Benjamin Marlow

Later that year Marlow was posted on board HMS Assistance, a fourth rate ship of the line of 50 guns, receiving a promotion to third lieutenant.

Marlow spent less than a year on board the Assistance before once again receiving a promotion to first lieutenant and posted to HMS Falmouth, a fourth rate ship of the line of 50 guns.

When the fleet, numbering some 13 ships, many of which were undermanned and poorly maintained, arrived on 19 May and found the island overrun by French troops, with only the garrison of St. Philip’s Castle in Part Mahon holding out.

Byng displayed considerable caution and over-reliance on standard fighting procedures which ultimately prevented the Dolphin coming into effective cannon range of the French squadron.

The Admiralty charged Byng for breaching the Articles of War by failing to do all he could to fulfil his orders and support the garrison; he was court-martialled, found guilty and sentenced to death.

He assisted HMS Hussar under Captain John Elliot in the sinking of the French ship Alcion with all hands after a two-hour night action on 23 November 1757.

On 21 May 1758, Marlow discovered the French ship Belle-Isle under the command of the famous Francois Thurot while put into the port of Leith in the Firth of Forth.

Robert Craig), accompanied by two small reconnaissance vessels, went out to track down the intruder, catching sight of the Belle-Isle off Red Head (between Arbroath and Montrose) early on the morning of 27 May.

Marlow requested a court martial into his conduct, believing that despite the significant superiority in firepower and speed of the French vessel, he may have been able to pursue the Belle-Isle into the North Sea proper.

Marlow was known for taking groups of midshipmen on board his vessels and insisting on time spent every day as a class learning these fundamentals.

As such he is generally considered the origin of the system of the British Naval College, the model for training young officers for the fleet which the Royal Navy retains to this day and which has spread around the world.