James Bisset (Royal Navy officer)

Rear-Admiral James Bisset (1760–1824) was a Scottish commander in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars.

James joined the Royal Navy in 1771 as a captain's servant to Cpt John Bentinck on HMS Centaur a guardship at Portsmouth.

In October 1773 he was present when Bentinck entertained Benjamin Franklin on board and he famously demonstrated the calming of the water by pouring oil on it.

[4] In 1795 he was given the far larger HMS Venerable, a 74-gun ship of the line, under Admiral Duncan in the North Sea.

His ultimate command was the highly prestigious 100-gun HMS Sovereign, which had famously seen action at the Battle of Trafalgar.