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Second Reading

About Capt. William Poole

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POOLE, Sir William ,—was descended from an ancient and honourable family established at Poole, in the hundred of Wirral, in Cheshire, Soon after the restoration he was appointed, by the duke of York, to command the Martin. In 1661 he was promoted to the Charity of forty-six guns. In 1663 he commanded the Advice, and was re-appointed to the same ship in the year 1665. Soon afterwards, the action taking place between the duke of York and the Dutch, he was put into the St. George, in all likelihood to supply the place, pro tempore, of her former commander, who had either been killed or removed into another ship, as he does not appear to have been regularly commissioned by the duke of York, as lord high admiral. In 1666 he commanded the Mary of fifty-eight guns, by commission from the joint admirals, prince Rupert and the duke of Albemarle. In 1669 he was appointed, by the duke of York, to command the Crown; and, in the year 1672, successively commanded the Jersey, Plymouth, and St. David. Towards the end of this year he was commodore of the expedition sent against Tobago, sir Tobias Bridges commanding the land forces, and to his personal exertion the success is principally owing. The troops being landed, in their first attempt, either through the ignorance, or treachery of the guide, in a place extremely unfavourable to future operation, and where they were momentarily in danger of being cut off, captain Poole went, himself, on shore to superintend their re-embarkation, which was effected without loss. On the following day, the 19th of December, 1672, the troops were re-landed, under cover of the St. David, after she had endured a most tremendous fire, from all the forts and batteries, for five hours. The success attending this action was as complete as the Undertaking was brilliant; a capitulation being immediately proposed, and the island surrendered without further bloodshed. For this service it is, most probable, he was knighted. On the 27th of February, 1676, he received a commission from the king to command the Leopard. In this ship he was sent commodore to Newfoundland, and from thence sailed, at the close of the year, as is customary, with the convoy for the streights. He returned io England, having the Streights fleet under his protection, in the month of May following. On the 11th of September, 1678, he was, under the same authority, appointed to command the Happy Return, and again sent to the Streights, where he continued for some time, diligently fulfilling every thing that could be expected from a prudent and active commander, affording, on every occasion, all the protection in his power to our own commerce, and leaving no means unattempted to check the depredations of the corsairs. On the 21st of June, 1685, he was appointed to the Samuel and Mary, which is the last ship he ever commanded.
---Biographia Navalis. J. Charnock, 1794.

About Capt. Jonas Poole

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POOLE, Jonas,—was appointed to the Leopard in the year 1660, and the Ann in 1661, both by commission from the duke of York. In 1662 he was made captain of the Newcastle of fifty guns, by the earl of Sandwich, he being then under his command at Lisbon. In 1664 he was appointed, by the duke of York, first, to command the Dover, and, secondly, the London. The warrant authorising him to impress three hundred men, for the purpose of manning this ship, is published in the duke of York's Memoirs. In the following year he commanded the Vanguard, and, in all probability, died, or retired, soon afterwards, as, in the year 1666, we find that ship commanded by another gentleman.
---Biographia Navalis. J. Charnock, 1794.

About Capt. Thomas Page

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PAGE, Thomas, --- after having commanded the Nightingale in 1661, the Pearl and Newcastle in 1664, the Bredah in 1666, the West Friezland, taken from the Dutch, in 1667, and the Falcon in 1668, served as lieutenant of the Foresight in the same year. In 1669 he was, a second time, appointed captain of the Pearl. In 1672 he commanded the Wivenhoe pink, and the small vessels afloat at Sheerness. In 1673 he was made commander of the Francis. His name does not again occur.
---Biographia Navalis. J. Charnock, 1794.

About Capt. Charles O'Brien

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OBRYAN, Charles,—was made lieutenant of the Jersey, and afterwards second lieutenant of the Royal Charles in 1665. After the action between the fleet under the command of the duke of York, and that under the Dutch admiral Opdam, he was made commander of the West Friezland, a ship taken from the Dutch. In 1666 he was appointed, by prince Rupert and the duke of Albemarle, captain of the Advice of forty-eight guns, and served in the action of the 25th of July, which was so decisive on the part of the English, as one of the seconds to sir Edward Spragge. In 1668 he was appointed commander of the Leopard of fifty-six guns, and sent to Smyrna for the purpose of conveying thither sir Daniel Harvey, ambassador from Charles the Second to the Porte. He does not appear to have had any command afterwards.

About Capt. Edward Nixon

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NIXON, Edward,—was appointed captain of the Phœnix in 1660, of the Mermaid in the following year, and the Elizabeth in the year 1664, all by commission from the duke of York. No further mention is made of him.
---Biographia Navalis. J. Charnock, 1794.

