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36-845: Admiral Sir Thomas Bladen Capel GCB (25 August 1776 – 4 March 1853) was an officer in the British Royal Navy whose distinguished service in the French Revolutionary War , the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812 earned him rapid promotion and great acclaim both in and out of the Navy. He was also a great friend of Admiral Nelson and can be considered a full member of Nelson's "band of brothers". Born in August 1776 and raised in London, Thomas Capel

72-538: A change of command ceremony aboard aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65) , while docked at Khalifa Bin Salman Port, Bahrain , U.S. Marine Corps Gen . James Mattis , Commander, U.S. Central Command , introduced Vice Admiral Mark I. Fox as "Admiral Fox, the prince of the sea, emir of the sea – to translate 'admiral' from the Arabic to English;" On 04 Feb 2021, in an announcement of his coronavirus -related death,

108-555: A governor , commander , or person who rules over a number of people" and al ( الـ ), the Arabic definite article meaning "the." In Arabic, admiral is also represented as Amīr al-Baḥr ( أمير البحر ), where al-Baḥr (البحر) means the sea . The 1818 edition of Samuel Johnson 's A Dictionary of the English Language , edited and revised by the Rev. Henry John Todd , states that

144-803: A 32-gun fifth-rate frigate HMS  Meleager which was wrecked on the Triangle Rocks in the Gulf of Mexico on 9 June 1801. In the May 1802 shortly after the Peace of Amiens , Capel was appointed to the 38 gun, fifth rate frigate HMS  Révolutionnaire which took him from Spithead to the Mediterranean where he joined HMS  Phoebe as her captain. When war with France was renewed in April 1803 Capel, still in HMS Phoebe

180-564: A degree, he was mentioned in dispatches as "a most excellent officer" and presented with the sword of the senior, surviving French admiral. Capel was made acting commander of the 16-gun brig HMS  Mutine , and was given the honour of carrying the second set of dispatches to London despite the claims of a large number of superior officers. The first dispatches, carried by Berry in HMS ; Leander were captured shortly after leaving, which meant that when Capel arrived in London after passage in

216-633: A full admiral, an aged Capel sat on the board that decided to issue the Naval General Service Medal for Naval service between 1793 and 1840, and which contained a Trafalgar clasp that Capel himself wore. He became Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth , in 1848 and made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in April 1852. Thomas Bladen Capel died at his home in Rutland Gate, London, on 4 March 1853. He

252-640: Is a king in the Arabian language.' Amrayl is used by Robert of Gloucester, in the sense of a prince, or governour." The quote from John Minsheu 's Dictionarie in Spanish and English (1599), given in Johnson's Dictionary, has been confirmed as being accurate. Additionally, the definition of Amīr (أمير), as given in Edward William Lane 's Arabic-English Lexicon , concurs, in part, with Minsheu's definition, stating that

288-547: The Vanguard lost her entire foremast assembly and both her main and mizzen topmasts. Despite the arrival of reinforcements, including ten ships of the line, on 6 June; Nelson remained aboard the jury masted, Vanguard . Therefore, Capel was serving as Nelson's signal lieutenant on 1 August 1798 when Nelson's fleet destroyed the French at the battle of the Nile . He impressed the admiral to such

324-648: The Young Teazer in a harbour, which was blown up rather than captured. In another capture, that of the American merchantman Montezuma on 14 October 1814 Capel received 777 pounds, 11 shillings and 3¾ pence. He returned home in 1814 and was awarded the CB in June 1815. Capel commanded the royal yachts Royal George and Apollo between 15 December 1821 and 27 May 1827, earning greater promotion and favours from his new patrons. Despite

360-651: The "d" and endured a series of different endings and spellings leading to the English spelling admyrall in the 14th century and to admiral by the 16th century. It is important to note that the etymology of a word does not suggest the antiquity of the word as it may have appeared in other languages with entirely different pronunciations. The Greek ναύαρχος, for instance, which is pronounced "naúarkhēs," existed from very ancient times in Greece. While ναύαρχος may be defined as "admiral" as used by Plutarch in his Parallel Lives ,

396-399: The 3rd rate vessels HMS  Leviathan (74 guns) and HMS  Sans Pareil (80 guns), where he saw action at the battle of Groix in 1795. After the battle, San Pareil and her crew returned to the channel and blockade duty. Capel was promoted to acting lieutenant in the May 1796 and on 5 April 1797 he joined the newly built frigate HMS  Cambrian as a lieutenant under Captain,

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432-614: The Arabic Amīr (أمير), the literal meaning of the phrase Amīr al-Baḥr (أمير البحر) is "Prince of the Sea." This position, versus "commander of the sea," is demonstrated by legal practices prevailing in the Ottoman Empire , whereas it was only possible for Phanariots to qualify for attaining four princely positions, those being grand dragoman , dragoman of the fleet , and the voivodees of Moldavia and Wallachia . Those Phanariots who attained

