral George Darby. Darby first went to sea when he was thirteen but it was another fourteen years before he made lieutenant, aboard his uncle's ship . In 1781, he was given command of the 8-gun ''Infernal'' but was captured after an inconclusive action at the Battle of Porto Praya and remained a prisoner for the rest of the war.Hore p. 9 He was promoted to Captain in 1783 and had command of HMS ''Bellerophon'' at the Battle of the Nile in 1798. A letter to Darby from Admiral Nelson, commander of the fleet at the battle, survives: Darby was promoted to Rear Admiral of the Blue in 1804; Rear Admiral of the White in 1805; Rear Admiral of the Red in 1808; Vice Admiral of the Blue in 1810; Vice Admiral of the White in 1811; Vice Admiral of the Red in ...
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Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early Middle Ages, medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Kingdom of France, France. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the English Navy of the early 16th century; the oldest of the British Armed Forces, UK's armed services, it is consequently known as the Senior Service. From the early 18th century until the World War II, Second World War, it was the world's most powerful navy. The Royal Navy played a key part in establishing and defending the British Empire, and four Imperial fortress colonies and a string of imperial bases and coaling stations secured the Royal Navy's ability to assert naval superior ...
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Leap Castle
Leap Castle (; (IPA: �kaʃlʲaːn̪ˠlʲeːmʲiːˈwaːn̪ˠaːnʲ) is a castle in Roscrea, County Offaly, Ireland, about north of the town of Roscrea and south of Kinnitty on the R421. History There are varied accounts as to when exactly the main tower/keep was constructed, ranging anywhere from the 13th century to the late 15th century, but most likely around 1250 AD. It was built by the O'Bannon clan and was originally called "Léim Uí Bhanáin" (as was the fertile land around the castle which was associated with the Bannon clan) or "Leap of the O'Bannons". The O'Bannons were the "secondary chieftains" of the territory and were subject to the ruling O'Carroll clan. There is evidence that it was constructed on the same site as another ancient stone structure, perhaps ceremonial in nature, and that that area has been occupied consistently since at least the Iron Age (500 BCE) and possibly since Neolithic times. The Annals of the Four Masters record that the Earl of Kild ...
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King's County, Ireland
County Offaly (; ) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in honour of Philip II of Spain. Offaly County Council is the local authority for the county. The county population was 82,668 at the 2022 census. Geography and political subdivisions Offaly is the 18th largest of Ireland's 32 counties by area and the 24th largest in terms of population. It is the fifth largest of Leinster's 12 counties by size and the tenth largest by population. Physical geography Tullamore is the county town and largest town in Offaly and is the 30th largest in Ireland. Offaly borders seven counties: Galway, Roscommon, Tipperary, Laois, Westmeath, Kildare and Meath. The Slieve Bloom Mountains are in the southern part of the county on the border with County Laois. Offaly has the 24th-highest county peak in Ireland. The highest p ...
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Vice Admiral
Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice Admiral (Australia), vice admiral is held by the Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy and, when the positions are held by navy officers, by the Vice Chief of the Defence Force (Australia), Vice Chief of the Defence Force, the Chief of Joint Operations (Australia), Chief of Joint Operations, and/or the Chief of Capability Development Group. Vice admiral is the equivalent of Air Marshal (Australia), air marshal in the Royal Australian Air Force and Lieutenant General (Australia), lieutenant general in the Australian Army. Canada In the Royal Canadian Navy, the rank of vice-admiral (VAdm) (''vice-amiral'' or ''Vam'' in French language, French) is equivalent to Lieutenant-General (Canada), lieutenant-general of the Canadian Army and Ro ...
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George Darby
Vice-Admiral George Darby ( 1720 – 1790) was an officer of the British Royal Navy. He commanded HMS ''Norwich'' at the capture of Martinique in 1762 during the Seven Years' War. He went on to command the Western Squadron during the American Revolutionary War and later in that war served as First Naval Lord when he commanded the force that relieved Gibraltar from its siege by the Spanish in April 1781. Naval career Early career Darby was the second son of Jonathan Darby (III) (d.1742/3) and Anna Marie Frend both of Leap Castle, in King's County, Ireland. He joined the Royal Navy as a volunteer in September 1742. Promoted to post-captain on 12 September 1747, he received his first command, the sixth-rate HMS ''Aldborough''. He went on to become commanding officer of the sixth-rate HMS ''Seahorse'' in 1756 and of the fourth-rate HMS ''Norwich'' in 1757 in which he served under Admiral Rodney at the capture of Martinique in 1762 during the Seven Years' War. After th ...
