Frederick Thesiger (naval officer)

[2] The young Thesiger first went to sea in the service of the East India Company, but was accepted into the Royal Navy as a midshipman under Samuel Marshall.

[3] In February 1782, during the American War of Independence, Admiral Sir George Rodney sailed again for the West Indies after a period of leave, and Thesiger gained a commission as acting-lieutenant on board HMS Formidable.

He caught the eye of Admiral Sir Charles Douglas, captain of the fleet, and on his recommendation he was appointed as flag lieutenant to Rodney on the eve of the last day of the Battle of the Saintes.

Rodney recommended him to the Russian ambassador,[1] Semyon Vorontsov, who wrote to Nikolai Mordvinov with the good news that he had recruited four British officers, James Trevenen, Robin Crown, Samuel Marshall, and Thesiger.

From 1792, Great Britain and Russia were allies in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and in 1796 Thesiger was with a Russian squadron which came to the North Sea to work with the Royal Navy in the blockade of the Texel.