Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Cornelius Mitchell (died 1749) 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 served as Commander-in-Chief of the Jamaica Station.

Naval career

Mitchell was promoted to

post captain Post-captain or post captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy. The term "post-captain" was descriptive only; it was never used as a title in the form "Post-Captain John Smith". The term served to di ...

on 14 June 1731 on appointment to the command of the

fourth-rate In 1603 all English warships with a complement of fewer than 160 men were known as 'small ships'. In 1625/26 to establish pay rates for officers, a six-tier naval ship rating system was introduced.Winfield 2009 These small ships were divided ...

HMS ''Larke''. He transferred to the command of the fourth-rate HMS ''Rochester'' in August 1739, of the

third-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Rating When the rating system was f ...

HMS ''Buckingham'' in October 1740, of the third-rate HMS ''Kent'' in 1741 and of the fourth-rate HMS ''Adventure'' in 1744. He was accused of failing to pursue a French squadron when in charge of a superior force in August 1746 and, although he served briefly as Commander-in-Chief of the Jamaica Station in 1746, he was tried by

court-martial A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the arme ...

and sentenced to be

cashiered Cashiering (or degradation ceremony), generally within military forces, is a ritual dismissal of an individual from some position of responsibility for a breach of discipline. Etymology From the Flemish (to dismiss from service; to discard ...

and "rendered incapable of ever being employed in his Majesty's service" in January 1748.Mahan, p. 67

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Cornelius Royal Navy captains 1749 deaths Royal Navy officers who were court-martialled