John Wainwright
C.B. was an officer in 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 ...
.
In 1806, he became captain of the frigate
HMS Chiffonne and, in 1809, was the
commodore of a squadron sent to suppress
pirates in the Persian Gulf.
After having led that joint-services expedition to ‘''burn the Pirates out of the Gulf''’, he was awarded a
scimitar by a grateful emir and a gift ‘for plate’ by the Honourable East India Company. In recompense for the period without the opportunity to capture prizes, he was invited to escort on ''Chiffonne'' the 1810 Trade fleet from India to China, involving a lucrative ‘freight’ fee.
In 1814, he captained Admiral Cochrane's flagship, , and saw action against the
Chesapeake Bay Flotilla of
Joshua Barney in the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
.,
and subsequently landed some of the Marines who later helped burn Washington.
In 1819, he became lieutenant governor of the
Royal Naval College in Portsmouth but died within ten days.
John Wainwright's father, also John, had been an RN Master's Mate at the siege of Quebec, his elder son, also John, was navigating lieutenant on HMS ''Blossom'' on the 1825–1828
Beechey expedition through the Bering Strait, and his younger son James Francis Ballard Wainwright
C.B. was commissioning captain on .
['John Wainwright and family', MG 24 F 125, Finding Aid No. 2333. National Archives of Canada: (Collected letters, transcript by request)]
See also
:
British Warships in the Age of Sail
References
Companions of the Order of the Bath
Royal Navy personnel of the War of 1812
1819 deaths
Military personnel from Hampshire
Royal Navy captains
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