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

Richard Rundle Burges (or Burgess; 10 September 1754 – 11 October 1797) was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

officer noted for his actions in the

Battle of Camperdown The Battle of Camperdown (known in Dutch as the ''Zeeslag bij Kamperduin'') was a major naval action fought on 11 October 1797, between the British North Sea Fleet under Admiral Adam Duncan and a Batavian Navy (Dutch) fleet under Vice-Admira ...

, where he perished while commanding .

Career

Burges was commissioned as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

in the

on 21 November 1772. While serving on during the Anglo-French War, he was injured in the

action of 18 October 1782 The action of 18 October 1782 was a minor naval engagement of the American Revolutionary War, in which the French 74-gun ship of the line French ship Scipion (1778), ''Scipion'', accompanied by the 40-gun frigate French frigate Sibylle (1777), '' ...

against the French ship .

As commander

Burges was posted as commander on 7 December 1782. He commanded a series of ships with this rank: * HMS ''Keppel'' (7–15 December 1782) * HMS ''Vaughan'' (15 December 1782 – 12 May 1783) * HMS ''Savage'' (23 June 1786 – 13 Aug 1790)

As captain

The Commissioned Sea Officers of the Royal Navy listed Burges as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on 21 September 1790, after which he commanded a series of warships: * ''Ferret'' * ''Culloden'' * ''Argo'' * ''Ardent'' As captain of ''Culloden'', a 74-gun

ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...

, Burges participated in the

Glorious First of June The Glorious First of June (1 June 1794), also known as the Fourth Battle of Ushant, (known in France as the or ) was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic ...

, where his ship suffered seven casualties (two dead and five wounded). Burges gained command of ''Ardent'', a

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). Years of experience proved that the third ...

64-gun ship of the line, in 1797.

Battle of Camperdown and death

On 11 October, he participated in the

where he would lose his life. Serving under Admiral Adam Duncan, Burges and ''Ardent'' joined the northern of two divisions in the British fleet—including Duncan's flagship ''Venerable''—which aimed for the Dutch flagship ''Vrijheid''. When ''Venerable'' diverted south, ''Ardent'' attacked the larger ''Vrijheid'' alone. There she suffered more than a hundred casualties, including Burges himself, who was cut in two by a

chain shot In artillery, chain shot is a type of cannon projectile formed of two sub-calibre balls, or half-balls, chained together. Bar shot is similar, but joined by a solid bar. They were used in the age of sailing ships and black powder cannon to sho ...

in the first ten minutes of battle. During the fight, Burges' men "fought like maniacs." ''Ardent'' suffered the most casualties of any British ship, over 12% of the total British losses in battle. In 1802, Burges was honored with a monument in

St. Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a ...

in London, documenting his action in the battle.

References

Posthumous engraving of Burges at the National Portrait Gallery

Service record at threedecks.org

Biography at morethannelson.com

Commission and Warrant Book 6/23, 1783–1789 Aug.
* '' British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates'' (2007) {{Authority control 1754 births 1797 deaths Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars