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Sir Richard Bickerton, 2nd Baronet
Admiral (Royal Navy), Admiral Sir Richard Hussey Bickerton, 2nd Baronet, Order of the Bath, KCB, (11 October 1759 – 9 February 1832) was a British naval officer. He was born in Southampton, the son of Sir Richard Bickerton, 1st Baronet, Vice-admiral Sir Richard Bickerton and first served aboard HMS Medway (1742), HMS ''Medway'' in June 1774, in the Mediterranean. His first command came in March 1779 when he was given HMS Swallow (1779), HM Sloop ''Swallow'' as a reward for his part in an engagement with a much larger opponent. Bickerton later joined George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, Rodney's squadron in the West Indies where he took part in the capture of Sint Eustatius in 1781. Making Post-captain, post captain on 8 February 1781, he took temporary command of HMS Invincible (1765), HMS ''Invincible'' and fought in her at the Battle of Fort Royal on 29 April 1781. When Britain entered the French Revolutionary War in 1793, Bickerton joined the Channel Fleet before, in ...
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Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Portsmouth and the towns of Havant, Waterlooville, Eastleigh, Fareham and Gosport. A major port, and close to the New Forest, it lies at the northernmost point of Southampton Water, at the confluence of the River Test and Itchen, with the River Hamble joining to the south. Southampton is classified as a Medium-Port City . Southampton was the departure point for the and home to 500 of the people who perished on board. The Spitfire was built in the city and Southampton has a strong association with the ''Mayflower'', being the departure point before the vessel was forced to return to Plymouth. In the past century, the city was one of Europe's main ports for ocean liners and more recently, Southampton is known as the home port of s ...
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Fourth Anglo-Dutch War
The Fourth Anglo-Dutch War ( nl, Vierde Engels-Nederlandse Oorlog; 1780–1784) was a conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Dutch Republic. The war, contemporary with the War of American Independence (1775-1783), broke out over British and Dutch disagreements on the legality and conduct of Dutch trade with Britain's enemies in that war. Although the Dutch Republic did not enter into a formal alliance with the rebelling American colonies and their allies, American ambassador (and future president) John Adams managed to establish diplomatic relations with the Dutch Republic, making it the second European country to diplomatically recognise the Continental Congress in April 1782. In October 1782, a treaty of amity and commerce was concluded as well. Most of the war consisted of a series of British operations against Dutch colonial economic interests, although British and Dutch naval forces also met once off the Dutch coast. The war ended disastrously for th ...
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French Revolutionary War
The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Prussia, Russia, and several other monarchies. They are divided in two periods: the War of the First Coalition (1792–97) and the War of the Second Coalition (1798–1802). Initially confined to Europe, the fighting gradually assumed a global dimension. After a decade of constant warfare and aggressive diplomacy, France had conquered territories in the Italian Peninsula, the Low Countries and the Rhineland in Europe and abandoned Louisiana in North America. French success in these conflicts ensured the spread of revolutionary principles over much of Europe. As early as 1791, the other monarchies of Europe looked with outrage at the revolution and its upheavals; and they considered whether they should intervene, either in support of King ...
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Battle Of Fort Royal
The Battle of Fort Royal was a naval battle fought off Fort Royal, Martinique in the West Indies during the Anglo-French War on 29 April 1781, between fleets of the British Royal Navy and the French Navy. After an engagement lasting four hours, the British squadron under Admiral Samuel Hood broke off and retreated. Admiral de Grasse offered a desultory chase before seeing the French convoys safe to port. Background In March 1781, a large French fleet under the command of Grasse left the port of Brest. Most of this fleet was headed for the West Indies. Of the 26 ships of the line, one was sent to North America, and five, under the command of the Suffren, were destined for India. The remaining twenty arrived off to Martinique on 28 April. On 17 April, Grasse had detached a cutter which arrived at Martinique on 26 to inform Bouillé of his arrival. Before sailing to the lee (western) side of the island, Grasse anchored the fleet and sent someone ashore to gather news and brin ...
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Post-captain
Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy. The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from: * Officers in command of a naval vessel, who were (and still are) addressed as captain regardless of rank; * Commanders, who received the title of captain as a courtesy, whether they currently had a command or not (e.g. the fictional Captain Jack Aubrey in '' Master and Commander'' or the fictional Captain Horatio Hornblower in ''Hornblower and the Hotspur''); this custom is now defunct. In the Royal Navy of the 18th and 19th centuries, an officer might be promoted from commander to captain, but not have a command. Until the officer obtained a command, he was "on the beach" and on half-pay. An officer "took post" or was "made post" when he was first commissioned to command a vessel. Usually this was a rated vessel – that is, a ship too important to be commanded by a mere commander – but was occasionally an unrated one. ...
