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 ...

Charles Steevens (c. 1705 – 20 May 1761) was a

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 ...

officer who became Commander-in-Chief of the

East Indies Station The East Indies Station was a formation and command of the British Royal Navy. Created in 1744 by the Admiralty, it was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies. Even in official documents, the term ''East Indies Station'' wa ...

Naval career

Born the fifth son of John Steevens, Steevens was promoted to

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 the Royal Navy in 1729.Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
/ref> In 1738 as a lieutenant on HMS ''Falmouth'' he was involved in an incident whereby he insisted that Captain William Douglas, commanding officer of the ship, be confined in his cabin ''for the preservation of their lives'', he being ''disordered in his senses'': Steevens eventually gave Douglas a public apology and thereby avoided court martial. He was given command of HMS ''Cumberland'' in 1741 and was present at the

Battle of Cartagena de Indias The Battle of Cartagena de Indias () took place during the 1739 to 1748 War of Jenkins' Ear between Spanish Empire, Spain and Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain. The result of long-standing commercial tensions, the war was primarily fough ...

in the Spring of that year. He went on to command HMS ''Phaeton'' later that year, HMS ''Ludlow Castle'' from 1742 and HMS ''Portland'' from 1744 (in which he was involved in the capture of three French ships). He briefly commanded HMS ''Tiger'' before becoming Commander-in-Chief of the

Leeward Islands The Leeward Islands () are a group of islands situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean. Starting with the Virgin Islands east of Puerto Rico, they extend southeast to Guadeloupe and its dependencies. In Engl ...

in HMS ''Lichfield'' in 1755. On return to England he was given command of HMS ''Oxford''. He became Commander-in-Chief of the

in 1760 with the rank of

commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (India), in India ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ' ...

. Promoted rear-admiral of the blue, he organised the Naval siege of Pondicherry in September 1760, receiving their surrender in January 1761.Jaques, Tony ''Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: P-Z'', p. 808
/ref> He died, unmarried, at

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

on 20 May 1761.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steevens, Charles 1705 births 1761 deaths Royal Navy rear admirals