James Young (Royal Navy officer, born 1762)

James Young (1762 – 8 March 1833) was an officer of the Royal Navy who saw service during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, rising to the rank of vice-admiral of the white.

He followed his father, and an older half-brother, into the navy and was promoted to commander early in the French Revolutionary Wars while serving in the West Indies with Sir John Jervis.

They were found to be transporting valuable cargoes from the Spanish colonies, and their capture made the captains involved extremely wealthy men, with their crews also receiving huge sums of money comparative to their usual wages.

[1] William, his half-brother by his father's first marriage to Elizabeth Bolton, also embarked on a naval career and rose to be Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom, with the rank of admiral of the red.

[2] James Young followed his father and brother into the navy, and after several years of service, was promoted to commander in 1794, shortly after the start of the French Revolutionary Wars, by Sir John Jervis.

[3] Young was given command of the 32-gun HMS Greyhound in 1796 and cruised in the North Sea, and then in the English Channel, where he was particularly successfully against privateers, capturing the 16-gun Aventure off Cape Barfleur at 4.am on 19 December 1796 and Tartane off Beachy Head at 7.am on 18 February 1797.

She had not taken any prizes, and in his report on the capture, Young paid tribute to Captain Cheshire of the 18-gun sloop HMS Plover, who having seen the chase, manoeuvred to cut off Tartane's escape.

[3][10] At 3pm on 16 October 1799 Ethalion sighted three sails, and bearing up, discovered that they were two enemy frigates, being pursued by the 38-gun HMS Naiad, under Captain William Pierrepoint.

[11] Meanwhile, Naiad, in company with Alcmene and Triton, chased down and captured the other Spanish frigate, which was discovered to be the Santa Brigada, also carrying a valuable cargo.

[12] The sum paid out was so large that it was said that the crew of the ships involved roamed around Portsmouth with 'bank notes stuck in their hats, buying watches for the fun of frying them, and issuing laws that any of their crew who appeared without a gold-laced hat should be cobbed, so that the unlucky man who appeared in silver could only escape by representing that the costlier articles were all bought up, but he had compelled the shopkeeper to take money for gold lace.