John McArthur (Royal Navy officer)

McArthur entered the Royal Navy in 1778, as assistant clerk on board HMS Eagle on the North American station.

In November Rattlesnake lent her small assistance to HMS Tartar in capturing the Spanish frigate Santa Margarita; and, when the prize was commissioned for the Royal Navy, McArthur was promoted to be her purser.

His duties at this time were complex: correspondence in three foreign languages, interpreter, and as Hood's representative in disbursements of public money, both to the British forces and to those of the allies.

[1] When Hood, after returning to England, was ordered to strike his flag, McArthur went back to the Mediterranean as simple purser of Victory.

As soon as the ship joined the fleet, Rear-Admiral Robert Man hoisted his flag on board, and in the action of 14 July 1795 (see Battle of Hyères Islands) McArthur volunteered to observe the signals, in place of the admiral's secretary.

[1] McArthur's major literary work, with James Stanier Clarke, was The Life of Lord Nelson, 1809, 2 vols.