Thomas Fortescue Kennedy
Thomas Fortescue Kennedy | |
---|---|
Born | 9 November 1774 |
Died | 15 May 1846 | (aged 71)
Allegiance | Post-Captain |
Commands held | HMS Cordelia HMS Temeraire |
Battles/wars | French Revolutionary Wars
|
Thomas Fortescue Kennedy (9 November 1774 – 15 May 1846) was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
Kennedy was born into a family with a history of military service, and entered the navy shortly before the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars. After some service on frigates during the various armament crises, in which Kennedy saw service on foreign stations, he was actively involved in the
Aboard Temeraire Kennedy fought at
Family and early life
Kennedy was born on 9 November 1774, the son of Dr Kennedy, the Inspector-General of Army Hospitals and physician to the
Thomas Kennedy differed from his brothers in embarking on a career in the navy, joining up on 12 August 1789 as a volunteer first class, under the patronage of Admiral
French Revolutionary Wars
Kennedy then served aboard the 74-gun
Kennedy rejoined Lively after this, and continued in her until April 1798. His next appointment was to the 74-gun HMS Triumph, serving at first under Captain William Essington, and later under captains Thomas Seacombe, Eliab Harvey and Sir Robert Barlow. Terrible spent some time during this period as the flagship of Rear-Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, and Kennedy served in the English Channel and in the Mediterranean.[1]
Napoleonic Wars
Trafalgar
After leaving Triumph in January 1803, Kennedy took command of the small tender Eliza and Jane in 5 October until 15 November. His role was to convey impressed men from Dublin to Plymouth.[1] He was then asked by his former commander, Eliab Harvey, to join him as his first-lieutenant aboard the 98-gun HMS Temeraire.[1] Both Kennedy and Harvey fought at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805, in which Temeraire was second in line behind Lord Nelson's flagship, the 100-gun HMS Victory. During the battle Temeraire was engaged in close action with two French warships, Redoutable and Fougueux. After firing several broadsides into Fougueux, Harvey ordered Kennedy to take command of a party of boarders and lead them onto Fougueux. Kennedy's party entered the French ship via her main deck ports and chains.[3][4] The French tried to defend the decks port by port, but were steadily overwhelmed. Fougueux's captain, Louis Alexis Baudoin, had suffered a fatal wound earlier in the fighting, leaving Commander Francois Bazin in charge. On learning that nearly all of the officers were dead or wounded and that most of the guns were out of action, Bazin surrendered the ship to Kennedy.[5][6]
Commander
Following the decisive victory at Trafalgar, a round of promotions were made to a number of the officers and men who had fought in the battle. Most of the first-lieutenants present at the battle were promoted to commander, and Kennedy duly received his promotion, dated 24 December 1805.[1] The shortage of ships available for officers of his rank meant that it was not until 29 August 1808 that he received a posting, to the 10-gun HMS Cordelia.[1][7] He commissioned her for service in the North Sea and in 1809 served in the Walcheren Campaign. While in command he took part in the capture of three privateers and a number of merchantmen, and later commanded a squadron of eight brigs tasked with blockading two 40-gun French frigates at Dunkirk.[1][2] His blockade was successful, and being unable to escape, the frigates were eventually laid up.[1] He was eventually promoted to post-captain on 4 December 1813, but did not receive another ship before the end of the Napoleonic Wars.[1][2]
Later years and family
The draw-down of the navy in peacetime offered few opportunities for further service, but on 24 June 1834 Kennedy received a posting as Captain-Superintendent at
Kennedy received orders from the Admiralty in June 1838 to have Temeraire valued in preparation for her sale out of the service, and work began on dismantling her on 4 July.[9] Kennedy delegated this task to Captain Sir John Hill, commander of HMS Ocean.[9] Temeraire was sold by Dutch auction on 16 August 1838 to John Beatson, a shipbreaker based at Rotherhithe, for £5,530. She was then towed up the Thames to his yard, a voyage that J. M. W. Turner depicted in his painting The Fighting Temeraire tugged to her last Berth to be broken up, 1838.[9][12] Kennedy's commission did not long outlive Temeraire's. He left his post at Sheerness in 1838 and went into retirement, dying on 15 May 1846.[1]
Kennedy married twice. His first marriage took place on 2 October 1806 to Louisa Adlam. The marriage produced two sons who survived him, both of whom entered the military and became officers: George Kennedy served in the Royal Artillery, and his brother Hugh Kennedy served in the Royal Marines. Kennedy remarried on 2 October 1834 to Hannah Kennedy, the widow of a Dr Kennedy, but no children are reported.[1]
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u O'Byrne. A Naval Biographical Dictionary. p. 607.
- ^ a b c d e f Mackenzie. The Trafalgar Roll. p. 51.
- ^ Willis. The Fighting Temeraire. p. 193.
- ^ Adkin. The Trafalgar Companion. p. 508.
- ^ Willis. The Fighting Temeraire. p. 194.
- ^ Clayton & Craig. Trafalgar. p. 210.
- ^ Winfield. British Warships of the Age of Sail 1793–1817. p. 297.
- ^ Willis. The Fighting Temeraire. p. 255.
- ^ a b c d Goodwin. The Ships of Trafalgar. p. 45.
- ^ Willis. The Fighting Temeraire. p. 256.
- ^ Winfield. British Warships of the Age of Sail 1793–1817. p. 26.
- ^ Willis. The Fighting Temeraire. p. 257.
References
- Adkin, Mark (2007). The Trafalgar Companion: A Guide to History's Most Famous Sea Battle and the Life of Admiral Lord Nelson. London: Aurum Press. ISBN 978-1-84513-018-3.
- Clayton, Tim; Craig, Phil (2005). Trafalgar: The Men, the Battle, the Storm. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-83028-X.
- ISBN 1-84486-015-9.
- Mackenzie, Colonel Robert Holden (2004). The Trafalgar Roll: The Ships and the Officers. Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-228-3.
- O'Byrne, William Richard (1849). John Murray – via Wikisource. . .
- Willis, Sam (2010). The Fighting Temeraire: Legend of Trafalgar. Quercus. ISBN 978-1-84916-261-6.
- Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.