Digby Dent (Royal Navy officer, died 1761)
Digby Dent | |
|---|---|
 Commodore Digby Dent by Nathaniel Dance-Holland | |
| Born | c. 1700 |
| Died | 5 June 1761 |
| Allegiance |  Kingdom of Great Britain |
| Service/ |  Royal Navy |
| Rank | Commodore |
| Commands held | HMS Hampton Court Jamaica Station |
| Battles/wars | War of Jenkins' Ear Third Carnatic War |
Commodore Digby Dent RN (1710–1761) was a Royal Navy officer who served as Commander-in-Chief of the Jamaica Station.
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Born in 1710 in Portsmouth the son of Commodore Digby Dent (died 1737), Dent joined the Royal Navy on 20 October 1726. He was commissioned as a Lieutenant in January 1734. In August 1737 he was given command of the small 8-gunner .[1]
He was promoted to post captain on 9 June 1738 on appointment to the command of the fifth-rate .[1] He transferred to the command of the third-rate HMS Hampton Court in 1739 and saw action in operations against Santiago de Cuba during the War of Jenkins' Ear.[1] After several short commands he became captain of HMS Plymouth a 60-gunner which was involved in a large battle with the French fleet on 3 August 1746 near Jamaica which was part of the War of Austrian Succession.[1]
He was promoted to commodore, he became Commander-in-Chief of the Jamaica Station in 1747.[2] In March 1747 he became overall Commander of the British Fleet in the West Indies and oversaw the Battle of Santiago de Cuba.[1]
He was appointed Comptroller of the Navy in 1756.[3] He was court-martialled over his choices in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba but found not guilty.[1]
He remained in post in Jamaica until his death on 5 June 1761.[1]
Family[]
In September 1750 the 50-year-old Dent married 17-year-old Sophia Pitt Drake at St Mary's Church in Twickenham[4] His brother Captain Cotton Dent RN was father to Sir Digby Dent.[5] Following Dent's death she married Admiral George Pocock who was a long-term friend of her father.[6]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g "Digby Dent (1710–1761)". threedecks.org.
- ^ Cundall, p. xx
- ^ Clowes, William (1898). "The royal navy: a history from the earliest times to the present". Sampson Low Marston. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
- ^ "Commodore Digby Drake". Twickenham Museum. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
- ^ "Sir Digby Dent". More than Nelson. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
- ^ Bernard Burke (1865). Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire. Harrison. p. 886.
Sources[]
- Cundall, Frank (1915). Historic Jamaica. West India Committee.
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| General | |
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- Royal Navy officers
- 1710 births
- 1761 deaths
- People from Portsmouth