Vice-Admiral Sir Jahleel Brenton, 1st Baronet, KCB (22 August 1770 – 21 April 1844) was a British officer in the Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

Serving in the Mediterranean during the French Revolutionary Wars, Brenton took part in the Battle of Cape St Vincent on HMS Barfleur and earned the patronage of Admiral Sir John Jervis.

Brenton briefly attended a school in Enfield, Middlesex and in 1781, aged 11, he enrolled as a midshipman in the Royal Navy under his father who had been assigned to command the hired armed ship Queen.

[9] Attacked by an angry mob while being transferred to prison, Brenton later recalled being "knocked down, dragged through the street and narrowly escap[ing] with life, losing nearly all my clothes.

[2] Speedy was paid off in 1791 and Brenton spent nearly a year ashore on half-pay before he was appointed to command HMS Trepassey, a small 44-foot (13 m) long sloop armed with four swivel guns that was used to patrol the coast of Newfoundland.

Brenton remained at that station for two years and at the outbreak of war with France in 1793 he was involved in the capture of the French settlements at Saint Pierre and Miquelon which capitulated without resistance.

[12] Sibyl was dispatched as part of a squadron headed for the Scheldt later that year before embarking on an arduous cruise off the Dutch coast throughout the winter of 1794, during which time Brenton was promoted to first lieutenant.

The ship was sent back to England for extensive repairs to her hull and Jervis gave Brenton a temporary position in Vice Admiral William Waldegrave's flagship HMS Barfleur.

[17] The British fleet commenced a close blockade of Cadiz and in Spring 1798 Brenton's actions while commanding a detachment of boats under attack from Spanish gunboats earned enthusiastic praise from Jervis.

[20][21] On 6 November Speedy was standing off Europa Point while escorting a merchant vessel and a transport ship laden with wine for the British fleet when twelve Spanish gun boats raced out from Algeciras to launch an opportunistic attack.

Meanwhile, Speedy, which suffered two dead, one wounded and extensive damage to her rigging and hull, was unable to pursue and limped to the Moroccan coast off Tétouan to make hasty repairs.

[7] Superseded by Captain Manley Dixon in June, Brenton departed Genereux for Gibraltar but finding no other ship was available for him to command he was ordered to return to England.

Although the numerically superior British inflicted severe damage to the French ships, light winds hampered Samuarez's squadron which withdrew to Gibraltar after suffering heavy casualties and the loss of HMS Hannibal.

[29] He returned to Gibraltar to find Samuarez preparing to transfer to HMS Audacious: eager to attack the French before they reached the safety of Cadiz, he deemed Caesar too damaged to take part in any further operations.

On the night of 2 July Brenton sailed inshore to reconnoitre Cherbourg Harbour when he and his pilot became disorientated in thick fog and Minerve ran aground on a submerged breakwater under construction in the port.

[38] Brenton responded by dispatching the ships boats inshore to capture a vessel large enough to carry one of the Minerve's bower anchors to a distance suitable for warping.

[39] Unable to bring his guns to bear on the enemy and facing a destructive barrage of fire which had sunk the lugger, Brenton consequently surrendered his ship after suffering eleven men killed and sixteen wounded.

[42] He organised regular church services, assisted with the establishment of schools teaching literacy and seamanship, and took a leading role in improving the welfare of the common sailors who were separated from the officers and distributed among various depots across north east France.

[32][2] After arriving back in England, Brenton was duly court-martialled for the loss of Minerve but was exonerated and given command of the newly constructed 36-gun frigate HMS Spartan in February 1807.

[45] Arriving off Elba on 27 April, Brenton narrowly avoided capture a second time when he encountered a French squadron of four ships that immediately gave chase.

Over the following week they launched successful amphibious operations against the French, destroying a string of signal posts, telegraphs and shore batteries along the coast and capturing six merchant vessels.

[54] At the end of 1808, Collingwood removed Spartan from her station off Toulon and in February 1809 'Spartan was dispatched on a cruise in the eastern Mediterranean, capturing an enemy merchant vessel off the Libyan coast.

[56] In June Spartan returned to Malta for repairs and was subsequently attached to a squadron led by Captain John Spranger of HMS Warrior that was sent on an expedition to capture the Ionian Islands.

Encountering only minimal resistance, the British squadron swiftly took the islands of Zante and Cephalonia before Spartan was dispatched with a division of infantry from the 35th Regiment of Foot to attack Cerigo.

[64] Spartan responded with a destructive triple-shotted broadside which caused carnage among the troops crowded on the enemy deck and exchanged fire with Fama and Sparviero as they passed in succession.

[64] Achille and the gunboats altered course to avoid the British frigate but Brenton swung Spartan round to give them her port broadside while firing her starboard guns into the larger Neapolitan ships.

[69] Confined to his cot and suffering great pain from his wound, Brenton endured an uncomfortable journey back to England and after his arrival he continued his convalescence in lodgings in Alverstoke and Paddington.

However, Brenton was troubled by his wound and just six months later he reluctantly resigned his commission, explaining in his memoirs: "As the winter approached, I felt this inconvenience of being lame more sensibly, as it increased my anxiety respecting the duty of the ship, from a conviction that I could not use the same activity I had formerly possessed".

"[82] Simon's Town had become a busy port providing supplies to the island of Saint Helena after Napoleon was exiled there in 1815 but after his death in 1821 its importance diminished and the position of resident commissioner was abolished.

[86] He initially declined the offer as the role precluded him from further promotion and active service but reconsidered after King William IV, an acquaintance and former naval officer, intervened and relaxed the conditions.