Sir John Strachan (died 28 December 1777) was a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

and chief of

Clan Strachan Clan Strachan is a Scottish clan originating from the barony (now village) of Strachan, in Aberdeenshire. As of 31 July 2024, the Clan Strachan Family Convention concluded with unanimous consent to recognise Charles Robert Lund (Rob) Strachan, ...

. He served in the

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 ...

, rising to the rank of

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 ...

and commanding a number of warships. His nephew, Richard Strachan, would also go on to have a distinguished career in the navy.

Early life

John Strachan was born the eldest son of Patrick Strachan,

M.D. A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of physician. This ge ...

, physician to the Greenwich Hospital, and his wife, the daughter of a Royal Navy captain. Little is known about his early life, but he appears to have entered the Navy in about 1727. It would be twenty years before he would be promoted to the rank of

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

, in January 1747.

Seven Years War

In 1755, Strachan was appointed second lieutenant aboard the 98-gun HMS ''St George'', which was then the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

Lord Hawke Martin Bladen Hawke, 7th Baron Hawke (16 August 1860 – 10 October 1938), generally known as Lord Hawke, was an English amateur cricketer active from 1881 to 1911 who played for Yorkshire and England. He was born in Willingham by Stow, near ...

. The following year Strachan accompanied Hawke to

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

aboard HMS ''Antelope'', to relieve

John Byng Admiral (Royal Navy), Admiral John Byng (baptised 29 October 1704 – 14 March 1757) was a Royal Navy officer and politician who was court-martialled and executed by firing squad. After joining the navy at the age of thirteen, he participate ...

. On arriving he was appointed to command the 18-gun sloop HMS ''Fortune'', and on 9 September 1756 was posted to HMS ''Experiment''. Serving on the ''Experiment'' he captured the 20-gun French

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

''Télémaque'' off

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

on 19 July 1757, in a lopsided engagement that saw 110 French sailors killed and 156 wounded, against a total of 41 British casualties. During the encounter Strachan came alongside and sent a boarding party onto the ''Télémaque'' under William Locker, who secured her surrender. Strachan took the prize into Gibraltar and along with Locker, was reassigned to the 32-gun HMS ''Sapphire''. He returned to England aboard her and in 1759 was attached to the

Grand Fleet The Grand Fleet was the main battlefleet of the Royal Navy during the First World War. It was established in August 1914 and disbanded in April 1919. Its main base was Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. History Formed in August 1914 from th ...

under Sir Edward Hawke. He was then assigned to the light squadron in

Quiberon Bay Quiberon Bay (, ; ) is an area of sheltered water on the south coast of Brittany. The bay is in the Morbihan département. Geography The bay is roughly triangular in shape, open to the south with the Gulf of Morbihan to the north-east and the ...

under

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Robert Duff, and was present at the

Battle of Quiberon Bay The Battle of Quiberon Bay (known as the ''Bataille des Cardinaux'' by the French) was a decisive naval engagement during the Seven Years' War. It was fought on 20 November 1759 between the Royal Navy and the French Navy in Quiberon Bay, off ...

on 20 November 1759. Strachan remained in command of the ''Sapphire'' until 1762.

Later life

In 1770 Strachan was appointed to command HMS ''Orford'', one of the squadron which went with Rear-Admiral Robert Harland to 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 ...

. Ill health forced him to return to England just two years later whereupon he retired from active service. He had married Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Lovelace of

Battersea Battersea is a large district in southwest London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and also extends along the south bank of the Thames Tideway. It includes the Battersea Park. Hist ...

, but the marriage produced no children. He died at

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

on 28 December 1777. After his death the baronetcy passed to his nephew,

Richard John Strachan Admiral Sir Richard John Strachan, 6th Baronet, GCB (27 October 1760 – 3 February 1828) was a Royal Navy officer who served in the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, eventually rising to the rank of ad ...

who also became a distinguished Navy officer.

Notes

a. Some confusion over which baronet he was exists. The

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

lists him as the 3rd, but both

Debrett's Debrett's () is a British professional coaching company and publisher and authority on etiquette and behaviour, founded in 1769 with the publication of the first edition of ''The New Peerage''. The company takes its name from its founder, John ...

and

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher, considered an authority on the order of precedence of noble families and information on the lesser nobility of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1826, when the Anglo-Irish genea ...

list him as the 5th.

Early life

Seven Years War

Later life

Notes

References

Further reading