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Sir Robert Harland, 1st Baronet
Admiral Sir Robert Harland, 1st Baronet (ca. 1715 – 21 February 1784) was a Royal Navy officer. He commanded HMS Tilbury (1745), HMS'' Tilbury'' at the Second Battle of Cape Finisterre (1747), Second Battle of Cape Finisterre in October 1747 during the War of the Austrian Succession and commanded HMS Princess Louisa (1744), HMS ''Princess Louisa'' at the Battle of Lagos in August 1759 during the Seven Years' War. He went on to be Commander-in-Chief of the East Indies Station and then First Sea Lord, First Naval Lord. Naval career Born the son of Captain Robert Harland, Harland joined the Royal Navy in 1729 when he was appointed a Volunteer-per-order on HMS Falkland (1696), HMS ''Falkland''. He was present as a lieutenant on Spanish ship Princessa (1750), HMS ''Princessa'' at the Battle of Toulon (1744), Battle of Toulon on 11 February 1744. He was given command of the fireship HMS Scipio (1739), HMS ''Scipio'' in 1745 and, with promotion to post captain on 19 March 1746, he too ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Admiral (Royal Navy)
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Volunteer-per-order
Volunteer-per-order was a name for a rating for young boys in the Royal Navy for young gentlemen who were training to become officers. The rating was introduced by Samuel Pepys in 1676 and the recipient received £24 a year and a letter from the crown which virtually guaranteed him promotion after spending two years at sea and passing the examination for lieutenant. The letter instructed the admirals and captains that the bearer was to be shown "such kindness as you shall judge fit for a gentleman, both in accommodating him in your ship and in furthering his improvement". Volunteers-per-order took the place of a midshipman on board the ship, which originally was a post for an experienced seaman. Because of their higher social class and the aforementioned letter, they were nicknamed King's Letter boys to distinguish them from rest of the crew. Another method of entry into the Royal Navy was serving as a servant to one of the officers, and by 1732 the last volunteer-per-order ent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Ushant (1778)
The Battle of Ushant (also called the First Battle of Ushant) took place on 27 July 1778, and was fought during the American Revolutionary War between French and British fleets west of Ushant, an island at the mouth of the English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ... off the westernmost point of France. "Ushant" is the anglicised pronunciation of "Ouessant". The French commander was under orders to avoid battle if possible, in order to maintain a fleet in being. The commanders of the two squadrons of the British fleet were already personally and politically at odds with each other, and failed to make a concerted attack on the French. The battle, which was the first major naval engagement in the Anglo-French War (1778–1783), Anglo-French War of 1778, en ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Channel Fleet
The Channel Fleet and originally known as the Channel Squadron was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1854 to 1909 and 1914 to 1915. History Throughout the course of Royal Navy's history there had been different squadrons stationed in home waters. One of the earliest known naval formations to be based at Plymouth was called the Western Squadron which was the forerunner of the Channel Squadron that was later known as the Channel Fleet. In 1650 Captain William Penn, Commander-in-Chief, was charged with guarding the Channel from Beachy Head to Lands End with six ships. This system continued following the Restoration. It was the start of what was to become a Western Squadron. From 1690 the squadron operated out of Plymouth Dockyard during wartime periods, which was for most of the 18th century and early 19th century. In 1854 The Channel Squadron, sometimes known as the Particular Service Squadron, was established. The Channel Sq ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vice Admiral (Royal Navy)
A vice-admiral (VAdm) is a flag officer rank of the Royal Navy and equates to the NATO rank code OF-8. It is immediately superior to the Rear admiral (Royal Navy), rear admiral rank and is subordinate to the Admiral (Royal Navy), full admiral rank. The equivalent rank in the British Army and Royal Marines is Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom), lieutenant-general; and in the Royal Air Force, it is air marshal. History The Royal Navy has had vice-admirals since at least the 16th century. When the fleet was deployed, the vice-admiral would be in the leading portion or Vanguard, van, acting as the deputy to the admiral. The rank of Vice-Admiral evolved from that of Lieutenant of the Admiralty (1546–1564) that being an officer who acted as secretary to the Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom, Lord Admiral of England and lapsed in 1876 but was revived in 1901 by Edward VII, King Edward VII. Prior to 1864 the Royal Navy was divided into coloured squadrons which determined his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rear Admiral (Royal Navy)
Rear admiral (RAdm) is a flag officer rank of the Royal Navy. It is immediately superior to commodore and is subordinate to vice admiral. It is a two-star rank and has a NATO ranking code of OF-7. The equivalent rank in the British Army and Royal Marines is major-general; and in the Royal Air Force it is air vice-marshal. History The rank originated in the 17th century, in the days of naval sailing squadrons when each naval squadron would be assigned an admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many 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. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ... as its head. The admiral would command from the centre vessel and direct the activities of the squadron. The admiral would in turn be assisted by a vice admiral, who commanded the lead ships which would bear the brunt of a naval battle. In the rear of the naval sq ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Gentleman's Magazine
