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 vic ...

Sir Hyde Parker, 5th Baronet (1 February 1714 – 1782) was a

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. Parker was born at Tredington in Worcestershire. His father, a clergyman, was a son of Sir Henry Parker. His paternal grandfather had married a daughter of Alexander Hyde,

Bishop of Salisbury The Bishop of Salisbury is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The Episcopal see, see is in the Salisbur ...

. He began his career at sea in the merchant service. Entering the

at the age of 24, he was made lieutenant in 1744, and in 1748 he was made

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 dis ...

.Sir Hyde Parker at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
/ref> In his royal navy career, he captured a Spanish galleon that was worth £600,000. This gave his family its wealth. Currently, his descendants live in the south wing of

Melford Hall Melford Hall is a stately home in the village of Long Melford, Suffolk, England. Since 1786 it has been the seat of the Parker Baronets and is still lived in by the Hyde Parker family. Since 1960 it has been owned by the National Trust. The ...

Seven Years War

In October 1755 Hyde Parker commissioned the newly launched

post ship Post ship was a designation used in the Royal Navy during the second half of the 18th century and the Napoleonic Wars to describe a sixth-rate ship (see rating system of the Royal Navy) that was smaller than a frigate (in practice, carrying ...

. A year later, in her he captured the French privateer ''Très Vénėrable''. During the latter part of the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

he served in the

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies) is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The ''Indies'' broadly referred to various lands in Eastern world, the East or the Eastern Hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainl ...

, taking part in the capture of Pondicherry in 1761 and of

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

in 1762. In the latter year Parker with two ships captured one of the valuable Spanish plate ships in her voyage between

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and Port of Acapulco, major seaport in the Political divisions of Mexico, state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicirc ...

and

American War of Independence

In 1778 he became

Rear-Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

and went to North American waters as second-in-command. For some time before

George Rodney Admiral (Royal Navy), Admiral George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, Order of the Bath, KB (baptism, bap. 13 February 1718 – 24 May 1792), was a Royal Navy officer, politician and colonial administrator. He is best known for his commands ...

's arrival he was in command on the

Leeward Islands The Leeward Islands () are a group of islands situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean. Starting with the Virgin Islands east of Puerto Rico, they extend southeast to Guadeloupe and its dependencies. In Engl ...

station, and conducted a skilful campaign against the French at

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

. In 1781, having returned home and become

, he fell in with a Dutch fleet of about his own force, though far better equipped, near the Dogger Bank on 5 August 1781. After a fiercely contested

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

, in which neither combatant gained any advantage, both sides drew off. Parker considered that he had not been properly equipped for his task, and insisted on resigning his command. In 1782 he accepted the East Indies command, though he had just succeeded to the family baronetcy. On the outward voyage his flagship, was lost with all on board. He was succeeded by his eldest son Harry Parker, the sixth Baronet. Parker's second son was Admiral Sir Hyde Parker (1739–1807).

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Hyde 1714 births 1782 deaths Military personnel from Warwickshire 305 Royal Navy vice admirals Deaths due to shipwreck at sea People from the Borough of Tewkesbury British military personnel of the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War Royal Navy personnel of the Seven Years' War Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War