Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Charles Jones, 5th Viscount Ranelagh (29 October 1761 – 20 December 1800) was a British

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 ...

officer and Irish peer of the late-eighteenth century who served on the Ireland station in but died aged 39 from an illness during his military service.

Naval career

The son of Charles Wilkinson Jones, 4th Viscount Ranelagh and his wife Sarah Montgomery (daughter of Irish politician Thomas Montgomery), Jones was raised in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

and attended

Trinity College, Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Univ ...

before joining the

. Jones was appointed in 1795 to HMS ''Doris'' and attached to the Irish station during the French Revolutionary Wars. In January 1797, ''Doris'' was part of a squadron that chased the deep into the Atlantic Ocean. ''Fraternité'' was the flagship of the French attempt to invade

Bantry Bay Bantry Bay () is a bay located in County Cork, Ireland. The bay runs approximately from northeast to southwest into the Atlantic Ocean. It is approximately 3-to-4 km (1.8-to-2.5 miles) wide at the head and wide at the entrance. Geograp ...

and by driving her off, the invasion force was left leaderless and was dispersed and defeated piecemeal.James, Vol. 2, p. 10 Later in the year, on 20 April 1797, Jones inherited the viscountcy from his deceased father and became Lord Ranelagh. In 1798, ''Doris'' was again involved in foiling a French attempt to invade Ireland, forming part of a squadron under Sir

John Borlase Warren Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren, 1st Baronet (2 September 1753 – 27 February 1822) was a Royal Navy officer, diplomat and politician who sat in the British House of Commons between 1774 and 1807. Early life Born in Stapleford, Nottinghamshir ...

. ''Doris'' was detached in early October to search the Donegal coast for French ships however and so missed the

Battle of Tory Island The Battle of Tory Island (also known as the Battle of Donegal, Battle of Lough Swilly or Warren's Action) was a naval action of the French Revolutionary Wars, fought on 12 October 1798 between French and British squadrons off the northwest c ...

in which the French invasion force was defeated and dispersed.James, Vol. 2, p. 126 Two years later, ''Doris'' was in

Plymouth Sound Plymouth Sound, or locally just The Sound, is a deep inlet or sound in the English Channel near Plymouth in England. Description Its southwest and southeast corners are Penlee Point in Cornwall and Wembury Point in Devon, a distance of abo ...

when Lord Ranelagh died from a sudden illness. His titles were passed to his younger brother Thomas Jones.Captain Charles Jones, 5th Viscount Ranelagh
''peerage.com'', Daryl Lundy, retrieved 23 July 2008

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ranelagh, Charles Jones, 5th Viscount Royal Navy captains Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars 1761 births 1800 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland Military personnel from Dublin (city) Irish officers in the Royal Navy