Richard Dacres (Royal Navy officer)
Sir Richard Dacres | |
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Vice admiral | |
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| Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order |
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Sir Richard Dacres
Family and early life
Richard Dacres was born in September 1761, the fifth son of Richard and Mary Dacres, and younger brother to
American war
Dacres himself entered the navy in 1775 to serve aboard the 50-gun
Dacres then served aboard Victory, flagship of Sir Charles Hardy, Commander-in Chief of the Channel Fleet. Hardy promoted Dacres to lieutenant into the frigate Amazon, under Captain the Honourable William Finch, with whom he sailed to the West Indies in early 1780. On 10/11 October 1780 Amazon narrowly escaped destruction during a violent hurricane, having to cut down her masts and throw her guns and anchors overboard to prevent the ship from capsizing. Twenty of her crew were drowned or badly hurt.[2]
He then served as
Dacres remained in Alcide till 1783, when he was appointed to
War with France
He was initially given command of the hired armed
Hannibal was put out of commission in early 1794, and he was appointed first lieutenant of the frigate
In early 1797, Dacres took command of the frigate Astraea. He managed to slip away from the mutiny at the Nore, and then escorted a fleet of valuable merchant ships to the Baltic. He captured numerous French and Dutch privateers over the next two years. Astrea was paid off in 1799, and Dacres was again unemployed until early 1801, when he was appointed to command of the 80-gun Juste, accompanying Sir Robert Calder in his voyage to the Caribbean, following Ganteaume's escape from Brest. On his return to England, he was appointed to the 68-gun De Ruyter, guard ship at Spithead, remaining there until the cessation of hostilities in early 1802. He then sailed to Jamaica in Desiree with the squadron under Sir George Campbell, but ill-health soon forced him to return home. On the renewal of the war in 1803, Dacres was appointed to command of the Sea Fencibles at Dartmouth.[2]
In 1806 Sir W. Sidney Smith specifically requested Dacres join him in the Mediterranean as his
Later life
Dacres returned from the campaign, which proved to be his last command at sea. On 2 February 1808 he was appointed the first governor of the Royal Naval Asylum after its move to Greenwich, serving there until August 1816. He was promoted to rear-admiral on 29 March 1817[6] on the Retired List,[2] and a vice-admiral on 22 July 1830.[7] He was nominated a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order on 25 January 1836, and died at Balibroke Villas, near Bath, Somerset on 22 January 1837 at the age of 75.[6]
Family and personal life
In 1788 he married Martha Phillips Milligan,
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Tracy (2006), p. 109
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Marshall (1824), pp. 29–32
- ^ "No. 13811". The London Gazette. 5 September 1795. p. 915.
- ^ Winfield (2008), p. 226
- ^ Allen (1852), p. 192
- ^ a b Tracy (2006), p. 110
- ^ "No. 18709". The London Gazette. 23 July 1830. p. 1540.
- ^ Dod (1860), p. 202
- ^ Burke (1841), p. 139
- ^ O'Byrne (1849), p. 173
- ^ Pine (1972), p. 210
References
- Allen, Joseph (1852). Battles of the British Navy. Vol. 87. Henry G. Bohn.
- Edmund Burke, ed. (1841). The Annual Register. Vol. 82. London: F. J. F. & J. Rivington. pp. 91 v.
- Dod, Robert P. (1860). The Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage, of Great Britain and Ireland for 1860. London: Whitaker and Co.
- Marshall, John (1824). Royal Naval Biography : or Memoirs of the services of all the flag-officers, superannuated rear-admirals, retired-captains, post-captains and commanders, whose names appeared on the Admiralty list of sea officers at the commencement of the year 1760, or who have since been promoted; illustrated by a series of historical and explanatory notes. With copious addenda. Vol. II, Part I. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green.
- O'Byrne, William Richard (1849). A Naval Biographical Dictionary: comprising the life and services of every living officer in Her Majesty's navy, from the rank of admiral of the fleet to that of lieutenant, inclusive. London: John Murray.
- Pine, L. G. (1972). The New Extinct Peerage 1884-1971: Containing Extinct, Abeyant, Dormant and Suspended Peerages With Genealogies and Arms. London: Heraldry Today.
- Tracy, Nicholas (2006). Who's who in Nelson's Navy: 200 Naval Heroes. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-244-5.
- Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714-1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. London: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-86176-295-5.
- Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793-1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates (2nd ed.). London: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-84415-717-4.
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