24-703: Rear Admiral Sir Thomas Troubridge, 1st Baronet (22 June 1757 – 1 February 1807) was a Royal Navy officer. As a junior officer he saw action at the Battle of Sadras in February 1782 during the American Revolutionary War and the Battle of Trincomalee in September 1782 during the Anglo-French War . He commanded the third-rate Culloden at the Battle of Cape St Vincent in February 1797 during
48-579: A gale on 18 February. Another frigate later reported in Calcutta that ships answering to the descriptions of Blenheim and Java had been seen in distress off Réunion after the gale, had put in for repairs at Île Sainte-Marie in February 1807 and had sailed again. No further trace of the ships was ever found, despite an extensive search by Troubridge's son Captain Edward Troubridge in Greyhound and
72-463: A lack of skilled workmen in the yard, and by Navy Board attempts to reduce waste and misuse in dockyard practices. In April 1757 Blenheim ' s shipwrights walked out in protest against a Navy Board reform that impacted on their traditional entitlement to remove spare timbers for personal use. Construction had fallen further behind schedule by the time they returned to work, with Blenheim not finally completed until July 1761. The newly built vessel
96-523: 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 . The rank originated in the 17th century, in the days of naval sailing squadrons when each naval squadron would be assigned an admiral as its head. The admiral would command from the centre vessel and direct
120-577: The Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1797. By 1801, this by now 40-year-old ship had become so badly hogged as to be unsafe for sea. However, she was razeed to a 74-gun Third Rate in 1801–1802, and set sail for Barbados under the command of Captain Peter Bover at the end of the year, carrying Captain Samuel Hood and other commissioners to Trinidad . On 14 November 1803 the French privateer Harmonie entered
144-614: The Cape Station. He left Madras in January 1807 for the Cape of Good Hope. Off the coast of Madagascar , Blenheim , an old and damaged ship, foundered in a cyclone and the admiral and all others on board perished. 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
168-587: The French Revolutionary Wars . He went on to be First Naval Lord and then served as Commander-in-Chief, East Indies , during the Napoleonic Wars . Born the son of Richard Troubridge, a baker , Troubridge was educated at St Paul's School , London . He entered the Royal Navy on 8 October 1773 and, together with Horatio Nelson , served in the East Indies in the frigate HMS Seahorse . He
192-517: The French ship of the line Marengo and frigate Belle Poule . There was a brief exchange of fire before both sides sailed on. Troubridge reprimanded the captains of Cumberland and Preston for having acted too boldly in exchanging fire with the French. By the time Troubridge received orders to take command at the Cape of Good Hope , at the beginning of 1807, Blenheim was in alarming condition, and required constant pumping to keep her afloat. Despite
216-571: The French while escorting a convoy, but he was liberated soon afterwards. On his return he was appointed to command Culloden , a third-rate ship of the line , in which he fought at the Battle of the Hyères Islands , led an unsuccessful pursuit of a French squadron in the Aegean Sea , and led the line at the Battle of Cape St Vincent , being commended for his courage and initiative by Admiral Sir John Jervis . In July 1797 he assisted Nelson in
240-761: The Royal Navy, which named her HMS Grenada . Captain Loftus Bland sailed Blenheim back to Portsmouth in 1804. In 1805, Blenheim sailed for Madras under the command of Captain Austin Bissell , as the flagship of Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Troubridge, Bt . On 7 August 1805, Blenheim was escorting a fleet of East Indiamen consisting of Castle Eden , Cumberland , Devonshire , Dorsetshire , Exeter , Hope , and Preston . They were at 19°3′S 17°15′E / 19.050°S 17.250°E / -19.050; 17.250 when they encountered
264-402: 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 squadron, a third admiral would command the remaining ships and, as this section of the squadron was considered to be in the least danger, the admiral in command of the rear would typically be the most junior of
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#1732855838942288-668: The fort, which was only guarded by 15 men, who they took prisoner. They spiked six 24-pounder guns and three 18-pounders, and blew up the magazine. The cutting out party met with resistance from Harmonie and suffered the only British casualties. Hermione , of eight guns, had had a crew of 66 men under the command of Citizen Noyer at the start of the British attack. Some 12 escaped overboard and some may have drowned. Two were killed and 14 wounded. Blenheim had one man killed and two wounded, and Drake had three wounded, one dangerously so. The inhabitants of Grenada purchased and donated Harmonie to
