John Phillimore
Sir John Phillimore CB (18 January 1781 – 21 March 1840) was an officer of the Royal Navy who saw service during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
He was involved in several notable actions during his active career, taking part in both Battles of Copenhagen, sending Sir Hyde Parker's famous signal to Nelson in the first, and fighting off Danish gunboats in the second.
He was at times a controversial figure, causing a scandal when he thrashed the naval historian William James with a stick for apparently badly representing Phillimore's conduct, and on another occasion inviting rebuke from the Navy Board for his request for more paint for his ship.
[1][2][3] The Belette was occupied in early 1807 with conveying supplies to the besieged town of Kolberg, after which she was attached to Admiral James Gambier's fleet which returned to the Baltic to attack Copenhagen again in 1807.
[1][3] Gambier rewarded his courage by giving him the honour of carrying his despatches to the Admiralty, as a result of which he received a promotion to post captain on 13 October 1807.
[1] Promotion eventually left him without a ship however, though he temporarily took over command of the 74-gun HMS Marlborough in June 1809 with the temporary absence of her captain, Graham Moore.
With the Diadem now only mounting 32 guns, the board directed that she should receive stores equivalent to a ship of this rating, despite her much larger size and complement, and despite Phillimore's protests.
[1] Phillimore spent his time in command of the Diadem carrying troops to and from the Iberian peninsula, supporting Arthur Wellesley's operations there.
[3] On 4 May 1813 Phillimore received command of the new 38-gun frigate HMS Eurotas, which had been armed with an experimental mix of guns to a design by Sir William Congreve.
[3][6] The Eurotas was initially attached to the fleet blockading Brest, and on 23 October Phillimore was present at the capture of the Franco-Dutch frigate Trave.
[3] They escaped to sea under cover of night and heavy weather, and despite pursuing them for three days, Phillimore was eventually forced to return to Britain to re-provision.
[3] A long and sustained battle was fought, which eventually left Eurotas totally dismasted, and with 20 of her men killed and 40 wounded, with Phillimore among the latter.
[6][7] He finally returned to sea with his appointment to command the yacht William and Mary on 13 April 1820, which was then in service as the conveyance of Earl Talbot, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
[6][7] Phillimore next received command of the 46-gun frigate HMS Thetis in March 1823, and was sent to Mexico to convey a commission of political enquiry, and to the West Indies, and later on to Africa, South America and the Mediterranean.
[6][7] Phillimore continued to serve in the navy, carrying troops of the Royal African Corps to Cape Coast Castle during the First Anglo-Ashanti War in 1824.
[7] The English residents of the settlement asked Phillimore to have the burial ground there consecrated, a task he delegated to his ship's chaplain, to be carried out the next day at noon.
[7] Phillimore also embarked on a significant piece of naval reform, when after consulting with his men, he reduced their rum ration by half, with the money saved being paid into their wages.
