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 ...
Sir Charles Cunningham
KCH (175511 March 1834) was an officer of 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 ...
during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. He saw action during the
American War of Independence and the
French Revolutionary and
Napoleonic Wars
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Napoleonic Wars
, partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
, image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg
, caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
, eventually rising to the rank of
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 ...
.
Early life
Son of Charles and Elizabeth Cunningham, Charles Cunningham was born in
Eye,
Suffolk
Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
in 1755, and after reading ''
Robinson Crusoe'' at a young age, decided on a career at sea.
As the country was at peace he joined a merchant ship. While serving as a seaman, the American War of Independence broke out and Cunningham joined the Royal Navy as a
midshipman
A midshipman is an officer of the lowest Military rank#Subordinate/student officer, rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Royal Cana ...
in 1775. He initially served aboard the 32-gun
frigate
A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied.
The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...
, which sailed to the
West Indies
The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...
in early 1776, joining
Sir Peter Parker's fleet.
Cunningham's abilities led to him being recommended to Parker, and Parker duly transferred him aboard his
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 ...
, .
He was transferred again to the 14-gun , which was despatched to cruise off Savannah Point,
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
.
On 8 July the ''Ostrich'' engaged a 16-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 ...
. In the ensuing three-hour battle, both the commander and the lieutenant of the ''Ostrich'' were wounded but the French were forced to surrender, having lost 30 dead. The British casualties were four dead and 28 wounded.
After his good conduct in the battle, Cunningham was appointed Acting-Lieutenant aboard the 18-gun sloop the following year. He then moved to the 28-gun
sixth rate as her First Lieutenant.
The ''Hinchinbrook'' was then under the command of
Horatio Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte ( – 21 October 1805) was a Royal Navy officer whose leadership, grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics brought about a number of decisive British naval victories during the French ...
.
Cunningham remained at sea after Nelson transferred to the shore to superintend the defences of Jamaica, transferring to the 36-gun in 1780.
The ''Pallas'' was ordered to escort the fleet from Jamaica back to Britain in summer 1782. During the crossing the squadron encountered a hurricane. Several of the ships were sunk and the ''Pallas'' was driven onto shore and wrecked.
Fortunately Cunningham had transferred from her just before she sailed, joining . He remained in the West Indies until receiving confirmation of his promotion on 4 September, and the command of the hired
brig
A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the l ...
''Barrington''.
Command
Cunningham was then sent with by
Sir Joshua Rowley to interdict the American salt trade with the
Bahamas
The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...
. He was successful at this, but whilst re-provisioning at Jamaica, a French force landed and seized
Turks Island.
Alerted to this, Nelson gathered together a small squadron and set off to attempt to recapture it, relying on Cunningham's expert knowledge of the waters around the island. Nelson's force fell in with Cunningham's ''Barrington'' off the island, and together the ''Barrington'' and another of Nelson's ships, began to bombard the French positions whilst troops were landed. The two ships came under heavy fire from the entrenched French and were compelled to withdraw, having had several wounded. Nelson tried again the following day, but again failed to make much headway, and the attempt was called off.
The end of the war in 1783 meant that the ''Barrington'' was paid off and Cunningham retired from active naval life.
He returned to service in 1788 when he joined Admiral
Sir William Cornwallis' flagship . He served for several years 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 ...
, before being promoted to commander and given command of the 16-gun sloop .
He then returned to Britain. He arrived after the
outbreak of war with France, and was quickly appointed to the 14-gun .
He then joined
Lord Hood's fleet in the Mediterranean, arriving there in April 1793.
He was largely employed in carrying despatches and maintaining communications with other ships scattered throughout the Mediterranean ports. On 5 October 1793 the ''Speedy'' accompanied and into
Genoa
Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...
, where they captured a French frigate, the ''Modeste'' and two armed
tartanes.
The ''Captain'' and ''Speedy'' then sailed to the
Gulf of Spezia where they caught another French frigate, the
''Imperieuse'' at anchor. The ''Imperieuse'' scuttled herself, but was subsequently salvaged and recommissioned as HMS ''Imperieuse''.
Cunningham was promoted to captain and given command of the prize, with his commission post-dated to the date of the capture, 12 October 1793.
He commanded the ''Imperieuse'' until early 1794, when he transferred to . He commanded her off
Corsica
Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...
, helping his old commander Nelson in the reduction of the French strongholds on the island.
Cunningham distinguished himself to the extent that Lord Hood entrusted him with the public despatches announcing the capture of the island, adding Cunningham was given command of , a 38-gun frigate he was to command for the next six years. He was at anchor with the fleet at the
Nore when the
Spithead and Nore mutinies broke out in 1797.
Actions during the mutiny

The Spithead and Nore mutinies were two major
mutinies by sailors of 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 ...
on various adjacent ships that broke out on 10 May 1797 and quickly spread. During the mutiny, only Cunningham aboard the ''Clyde'' and
Sir Harry Burrard-Neale aboard were able to retain control over the sailors on their respective ships.
By 22 May, the mutiny became more violent due to the
Admiralty refusing to make any concessions. To help signal their mutinous control over the
port admiral, the flag of the port admiral was torn down and replaced with the red flag.