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Battle Of Porto Praya
The Battle of Porto Praya was a naval battle that took place during the American Revolutionary War on 16 April 1781 between a British squadron under Commodore George Johnstone and a French squadron under Pierre André de Suffren. Both squadrons were en route to the Cape of Good Hope, the British to take it from the Dutch, the French aiming to help defend it and French possessions in the Indian Ocean. The British convoy and its escorting squadron had anchored at Porto Praya (now Praia) in the Portuguese Cape Verde Islands to take on water, when the French squadron arrived and attacked them at anchor. Due to the unexpected nature of the encounter, neither fleet was prepared to do battle, and in the inconclusive battle the French fleet sustained more damage than the British, though no ships were lost. Johnstone tried to pursue the French, but was forced to call it off in order to repair the damage his ships had taken. The French gained a strategic victory, because Suffren beat ...
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HMS Bellerophon (1786)
HMS ''Bellerophon'', known to sailors as the "Billy Ruffian", was a ship of the line of the Royal Navy. A third-rate of 74 guns, she was launched in 1786. ''Bellerophon'' served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, mostly on blockades or convoy escort duties. She fought in three fleet actions: the Glorious First of June (1794), the Battle of the Nile (1798) and the Battle of Trafalgar (1805). While the ship was on blockade duty in 1815, Napoleon boarded ''Bellerophon'' so he could surrender to the ship's captain, ending 22 years of almost continuous war between Britain and France. Built at Frindsbury, near Rochester in Kent, ''Bellerophon'' was initially laid up in ordinary, briefly being commissioned during the Spanish and Russian Armaments. She entered service with the Channel Fleet on the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1792, and took part in the Glorious First of June in 1794, the first major fleet action of the wars. ''Bellerophon'' ...
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Battle Of The Nile
The Battle of the Nile (also known as the Battle of Aboukir Bay; ) was fought between the Royal Navy and the French Navy at Abu Qir Bay, Aboukir Bay in Ottoman Egypt, Egypt between 1–3 August 1798. It was the climax of the Mediterranean campaign of 1798, which had started three months earlier after a large French fleet sailed from Toulon to Alexandria carrying an expeditionary force under Napoleon. A British fleet, led by Rear-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, Sir Horatio Nelson, decisively defeated a French fleet under Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers, which had escorted Napoleon's army to Egypt. Napoleon sought to French invasion of Egypt and Syria, invade Egypt as the first step in a campaign against Company rule in India, British India, as part of a greater effort to drive Britain out of the French Revolutionary Wars. As Napoleon's expeditionary force crossed the Mediterranean, it was pursued by a British fleet under Nelson who had been sent fr ...
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Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte ( – 21 October 1805) was a Royal Navy officer whose leadership, grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics brought about a number of decisive British naval victories during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest naval commanders in history. Nelson was born into a moderately prosperous Norfolk family and joined the navy through the influence of his uncle, Maurice Suckling, a high-ranking naval officer. Nelson rose rapidly through the ranks and served with leading naval commanders of the period before obtaining his own command at the age of 20, in 1778. He developed a reputation for personal valour and a firm grasp of tactics, but suffered periods of illness and unemployment after the end of the American War of Independence. The outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars allowed Nelson to return to service, where he was particularly active in the Mediterranean Sea. He f ...
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Admiral (United Kingdom)
Admiral is a senior rank of the Royal Navy, which equates to the NATO rank code Ranks and insignia of NATO, OF-9, outranked only by the rank of Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy), admiral of the fleet. Royal Navy officers holding the ranks of Rear Admiral (Royal Navy), rear admiral, Vice Admiral (Royal Navy), vice admiral and admiral of the fleet are sometimes considered generically to be admirals. The rank of admiral is currently the highest rank to which a serving officer in the Royal Navy can be promoted, admiral of the fleet being in abeyance except for honorary promotions of retired officers and members of the royal family. The equivalent rank in the British Army and Royal Marines is General (United Kingdom), general; and in the Royal Air Force, it is air chief marshal. History The first admirals The title admiral was not used in Europe until the mid-13th century and did not reach England before the end of that century. Similarly, although some royal vessels are attested un ...
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Order Of The Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servants, and the monarch awards it on the advice of His Majesty's Government. The name derives from an elaborate medieval ceremony for preparing a candidate to receive his knighthood, of which ritual bathing (as a symbol of Ritual purification, purification) was an element. While not all knights went through such an elaborate ceremony, knights so created were known as "knights of the Bath". George I constituted the Knights of the Bath as a regular Order (honour), military order. He did not revive the order, which did not previously exist, in the sense of a body of knights governed by a set of statutes and whose numbers were replenished when vacancies occurred. The Order consists of the Sovereign of the United King ...
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