468-511: The Arabic news website Saudi 24 News referred to Admiral Edmond Chagoury by the title "Prince of the Sea." One alternate etymology proposes that the term admiral evolved, instead, from the title of Amīr al-Umarā ʾ (أمير الأمراء). Under the reign of the Buyid dynasty (934 to 1062) of Iraq and Iran , the title of Amīr al-Umarāʾ, which means prince of princes, came to denote the heir-apparent , or crown prince . This alternate etymology states that

504-467: The Eastern seaboard. During this conflict, Capel maintained a careful watch on the passage of American shipping, especially their frigate base at New London , which he effectively nullified. Along with other American vessels, in April 1813 Capel captured the American merchantman Caroline . The prize money distributed to Capel amounted to 82 pounds and 10¾ pence. On 27 June 1813, off Nova Scotia , Capel trapped

540-585: The Honourable Arthur Kaye Legge . In April 1798 he joined the flagship of Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson , the newly refitted 74 gun HMS  Vanguard , under Captain Edward Berry . On 8 May the Vanguard , as part of a small squadron, left Gibraltar to re-establish a presence in the Mediterranean and to search for the French fleet. On 20 May, they were struck by a sudden gale in which

576-610: The attempt by inviting them to dine aboard the Endymion before setting sail. On 16 September 1807 Endymion captured the Santa Rosalinda . Capel's share of the prize money was 838 pounds, 17 shillings and 2½ pence. Capel returned to Constantinople later that year when he took part in further the forcing of the Dardanelles under Sir John Duckworth . On the way back to the Aegean , Endymion

612-558: The blockading fleet. In October 1805, Capel's squadron was based at Gibraltar acting as the eyes of the British fleet and when the Combined Fleet put to sea, Phoebe was one of the chain of ships who relayed signals to Nelson's fleet, 48 miles away. On 21 October, Capel was summoned to HMS  Victory to receive his final orders for the upcoming battle. Phoebe and the three other frigates were to stay to windward and repeat signals to

648-527: The brig and overland travel, he was the first to bring news of the victory. His promotion to commander was confirmed when he was given command of the elderly fireship HMS  Alecto on the home station, and was subsequently made post captain on 27 December 1798. Following this promotion, he was then transferred on 5 January from Alecto into the 22-gun post-ship HMS  Arab , a sixth-rate frigate which sailed under his command for Jamaica on 23 April 1799. On 19 July 1800 he transferred to command of

684-633: The late 17th century it was built as the Cassiobury Estate's dower house , which still exists in Hempstead Road, Watford . Admiral The word admiral in Middle English comes from Anglo-French amiral , "commander", from Medieval Latin admiralis , admirallus . These evolved from the Arabic amīral ( أمير الـ ) – amīr ( أمير ) [ʔmjr] ( listen ), " king , prince , chief, leader, nobleman , lord ,

720-514: The princely position of dragoman of the fleet served under the Ottoman admiral having administration of the Aegean islands and the Anatolian coast. Modern acknowledgement of the phrase Amīr -al-Baḥr (أمير البحر) meaning "Prince of the Sea" includes a speech made in an official U.S. military ceremony conducted in an Arabic port, and a news article published by an Arabic news outlet: On 24 May 2012, in

756-458: The ranks when he finally did go to sea. Capel first served on HMS  Assistance on the Newfoundland station in April 1792, then on 1 March 1793, as a midshipman aboard HMS  Syren , where he was highly praised for his seamanship and discipline. Following his captain, John Manley , he transferred to the 38-gun frigate HMS  Apollo before serving under Lord Hugh Seymour in

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792-418: The ships in the rear; any escaping enemy ships were to be pursued and forced to strike their colours; and any dismasted British, or captured enemy ships were to be taken in tow. Capel was present throughout the ensuing battle of Trafalgar , relaying Nelson's signals to the rest of fleet, and remaining close to the action although not actually engaged with the enemy. In the storm which followed the battle, Phoebe

828-641: The slower promotion rate in peacetime, he became Rear-Admiral of the Blue squadron on 27 May 1825 and rear-admiral of the red squadron on 22 July 1830 and was knighted soon afterwards and awarded the KCB in February 1832. In May 1834, Sir Thomas Capel served as commander in chief of the Far East squadron until July 1837 aboard the fourth-rate frigate HMS  Winchester . He was promoted to vice-admiral on 10 January 1837. In 1847,

864-604: The term "has been traced to the Arab. emir or amir, lord or commander, and the Gr . ἄλιος , the sea, q. d. prince of the sea . The word is written both with and without the d, in other languages, as well as our own. Barb. Lat. admirallus and amiralius. V. Ducange. Barb. Græc. ἄμηρχλιος. V. Meursii Gloss. Græco-Barbarum, edit. 1610. p. 29. Fr. admiral and amiral. Dan. the same. Germ. ammiral. Dutch, admirael or ammirael. Ital. ammiraglio. Sp. almirante. Minsheu, in his Spanish Dictionary, says 'almiralle