About Capt. Peter Motham

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MOOTHAM, Peter,—was made commander of the Foresight, by the duke of York, in the year 1660. He was not appointed to any other ship till the year 1665, when he was made captain of the Princess. He continued so till the following year, when he unfortunately fell in that action which terminated so fatally to the lives, though not to the glory, of such a number of his contemporaries, on the 4th of June, 1666.
---Biographia Navalis. J. Charnock, 1794.

About Capt. Robert Mohun

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MOHUN, Robert, --- was appointed Lieutenant of the Resolution in 1660, and of the Fairfax in 1661, In the following year he was promoted to the command of the Satisfaction; in 1663 to that of the Oxford; and, in 1665, to the Portsmouth. Having eminently distinguished himself in the bloody and unfortunate action, which took place between the duke of Albemarle, and the Dutch, in the beginning of June, 1666, he was appointed, by the joint admirals, to the command of the Dreadnought. In this ship he had a very distinguished share in the second engagement in the same year, wherein the Dutch were totally defeated. Nothing further is known of him.
---Biographia Navalis. J. Charnock, 1794.

About Capt. Henry Millet

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MILLET, Henry,—was, immediately after the restoration, appointed lieutenant of the Leopard; in 1662 of the Centurion; and in 1664 of the Matthias. In 1666 he was appointed to command the same ship, by prince Rupert and the duke of Albemarle. In the following year he was removed into the Society; and, as the last appointment we have met with, was, in 1669, made lieutenant of the Hampshire.
---Biographia Navalis. J. Charnock, 1794.

About Capt. William Martin

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MARTIN, William,—was made commander of the Colchester ketch in 1665, and in the following year was promoted to an hired ship of war of fifty guns, called the East India London. He was one of those brave but unfortunate victims, who contributed to purchase with their lives, the great victory gained over the Dutch on the 25th of July following.
---Biographia Navalis. J. Charnock, 1794.

About Capt. Valentine Jowles

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JOWLES, Valentine,—was appointed, in the year 1660, captain of the Dolphin; but does not appear to have had any command afterwards.
---Biographia Navalis. J. Charnock, 1794.

About Capt. James Jenifer

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JENNIFER, James,—was appointed lieutenant of the Dover in 1664, and was promoted to the command of the Seven Oakes in 1666. In 1671 he was made captain of the Sandadoes*; and on the 2d of December 1674, was re-appointed to the same vessel. He continued to command her several years; for on the 28th of April 1677, we find him as captain of the Sandadoes, capturing a small privateer fitted out from Ostend, called the St. Mary. We have not been able to learn any thing farther concerning him.

*This vessel is supposed to have been commissioned as a substitute for a yacht, and specially destined to the queen's use. The idea appears in some measure confirmed, by a note relative to captain Jennifer's appointment, in which it is said to have been made by the queen herself.
---Biographia Navalis. J. Charnock, 1794.

About Capt. John Hubbard

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HUBBARD, John, — commanded the Return, the Helversome, and Lyon, in succession, during the year 1665; in 1666 he was made captain of the Royal Charles, the ship on board which the joint commanders-in-chief, prince Rupert and the duke of Albemarle, hoisted the standard. The very conspicuous share born by this ship in the victory obtained over the Dutch, may naturally be inferred from the known active intrepidity of those two great men. And while their extensive minds were engaged in arranging and manœuvring the fleet under their command, surely no small degree of merit ought to be attributed to the captain of the ship in which they fought, who by his conduct and gallantry enabled them to transfer their attention from an individual object to the weightier part of their charge. It is said in the account published by authority, that "few ships need repairing except the Royal Charles, who, indeed, bears honourable marks of that day's dangers." The following year he removed into the Rupert; and in 1668 commanded, in succession, the Plymouth, the Milford, and the Assistance. Sailing for the Streights soon after his appointment to the latter ship, he was killed in action with some Algerine corsairs towards the end of that year.
---Biographia Navalis. J. Charnock, 1794.

About Capt. Robert Holmes

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This biography, reprinted in 2001, should be very interesting reading!

Richard Ollard. Man of war: Sir Robert Holmes and the Restoration Navy. London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1969.

One might remember Sir Robert Holmes as a rival of Samuel Pepys, who tended to make appearances as a villain in the navy man's Diary, but the often-overlooked Holmes had a distinguished naval career of his own. Adventurous, energetic, combative, and unscrupulous, Robert Holmes first attracted the attention of Prince Rupert as a young cavalry officer in England's Civil War. As a Royalist exile, he accompanied the Prince into French service and on a cruise to West Africa and the West Indies. After the Restoration, Holmes directed perhaps the most successful single feat of arms of the century, as he destroyed a great part of the Dutch merchant marine at the cost of barely a dozen casualties. For 30 years he intrigued, maneuvered, and quarreled with Pepys over naval matters, until the pair finally managed a mutual respect for their combined contributions to English naval superiority. Holmes makes a marvelous subject for Richard Ollard's thorough, skillfully constructed and unswervingly entertaining story.

