Admiral
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
Sir Samuel Pym
KCB (1778–1855) was a British admiral, brother of Sir
William Pym.
In June 1788, Pym joined the Royal Navy as captain's servant of the frigate ''
Eurydice''. He was promoted to lieutenant of the
sloop
A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...
''Martin'', under Captain William Grenville Lobb, and served under Lobb aboard the and the
'' Aimable''.
From November 1798, Pym served aboard the ''
Ethalion'' (36), taking part in the capture of the Spanish ''Thetis'' and ''Santa-Brigida'' in 1799. The ''Ethalion'' was wrecked on the
Penmarks on Christmas Day.
From April 1804, Pym served aboard the ''
Mars'', and from June on the 74-gun ''
Atlas'', under the overall command of Sir
John Thomas Duckworth. Pym was decorated after the
Battle of San Domingo, on 6 February 1806.
In October 1808, Pym took command of the 36-gun frigate ''
Sirius'', in the squadron of Commodore
Rowley Rowley may refer to:
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.
In 1810, Pym was sent to the
Isle de France (now
Mauritius) to lead a squadron consisting of the frigates
''Sirius'',
''Iphigenia'',
''Nereide'', and the
brig
A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...
''Staunch''. On 13 August, the squadron captured the Île de la Passe which commanded the entrance of Grand Port, and moved to blockade Port Louis. On 21 August, the squadron seized the East Indiaman ''Wyndham'', previously captured by the French, and learnt that a French frigate squadron had arrived at Grand Port.
The British squadron attempted to attack the French squadron at anchor and moved into the harbour. Entering it, the ''Sirius'' and
''Magicienne'' ran aground and became unmanoeuverable. The ''Nereide'' struck her colours before the French frigates, and the ''Sirius'' and ''Magicienne'' were scuttled by fire. The last ship of the squadron, the ''Iphigenia'', surrendered two days later. Pym, then at the Île de la Passe, was taken prisoner along with the whole garrison. The
Battle of Grand Port became the only defeat of a British squadron against Napoleonic France. Pym was released in December when Sir
Albemarle Bertie recaptured the Île de la Passe. He was court-martialled and found innocent of the defeat.
In February 1812, Pym was in command of the 74-gun ship
''Hannibal'', off
Cherbourg
Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 Feb ...
, in May of the
''Niemen'', and in 1830 of
HMS ''Kent''.
Pym was made a rear-admiral in 1837. He served as
admiral-superintendent at
Devonport from 1841 to 1846, and in the autumn of 1845 commanded the
experimental squadron in the Channel. He was promoted to
vice-admiral in 1847 and to full admiral in 1851.
See also
*
External links
Samuel Pym 1778-1855 by Peter Davis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pym, Samuel
British naval commanders of the Napoleonic Wars
Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars
1778 births
1885 deaths
Royal Navy admirals
Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath