Charles Penrose (Royal Navy officer)

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Sir Charles Penrose
Born20 June 1759
Penryn, Cornwall
Died1 January 1830 (1830-02) (aged 70)
Lostwithiel, Cornwall
AllegianceUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Service/branchNaval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg Royal Navy
RankVice Admiral
Commands heldHMS Lynx
HMS Cleopatra
HMS Resolution
HMS Sans Pareil
HMS Carnatic
Mediterranean Fleet
Battles/warsFourth Anglo-Dutch War
French Revolutionary Wars
Napoleonic Wars
AwardsKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George

Vice Admiral Sir Charles Vinicombe Penrose KCB KCMG (20 June 1759 – 1 January 1830) was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet.

Naval career[]

Penrose joined the Royal Navy in 1775.[1] He took part in the Battle of Dogger Bank in 1781[1] and the capture of Martinique in 1793.[1] In 1794 he became Commander in HMS Lynx.[1] He later commanded HMS Cleopatra, HMS Resolution, HMS Sans Pareil and HMS Carnatic.[1]

During 1813 he commanded a small squadron operating off northern Spain and south-western France[1] with his flag in HMS Porcupine.[2] He coordinated naval support for the crossing of the Adour River in early 1814 that allowed the Anglo-Portuguese Army to isolate and invest Bayonne.[3]

A chart of the Mediterranean with the tracks of the different ships bearing the flag of the Rear Admiral, 1814-18

He went on to become Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet in Autumn 1814.[1] He remained in this role until May 1815 when Viscount Exmouth reclaimed his former position again.[1] Penrose then accepted the position of Second-in-Command under Exmouth but was appointed overall Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet again in May 1816.[1] He retired in 1819.[1]

Family[]

In 1787 he married Elizabeth Trevenen; they had three daughters.[1]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k Sir Charles Penrose at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  2. ^ Winfield (2008), p. 236.
  3. ^ Nauticus, p. 95

References[]

  • Nauticus (1943). "Sir Charles Vinicombe Penrose". Mariner's Mirror. Cambridge, UK: Society for Nautical Research. 29 (April): 92–99. doi:10.1080/00253359.1943.10658832.
  • Winfield, Rif. British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1793-1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing, 2nd edition, 2008. ISBN 978-1-84415-717-4.
Military offices
Preceded by
Sir Edward Pellew 		Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet
1814–1815 		Succeeded by
Viscount Exmouth
Preceded by
Viscount Exmouth 		Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet
1816–1818 		Succeeded by
Sir Thomas Fremantle
Retrieved from ""