About Capt. Robert Holmes

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HOLMES, Sir Robert,—commanded the Bramble at the time of the restoration, and was, in the course of the same year, successively appointed to the Truelove and the Henrietta. In the year 1661, he was promoted to the Charles, and sent, as commodore of a small squadron consisting of four frigates, to the coast of Africa to make reprisals on the Dutch, who refused to make good their treaty they had entered into with the English; and had, in other instances, been guilty of great enormities, particularly in that part of the world, where they had, contrary to all the laws of nations, and existing treaties, possessed themselves of Cape Corse Castle by force. Major Holmes, as he was then called, had, on this occasion, the singular honour of being permitted to wear the union flag at his main-top-mast head, which is now the distinguishing mark of the commander-in-chief of the fleet. Having achieved all that was possible with his very limited force, and dispossessed the Dutch from several of their forts, he returned home; and was, in the next year, (1662) appointed to command the Reserve, a fourth rate of forty-eight guns. In the year 1663 he was removed into the Jersey of the same rate, carrying fifty guns, and sent, a second time, to the coast of Africa for the express purpose of reducing Cape Corse Castle. Having, in his passage, possessed himself of sufficient authentic documents of the hostile and treacherous intentions of the Dutch, he resolved, with the greatest patriotism, (inasmuch as he risked incurring popular censure by exceeding his orders) to punish their infamous conduct. With this intention, having arrived the latter end of January at the Cape de Verde, he proceeded to attack the island of Goree, which, though strongly fortified and resolutely defended, he took in the course of a few hours. Elevated by this so much merited success, he next attacked the fort of St. George Del Mina, the strongest fort in that part of the world possessed by the Dutch. Here his former good fortune failed him, though without the smallest neglect, or defect, on the part of sir Robert, or his people, either in point of courage, or prudence. In recompense, however, for his failure in this instance, Fortune aided him almost to a miracle in his next, which was the reduction of Cape Corse Castle. Having achieved this exploit he sailed for North America, where, in conjunction with sir Robert Carr, he reduced the island of New York.
---Biographia Navalis. J. Charnock, 1794.

About Capt. Philip Holland

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HOLLAND, Philip,—was appointed commander of the Loyal Merchant in 1666.
---Biographia Navalis. J. Charnock, 1794.

About Capt. William Hill

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HILL, William,—was appointed commander of the Augustine in 1661, of the Elias in 1663, and, lastly, of the Coventry in 1664. This ship unfortunately ran on shore in the West Indies and was lost. On this account a court-martial was held on board the Katherine yacht, on the 18th of December, 1667, for the trial of captain Hill. The decision was singularly honourable to the accused, inasmuch as he was acquitted of the smallest share even of reproach, and declared to have highly deserved, for "having defended his ship, and prevented the enemy from taking possession of her, for several days after she had been stranded on their coasts." He, however, never had a command afterwards.
---Biographia Navalis. J. Charnock, 1794.

About Capt. Charles Herbert

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HERBERT, Charles,—after serving as commander of the Revenge in 1664, was appointed lieutenant of the Royal James in 1671.
---Biographia Navalis. J. Charnock, 1794.

About Capt. John Hayward

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HAYWARD, John, sen.—commanded the Plymouth at the time of the restoration; and in the same year was made commander of the Dover by the duke of York. In 1664 he was appointed to the Reserve, and the following year to the Dunkirk. In June 1666 he was appointed, by prince Rupert and the duke of Albemarle, to succeed captain Coppin, of the St. George, who was killed in action. In 1667 he was promoted, by the duke of York, to the command of the Baltimore. In 1668 he commanded the York of fifty-fix guns. In the following year he was removed into the Foresight, a fourth rate. From this time he does not appear to have been employed till the breaking out of the second Dutch war, when he was appointed captain of the Old James, a second rate. The following year he commanded the Sovereign; from which ship he was very soon afterwards removed, by prince Rupert, into the Royal Charles, a first rate. In this command he fell, in the action with the Dutch fleet which took place in the month of August, 1673, finishing gallantly, and covered with wounds, a long life nobly exerted in the service of his country.
---Biographia Navalis. J. Charnock, 1794.

About Capt. John Hart

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HART, John,—was appointed captain of the Bristol in 1664; in 1665 he was promoted to the Revenge, and in the following year was removed into the Rainbow. During the time he held the command of the two last ships he was present at all the general engagements which took place between the English and Dutch fleets in the the course of the first war. In 1669 he was appointed to a ship called the Loyal Subject, and in the following year to the Ruby of fifty-four guns (the ship taken by sir T. Allen from the French). He did not long continue in this command, being very soon afterwards removed into the Portland. He commanded the Rupert in 1671; and, on the commencement of the second Dutch war, returned to his old ship the Revenge. The time and manner of his death is unknown.
---Biographia Navalis. J. Charnock, 1794.