312-540: The harbour at Le Marin, together with a prize that she had taken. Captain Thomas Graves, in Blenheim , determined to cut her out. He beat around Diamond Rock but was not able to get into position until the 16th. He then decided to put 60 seamen in four boats, and 60 marines into another four. The seamen were to go into the harbour to cut out Harmonie , while the marines were to attack a battery of nine guns at Fort Dunkirk on
336-467: The office of Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom , which is an Admiralty position usually held by a senior (and possibly retired) "full" admiral. HMS Blenheim (1761) HMS Blenheim was a 90-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy , built by Israel Pownoll and launched on 5 July 1761 at Woolwich . In 1797 she participated in the Battle of Cape St Vincent . In 1801 Blenheim
360-463: The request of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies, Edward Pellew , that he transfer his flag to another ship, Troubridge determined to take her to the Cape. Bissell also warned Troubridge of Blenheim ' s condition, but received in return the taunt that he might go ashore if he liked. Unable to shake Troubridge's confidence, Bissell composed a last letter to his wife before sailing, convinced
384-634: The ship would founder. Blenheim left Madras on 12 January 1807, in the company of the sloop HMS Harrier (Capt. Justice Finley) and the frigate HMS Java (Capt. George Pigot), the latter recently captured from the Dutch. The two parted company from Harrier in a gale on 5 February 1807. When Harrier last saw them at 22°44′S 66°11′E / 22.733°S 66.183°E / -22.733; 66.183 they were flying signals of distress. The French frigate Sémillante later reported having seen Blenheim off Rodrigues in
408-403: The squadron admirals. This has survived into the modern age, with the rank of rear admiral the most junior of the admiralty ranks of many navies. Prior to 1864 the Royal Navy was divided into coloured squadrons which determined career path . The command flags flown by a rear-admiral changed a number of times during this period. The Royal Navy rank of rear admiral should be distinguished from
432-464: The starboard side of the bay to block French reinforcements from massing there. Drake arrived on the scene and Graves had Captain William Ferris lead the seamen in the attack, together with 16 men from her. Drake towed the cutting out party, whilst the hired armed cutter Swift towed the marines. The two parties set out at 11p.m., and at 3a.m. the two attacks succeeded. The marines captured
456-515: The unsuccessful attack on Santa Cruz de Tenerife . In August 1798, when getting into position for the attack on the French fleet, Culloden ran aground on a shoal near the entrance to Aboukir Bay and was consequently unable to take any part in the Battle of the Nile . At Nelson's request, however, he was awarded the gold medal commemorating the victory. Troubridge then served in the Mediterranean and
480-585: Was razeed to a third rate . She disappeared off Madagascar with all hands in February 1807. Blenheim was first ordered to be built in November 1755 as part of an Admiralty program to expand the Royal Navy fleet ahead of the onset of the Seven Years' War with France. Construction was assigned to the Navy dockyard at Woolwich with an intended completion date of September 1759. However there were major delays arising from
504-726: Was commissioned into the Royal Navy in August 1761, for the final year of the Seven Years' War , but paid off in June 1762. She was recommissioned in March 1777 under Captain Broderick Hartwell, but paid off again in September 1784. She was recommissioned for her third war in August 1794 under Captain Charles Calmady. Under the command of John Bazely from December 1794, she took part in the Battle of Hyères Islands in 1795. Blenheim then fought at
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#1732855838942528-680: Was created a baronet on 30 November 1799. In February 1801 he joined the Board of Admiralty as First Naval Lord . Promoted to a rear-admiral on 21 April 1804, Troubridge was appointed to command the eastern half of the East Indies Station , and he went out in Blenheim with his resignation from the Admiralty Board becoming effective in May 1804. On his arrival the area of command was changed to that of
552-508: Was given command of the frigate Active and was present at the Siege of Cuddalore in June 1783. After that he transferred to the third-rate Defence . In 1785 Troubridge returned to England in Sultan as flag-captain to Admiral Sir Edward Hughes . He was appointed to the frigate HMS Thames in 1790. Appointed to command the frigate Castor in May 1794, he and his ship were captured by
576-478: Was promoted to lieutenant on 1 January 1781 on the newly-purchased sloop Chaser . On 3 March he returned to Seahorse . In her he took part in the Battle of Sadras in February 1782 during the American Revolutionary War and the Battle of Trincomalee in September 1782 during the Anglo-French War . His first command was the sloop Lizard in October 1782. Promoted to post-captain on 1 January 1783, Troubridge
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