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Capture Of Sint Eustatius
The Capture of Sint Eustatius took place in February 1781 during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War when British army and naval forces under Lieutenant-General Sir John Vaughan and Admiral George Rodney seized the Dutch-owned Caribbean island of Sint Eustatius. The capture was controversial in Britain, as it was alleged that Vaughan and Rodney had used the opportunity to enrich themselves and had neglected more important military duties. The island was subsequently taken by Dutch-allied French forces in late 1781, ending the British occupation. Background St. Eustatius, a Dutch-controlled island in the West Indies, was an entrepot that operated as a major trading centre despite its relatively small size. During the American War of Independence it assumed increased importance, because a British blockade made it difficult to transport supplies directly across the Atlantic Ocean to US ports. St. Eustatius became a crucial source of supplies, and its harbour was filled with American tr ...
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West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater Antilles, the Lesser Antilles, and the Lucayan Archipelago. The subregion includes all the islands in the Antilles, plus The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, which are in the North Atlantic Ocean. Nowadays, the term West Indies is often interchangeable with the term Caribbean, although the latter may also include some Central and South American mainland nations which have Caribbean coastlines, such as Belize, French Guiana, Guyana, and Suriname, as well as the Atlantic island nations of Barbados, Bermuda, and Trinidad and Tobago, all of which are geographically distinct from the three main island groups, but culturally related. Origin and use of the term In 1492, Christopher Columbus became the first European to record his ...
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George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney
Admiral George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, KB ( bap. 13 February 1718 – 24 May 1792), was a British naval officer. He is best known for his commands in the American War of Independence, particularly his victory over the French at the Battle of the Saintes in 1782. It is often claimed that he was the commander to have pioneered the tactic of breaking the line. Rodney came from a distinguished but poor background, and went to sea at the age of fourteen. His first major action was the Second Battle of Cape Finisterre in 1747. He made a large amount of prize money during the 1740s, allowing him to purchase a large country estate and a seat in the House of Commons of Great Britain. During the Seven Years' War, Rodney was involved in a number of amphibious operations such as the raids on Rochefort and Le Havre and the Siege of Louisbourg. He became well known for his role in the capture of Martinique in 1762. Following the Peace of Paris, Rodney's financial situatio ...
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HMS Swallow (1779)
Thirty-nine vessels of the Royal Navy and its predecessors have borne the name ''Swallow'', as has one dockyard craft, one naval vessel of the British East India Company, and at least two revenue cutters, all after the bird, the Swallow: * was a ship launched in 1497, renamed ''Swallow'' when rebuilt in 1512. * was a 53-gun ship launched in 1544, rebuilt in 1558 and 1580 and sold in 1603. * was a discovery vessel listed in the Arctic in 1558 and captured by the Spanish in 1568. * was an 8-gun pinnace built in 1573 and condemned in 1603. * was a vessel listed in Newfoundland in 1583. * was a 40-gun ship launched in 1634. She served in the Royalist Navy from 1648 and was sold in 1653. * was a 6-gun ketch launched in 1657 and given to the Irish Packet Service in 1661. * was a 40-gun ship launched in 1653 as ''Gainsborough''. She was renamed HMS ''Swallow'' in 1660 and was wrecked in 1692. * was a 6-gun ketch purchased 1661, sold 1674. * was a 2-gun sloop launched in 1672 and ...
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Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant. The Sea has played a central role in the history of Western civilization. Geological evidence indicates that around 5.9 million years ago, the Mediterranean was cut off from the Atlantic and was partly or completely desiccated over a period of some 600,000 years during the Messinian salinity crisis before being refilled by the Zanclean flood about 5.3 million years ago. The Mediterranean Sea covers an area of about , representing 0.7% of the global ocean surface, but its connection to the Atlantic via the Strait of Gibraltar—the narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates the Iberian Peninsula in Europe from Morocco in Africa—is only wide. The Mediterran ...
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HMS Medway (1742)
HMS ''Medway'' was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built to the 1733 proposals of the 1719 Establishment at Rotherhithe Rotherhithe () is a district of south-east London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse on the north bank, as well as the Isle of D ..., and launched on 26 May 1742. ''Medway'' was scuttled in 1748. Notes References * Lavery, Brian (2003) ''The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. . External links * Ships of the line of the Royal Navy 1742 ships {{UK-line-ship-stub ...
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Sir Richard Bickerton, 1st Baronet
Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Bickerton, 1st Baronet (23 June 172725 February 1792) was a British naval officer who finished his career as a rear admiral in the Royal Navy and was ennobled as the first Baronet Bickerton of Upwood. He served in several naval engagements, and died Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth in 1792. His son Richard Hussey Bickerton, who likewise rose to flag rank in the Royal Navy, succeeded to the baronetcy following his death. Naval career Richard Bickerton was born on 23 June 1727 in Bridgnorth, the third son of a Lieutenant in the 4th Dragoon Guards. Educated at Westminster School, he joined the navy in 1739 and served aboard , , ''St George'', , and , before being commissioned as a lieutenant on 8 February 1746 at the age of 18. He served as a Lieutenant aboard the 60-gun fourth rate ''Worcester'' in 1748. On 2 August 1758 he was appointed Master and Commander of the fireship ''Etna'', and then on 21 August 1759 promoted to the rank of Captain and appo ...
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