''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1907, ceasing publication altogether in 1922. It was the first to use the term ''magazine'' (from the French language, French ''magazine'', meaning "storehouse") for a periodical. Samuel Johnson's first regular employment as a writer was with ''The Gentleman's Magazine''. History The original complete title was ''The Gentleman's Magazine: or, Trader's monthly intelligencer''. Cave's innovation was to create a monthly digest of news and commentary on any topic the educated public might be interested in, from commodity prices to Latin poetry. It carried original content from a stable of regular contributors, as well as extensive quotations and extracts from other periodicals and books. Cave, who edited ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' under the pen name "Sylvanus Urban", was the first to use the term ''magazine'' (meaning "st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Magnanime (1748)
''Le Magnanime'' was originally a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy launched in 1744 at Rochefort. Captured on 12 January 1748, she was taken into Royal Navy service as the third rate HMS ''Magnanime''. She played a major part in the 1757 Rochefort expedition, helping to silence the batteries on the Isle of Aix, and served at the Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759 under Lord Howe, where she forced the surrender of the French 74-gun . Following a survey in 1770, she was deemed unseaworthy and was broken up in 1775. Construction ''Le Magnanime'' was built between 1741 and 1745 in the port of Rochefort on the Charente estuary, France, and was designed by the renowned shipwright Blaise Geslain. She was 165 French feet in length (153 French feet on the keel), 44 French feet in breadth and 22 French feet in depth in hold; she measured 1,600 tons (2,900 tons displacement). As remeasured by the British following her capture, she was along her gundeck with a beam, and with a de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Action Of 31 January 1748
The action of 31 January 1748 was a minor naval battle of the War of Austrian Succession between two British Royal naval ships and a French naval ship of the line. The battle ended with the capture of the French ship of the line ''Le Magnanime''. In January 1748, ''Le Magnanime'' left Brest for the East Indies. She was partially dismasted in a storm off the coast of Ushant and while limping back to Brest, she was spotted by a British fleet under Edward Hawke. All sail was immediately made; under Captain Robert Harland having at 1 am closed with the chase commenced the action and a running fight of six hours duration ensued. The rear admiral having observed the size of the ship sent the sixty gun ship under Captain Stevens to proceed to the ''Nottinghams assistance. By the time the ''Portland'' had arrived up the French ship which proved to be the ''Magnanime'' a large class 74 gun ship commanded by the Marquis d'Albert after receiving a few shot from the ''Portland'' was f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Post Captain
Post-captain or post captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy. The term "post-captain" was descriptive only; it was never used as a title in the form "Post-Captain John Smith". 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 regardless of rank; * Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...s, who received the title of captain as a courtesy, whether they currently had a command or not (e.g. the fictional Captain Jack Aubrey in '' Master and Commander'' or the fictional Captain Horatio Hornblower in '' Hornblower and the Hotspur''). This custom is now defunct. In the Royal Navy of the 18th and 19th centuries, an o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fireship
A fire ship or fireship is a large wooden vessel set on fire to be used against enemy ships during a ramming attack or similar maneuver. Fireships were used to great effect against wooden ships throughout naval military history up until the advent of metal-hulled ships; they could also serve a considerable function in shock and awe strategies to harm the morale of enemy crews. Ships used for fireship tactics were typically purpose-built or retrofitted from surplus or obsolete vessels, either of which could be filled with gunpowder or other combustibles before a battle, but could also be improvised from warships in active combat purposely set on fire during engagements, such as if a vessel expended its munitions or had some other reason to be abandoned in battle. Specialized fire ships included the massive Dutch hellburners, also called "explosion ships", which were fitted with large explosive stores designed to detonate upon contact with the enemy. Fireships were used to great ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Toulon (1744)
The Battle of Toulon took place on 21 and 22 February 1744 NS near the French Mediterranean port of Toulon. Although France was not yet at war with Britain, ships from their Levant Fleet supported an attempt by a Spanish force trapped in Toulon to break through the British Mediterranean Fleet. The initial engagement on 21 February was indecisive, and the British continued their pursuit until midday on 22nd before their commander, Admiral Thomas Mathews, called off the chase. With several of his ships in need of repair, he withdrew to Menorca, which meant the British Royal Navy temporarily lost control of the waters around Italy and allowed the Spanish to take the offensive against Savoy. In his report, Mathews blamed his subordinate Richard Lestock for the failure to secure victory, and the issue was hotly debated in Parliament. At the subsequent court-martial, Mathews was held responsible and dismissed from the navy in June 1747, while Lestock's political connections meant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