900-410: The term means "One having, holding, or possessing, command; a commander; a governor; a lord; a prince, or king." While other Greek words of the period existed to indicate "belonging to the sea," or "of the sea," the now obsolete Gr. ἄλιος mentioned in Johnson's Dictionary is expressly defined as "of the sea, Lat. marinus, epith. of sea-gods , nymphs , etc." Though there are multiple meanings for

936-730: The term was in use for the Greco-Arab naval leaders (e.g. Christodulus ) in the Norman-Arab-Byzantine culture of Norman Sicily , which had formerly been ruled by Arabs, at least by the early 11th century. During this time, the Norman Roger II of Sicily (1095–1154) employed a Greek Christian, known as George of Antioch , who previously had served as a naval commander for several North African Muslim rulers. Roger styled George in Abbasid fashion as Amir of Amirs , or Amīr al-Umarāʾ, with

972-543: The title becoming Latinized in the 13th century as ammiratus ammiratorum . The Sicilians and later the Genoese took the first two parts of the term from their Aragon opponents and used them as one word, amiral . . The French gave their sea commanders similar titles while in Portuguese and Spanish the word changed to almirante . As the word was used by people speaking Latin or Latin-based languages it gained

1008-412: The very pronunciation of ναύαρχος demonstrates that it is not a part of the etymology for the English word "admiral." The word "admiral" has come to be almost exclusively associated with the highest naval rank in most of the world's navies , equivalent to the army rank of general . However, this was not always the case; for example, in some European countries prior to the end of World War II , admiral

1044-405: Was blown ashore the next day. After Trafalgar, Capel returned to England, where he sat on the court martial of Vice-Admiral Sir Robert Calder , before being appointed to the 4th rate 40 gun Endymion . Capel's ship carried the British ambassador, Sir Charles Arbuthnot, to Constantinople and then in 1807, on hearing of a plot to kidnap Sir Charles and some leading British Merchants, Capel foiled

1080-687: Was buried in Kensal Green cemetery in a family plot, later joined by his wife Dame Harriet Capel. Their gravestone can still be seen and is largely still legible. In 1816 he married Harriet Catherine Smyth; they had no children, but Capel became a slaveowner as a result of this marriage. In her diary, Lady Adela Caroline Harriett Capel, Admiral Bladen Capel's great niece, and refers to times spent with Bladen Capel and his wife at Little Cassiobury. She lived at Cassiobury House and they lived in Little Cassiobury. Designed by Elizabeth, Lady Wilbraham , in

1116-694: Was essential in saving the captured Swiftsure and the Spanish ship Bahama , bringing them all safely to Gibraltar. On 4 November, Admiral Collingwood wrote "The extraordinary exertion of Captain Capel saved the French Swiftsure ; and his ship the Phoebe , together with the Dougal afterwards brought out the Bahama ". When the disabled Fougueux drifted away, Capel made repeated efforts to retrieve her but she broke up when she

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1152-534: Was hit by two 800 lb stone shot which killed three and injured ten of her crew. Capel was once again mentioned in dispatches for his part in the battle and received the ship of the line La Hogue as a command, which he took to the North American station at the outbreak of the War of 1812 . Capel remained on the North American station for the duration of the war where he commanded a small squadron along

1188-482: Was re-attached to Nelson and began the task of observing French naval movements. In April 1805 Phoebe spotted Vice-Admiral Villeneuve 's squadron leaving Toulon and while Nelson pursued them to the West Indies and back, Capel was ordered to use a squadron of 5 frigates and 2 bomb vessels to block French passage to Sicily , Sardinia and Egypt . The Franco-Spanish fleet entered Cadiz on 20 August Phoebe joined

1224-518: Was the fourth son of William Anne Capel, 4th Earl of Essex and first child of his second wife, Harriet. His mother also had influence as the daughter of Colonel Thomas Bladen , and Capel received preferential treatment due to his status from a very young age. Entered onto the books of HMS  Phaeton on 22 March 1782 as servant to Captain Waldegrave. He was just five years and 7 months old and this customary practice enabled him to rise rapidly through

1260-416: Was the third highest naval rank after general admiral and grand admiral . The rank of admiral has also been subdivided into various grades, several of which are historically extinct while others remain in use in most present-day navies. The Royal Navy used the colours red, white, and blue, in descending order to indicate seniority of its admirals until 1864; for example, Horatio Nelson 's highest rank

1296-567: Was vice-admiral of the white. The generic term for these naval equivalents of army generals is flag officer . Some navies have also used army-type titles for them, such as the Cromwellian "general at sea". While the rank is used in most of NATO countries, it is ranked differently depending on the country. HMS Arab (1798) Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include

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