Bataille de la Martinique en 1780 vue par le peintre Thomas Luny

Thomas Collingwood (c.1730 – 1780) was a British

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 ...

commander, who served on , , and , among others. Collingwood played an important role in the

Battle of Grenada The Battle of Grenada took place on 6 July 1779 during the American Revolutionary War in the West Indies between the British Royal Navy and the French Navy, just off the coast of Grenada. A British fleet led by Admiral John Byron (the grandfath ...

and the

Battle of Martinique (1780) The Battle of Martinique, also known as the Combat de la Dominique, took place on 17 April 1780 during the American Revolutionary War in the West Indies between the British Royal Navy and the French Navy. Origins In March 1780, the French ch ...

Life and career

Thomas Collingwood was promoted to lieutenant on 28 October 1750. On 9 September 1756 he was assigned command of the ship , a vessel used to transmit Vice Admiral Sir Edward Hawke's messages from

Minorca Menorca or Minorca (from , later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Mallorca. Its capital is Maó, situated on the is ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. Collingwood used the ''Fortune'' to capture a French

xebec A xebec ( or ), also spelled zebec, was a Mediterranean sailing ship that originated in the barbary states (Algeria), it was used mostly for trading. Xebecs had a long overhanging bowsprit and aft-set mizzen mast. The term can also refer to a ...

in the port of

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

s, in addition to messenger services. He was promoted to captain two months later and given command of the frigate . The ''Siren'' was stationed in the Mediterranean around

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

and chased the French man-of-war "La Nymphe" from Sardinia to the

Barbary Coast The Barbary Coast (also Barbary, Berbery, or Berber Coast) were the coastal regions of central and western North Africa, more specifically, the Maghreb and the Ottoman borderlands consisting of the regencies in Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, a ...

in February 1757 but was unable to catch her or engage in combat. On 25 March 1757 she travelled to

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

to assist in escort duties: despite six French men-of-war patrolling the seas, they were able to transport 20 commercial ships from Cagliari to

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

through Leghorn with no casualties. A newly outfitted French warship assaulted her off the coast of

Cape Spartel Cape Spartel (; ; ) is a promontory in Morocco about above sea level at the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, 12 km west of Tangier. It is the northwesternmost point of the African continent. Below the cape are the Caves of Hercules. Des ...

in December 1757. The ''Siren'' was victorious after a 90-minute struggle. This sparked an issue in

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, where the British consul, James Read, was asked to make reparations on Britain's behalf for the ship's loss. He resisted and was imprisoned and tortured as a result. On 18 February 1758 Read committed suicide by shooting himself with his gun. Meanwhile, ''Siren'' landed in Leghorn on 29 January with seven fishing vessels she had escorted from Gibraltar. She then worked with to transport different vessels from Leghorn,

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, and

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back to Gibraltar without incident. She then took part in a convoy from Gibraltar to

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

before being paid off temporarily to undergo significant repairs. Collingwood had a spell of shore leave from June to October 1758 before gaining command of the newly launched , which he subsequently carried to the

Leeward Islands The Leeward Islands () are a group of islands situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean. Starting with the Virgin Islands east of Puerto Rico, they extend southeast to Guadeloupe and its dependencies. In Engl ...

in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

as part of the activities against the French fleet there. On 22 February 1759, he was dispatched to look for French ships harassing British ships off the coast of the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

. He fought and captured five French ships in different actions between August 1759 and March 1761. The British ship "Berkeley," which had been taken under the name "Le Berkeley," was among them. He was a member of the British navy that seized

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

in January 1762. In March 1762 he was promoted to captain of , which he led during the 6 June raid on

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Cape Clear on 18 December 1762. Collingwood and the majority of the crew survived the accident, although it took some time to assign Collingwood a new command, as was customary in such situations, especially with a new ship. After a few years of shore leave (on half pay), he was granted command of in November 1766. Tweed's lone notable assignment was an envoy voyage to

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(possibly mooring in

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). From February 1770 until November 1771 he was on shore leave again before taking command of , which was deployed to monitor the west coast of Africa until 1774, when she was paid off. After another four years on shore leave, he was assigned command of in January 1778. However, command was transferred to Captain William Cumming before to Monmouth's participation in the

. Collingwood was appointed command of in February 1779. Collingwood consequently took part in the

on ''Fame'' rather than ''Monmouth'' on 6 July. Collingwood was transferred aboard eight days after the engagement, most likely owing to Fame damage. Grafton was involved in the same conflict but appears to have escaped unharmed. Two weeks after Collingwood took command of Grafton, the ship was promoted to

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

status in the Royal Navy, with Collingwood serving as Flag Officer. In this capacity, he was a key figure in the Battle of Martinique on 17 April 1780. Collingwood attributed the British defeat on his inability to appropriately alert other ships and his detachment from his own squadron. Admiral Rodney disagreed and attempted unsuccessfully to ease his guilt. Collingwood began to lose his mind and was placed aboard , which was to take him to

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

. Collingwood died one day after the decision to send him home was made. On 2 June 1780 he was buried at sea.

Family

He was married to Mary Hughes (d.1824) daughter of Sir Richard Hughes Her great nephew Sir Thomas Collingwood Hughes (1800-1889) the 8th baronet of her father's line, was named in Collingwood's honour.Burkes Peerage: Thomas Collingwood Hughes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collingwood, Thomas 1780 deaths Royal Navy officers Shipwreck survivors Year of birth uncertain Royal Navy captains