Seven days later on 29 May, the mutineer leader
Richard Parker called for delegates to come from other ships to his headquarters aboard .
Sensing the time was right to escape, Cunningham did not reply to Parker's request. To keep the mutineers from suspecting his plan, Cunningham kept the sails of the ''Clyde'' down and did not man the ship's wheel with a
pilot
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...
.

After it grew sufficiently dark, Cunningham gathered his crew at 9pm and announced his intention to escape the mutiny by sailing the ''Clyde'' out of the port in the next three hours so that they would arrive at
Sheerness
Sheerness () is a port town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 13,249, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby ...
before daybreak.
He encouraged them by declaring that if they agreed to this, Sir Harry Neale would join them with the ''St Fiorenzo''. The crew almost unanimously agreed to this, and a single voice of dissent was quickly shouted down.
At midnight, Cunningham ordered the anchor raised and the ''Clyde'' silently slipped out of the port.
By daybreak, Cunningham and his ship arrived at Sheerness safely away from the mutiny.
The ''Clyde's'' successful escape from the mutineers cause an atmosphere of distrust to spread among those who agreed to follow the mutineer leaders.
This distrust formed the first effective blow against the ringleaders, and soon other ships were abandoning the mutinies and returning control to their respective commanders. As a result, the mutinies soon were quashed.
Return to service
The ''Clydes next duty was to escort a convoy to the Baltic.
While returning from this duty the ''Clyde'' came across and captured the French privateer ''Success'', and several days later captured the ''Dorade''.
Several men were put aboard the prize from the ''Clyde'', but while returning to port, a gale blew up. The prize had attempted to outsail the ''Clyde'' but capsized.
Cunningham stopped and lowered a boat to assist, but only four survivors were recovered.
In 1798 the ''Clyde'' was used to attend on
King George III during his trip to
Weymouth, after which she returned to cruising in the
English Channel
The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...
.
On 10 June 1799 she captured the French privateer
schooner
A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...
''Air'', following this up three days later by capturing the privateer ''Bon Ordre''.
On 20 August, while sailing off Cordovan, two sails were spotted in the distance. Thinking them to be a ship of the line and a frigate, Cunningham sailed closer, at which the two ships began to sail away in opposite directions. Cunningham immediately gave chase, pursuing the largest one, which turned out to be the 36-gun frigate
''Vestale''.
The ''Clyde'' brought her to battle and after an engagement of an hour forced her to strike her colours. The ''Vestale'' had lost 10 killed and 22 wounded to two killed and three wounded on the ''Clyde''.
In the meantime the other French ship, the 28-gun ''Sagasse'' had taken the opportunity to escape into port. News of the victory was communicated to shore. King George III was in the theatre when news reached him. He stood up and directed the news be communicated to the audience. There was applause and ''
Rule Britannia!'' was played.
The ''Clyde'' then joined
Sir John Jervis and Admiral Cornwallis. She was occupied throughout the summer of 1800 conveying the artist John Thomas Serres around the French coast so that he could carry out surveys and make sketches of the headlands for charts.
Cunningham was also active in capturing several Spanish privateers, and pursuing French warships.
In summer 1801 Cunningham was appointed Commodore, and given command of a squadron of frigates to guard against a possible French invasion of the
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...
.
On 21 July was wrecked on the French coast. Learning that the French intended to salvage and re-float the vessel, Cunningham sent the ''Clydes lieutenant,
William Mounsey in with the ship's boats to burn the wreck. In this Mounsey was successful, despite being under heavy fire from French shore batteries as he did so.
Promotions and flag rank
With the
Peace of Amiens the ''Clyde'' was paid off at the Nore on 24 June 1802.
The resumption of hostilities led to Cunningham being given command of the 74-gun and sent to patrol off the
Texel with a squadron.
He was relieved in this post by
Sir Sidney Smith, and Cunningham moved aboard .
In September 1803 he was offered a place on the
Victualling Board by Earl St Vincent, and moved ashore. In 1806 he became resident commissioner of
Deptford
Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century ...
and
Woolwich Dockyard
Woolwich Dockyard (formally H.M. Dockyard, Woolwich, also known as The King's Yard, Woolwich) was an English Royal Navy Dockyard, naval dockyard along the river Thames at Woolwich - originally in north-west Kent, now in southeast London - whe ...
s, which he superintended for the next seventeen years.
He moved to
Chatham Dockyard
Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham, Kent, Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham, Kent, Gillingham; at its most extens ...
in 1823, and he retired from there on 4 May 1829 with the rank of Rear-Admiral.
He was made a
Knight Commander of the Royal Guelphic Order on 24 October 1832.
In 1829 he had published his account of the events at the Nore, entitled ''A narrative of occurrences that took place during the mutiny at the Nore in the months of May and June 1797''.
Family and later years
Cunningham had married twice, first to Miss Boycott, and secondly to Miss Proby.
He had a number of children. His son joined the navy but died at sea in 1822.
Cunningham spent the later years of his life living with his daughters at the family seat of Oak Lawn House in Eye. He died there at the age of 80 on 11 March 1834.
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Charles
1755 births
1834 deaths
Royal Navy rear admirals
Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War
Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars
Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars
People from Eye, Suffolk
Governors of British Saint Christopher