Ralph Wrenn (died 26 March 1692) was an English naval

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Naval career

On 18 April 1672 Wrenn was appointed commander of the ''Hopewell''

fireship A fire ship or fireship, used in the days of wooden rowed or sailing ships, was a ship filled with combustibles, or gunpowder deliberately set on fire and steered (or, when possible, allowed to drift) into an enemy fleet, in order to destroy sh ...

, and in the following year of the Rose dogger. After the peace with the

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he was lieutenant of the Reserve; in 1677 he had command of the fireship ''Young Spragge''; in 1679 he was lieutenant of the in the Mediterranean with Morgan Kempthorne, and was so still in May 1681, when she fought a brilliant action with seven Algerine pirates. After Kempthorne's death Wrenn took the command and beat off the enemy. His gallantry was rewarded by a promotion to the command of the ''Nonsuch'' on 9 August 1681. In May 1682 he was moved into the ''Centurion'', to which, still in the Mediterranean, he was reappointed in May 1685. In 1687–1688, he commanded the , and in September 1688 he was appointed to the ''Greenwich'', one of the ships at the

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with

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during the critical October; from this appointment he was superseded after the revolution. In 1690, however, he was appointed to the ''Norwich'' of forty-eight guns, and in October 1691 was ordered out to the

Jamaica Station Jamaica station is a major train station of the Long Island Rail Road located in Jamaica, Queens, New York City. With weekday ridership exceeding 200,000 passengers, it is the largest transit hub on Long Island, the fourth-busiest rail stati ...

. He sailed from

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymout ...

on 26 December, and after a most favourable passage arrived at

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate ...

on 16 January 1691 – 1692, when his force consisted of the ''Mary'' and, besides the ''Norwich'', five fourth-rates, ships of from forty to fifty guns. He had orders to send one of these with the trade to

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; but, receiving intelligence that the French were in greater force than had been supposed, he detached two on this duty. Then, on a report that a squadron of nine French ships was cruising off Barbados, he strengthened his force with two hired merchant ships, and put to sea on 30 January. Not meeting with the enemy in a cruise of five days, he returned to Barbados, and, apprehending that the whole French fleet had gone to Jamaica, he sailed again on 17 February. On the 21st off Desirade he sighted the French fleet of more than three times his strength—eighteen ships of from forty to sixty guns, with some six or seven fireships and tenders. In face of such odds, Wrenn drew back, but was the next morning attacked by their full force. After a sharp action of four hours' duration, Wrenn found himself able to draw off and retire unpursued—‘the bravest action performed in the West Indies during the war’.Lediard, p. 655. He returned to Barbados, where a sickness carried off a great many of the men, and, among others, Wrenn himself.

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* * Lediard, Thomas, (1735), ''Naval History'' pp. 653–655

Naval career

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Further reading